Endurance training is an exercise program that will improve your stamina and your ability to walk, run for a longer period of time. These types of program take a lot of dedication and discipline. You have to eat healthy, sleep soundly, supplement wisely and plan accordingly. A strength/weight program also goes hand in hand with endurance training.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends the following for the general public:

• Get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both, preferably spread throughout the week.

• Add moderate- to high-intensity muscle-strengthening activity (such as resistance or weights) on at least 2 days per week.

• Increase amount and intensity gradually over time.

Endurance Training Basics

Activities such as biking, swimming, walking and running are typically great for endurance training.

If you are starting endurance training, you might want to get a professional trainer in the field. This will help keep you on track and focused.

The most common type of endurance training is cardiovascular exercise, which focuses on building lean muscle. Your muscles might not look visibly bigger, but they will be getting stronger.

As with any athletic activity, there can be a risk of injury with endurance training. Most often, endurance training injuries include stress fractures, strains, or tendonitis, and happen because of overuse.

These injuries are more likely to happen when you increase the volume of your training too quickly.

If you have a previous or pre-existing health condition, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. Proper exercise technique is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of an exercise program. Still, you may need to modify each exercise to attain optimal results based on your individual needs. Always select a weight that allows you to have complete control of your body throughout the movement. When performing any exercise, pay close attention to your body, and stop immediately if you note pain or discomfort.

Strength Training

Strength training is a common practice along with your cardio workout. A well formulated strength training regime can improve your athletic performance by developing attributes such as muscular development, mental acuity and the energy to power through longer workouts.

The Strength Institute of Western Australia published an article on the benefits of strength training for endurance athletes. Some of the highlights were that it has been shown that strength training improves both short term (<15 minutes) and long term (>30 minutes) capacity in endurance athletes (Aagaard & Andersen, 2010). These results were consistent in both untrained and highly trained, elite athletes. It’s important to emphasize the improvement in highly trained athletes as these populations generally experience the smallest increments of improvement due to the years of training and mastery of their chosen sports.

These results have been reproduced in a variety of endurance sports including running (Sedano, Marin, Cuadrado, & Redondo, 2013), rowing (Izquierdo-Gabarren et al., 2010) and cycling (Ronnestad, Hansen, & Ellefsen, 2015).

The studies mentioned above focus around some key strength training principles and such as periodization and specificity. Here are some of the guidelines they had success with.

Utilize strength training at least 2-times per week (Ronnestad et al., 2015). Assuming you have an adequate amount of recover between lifting weights, multiple sessions have a greater effect on developing muscular strength.

Use a periodized training program (Ronnestad et al., 2015). If you do the same exercises, volumes and training intensity, your body’s ability to adapt from the training stimulus will drastically decrease.

Some of the best results came from combining heavy strength training with explosive strength training/plyometrics (Sedano et al., 2013). This sort of concurrent training allows for muscular and neuromuscular development.

The most effective training programs were long-term (Aagaard & Andersen, 2010). Small benefits were seen in as little as 4 to 8- weeks, however programs lasting 12 or more weeks presented the best results.

The research also points out that strength training has one of the lowest rates of injury (adolescent and adult populations) when compared to other sports (Hamill, 1994). This is due to its predicable and repeatable nature of the movements.

Regardless of your age or athletic background, consult your physician first for any recommendations they might have on endurance and strength training. Las Vegas has some wonderful gyms. Find out if they have endurance training groups or professional trainers in this area. Some of the local fitness stores such as REI have community boards. Check these out for local groups involved in endurance training.

A positive mental attitude even at the worst of moments changes your brain and body chemistry for the better and improves performance.