Endurance training

What is endurance training?

Endurance training is a form of training that aims to increase the body's performance. In banal terms: The time it takes to run out of breath should be extended. Or to put it more technically: The resistance to fatigue from stress should be increased.

Colloquially, the word "cardio training" is usually used, which in principle describes the approach of this type of training. You train the cardiovascular system.More precisely, endurance training lowers the resting heart rate and blood pressure and thus prevents cardiovascular diseases. In addition, it increases physical performance.

Endurance training at home

There are no limits to your imagination on this question. True to the motto: Everything that helps! sufficient physical exertion is the only established criterion. In order to create a rough breakdown, training at home can be divided into training without aids, training with aids and equipment training.

Small equipment such as a skipping rope, small dumbbells or even a jumping box can be counted under aids. The devices include classic endurance training devices such as treadmills, exercise bikes or cross trainers.

Since the purchase of a device is associated with not insignificant costs, this decision should be made carefully and only after a considerable period of conscientious endurance training without equipment or on equipment in the gym, in order to make sure that the endurance training is not just a short-term mood was.

Since the first two options are mainly available for training at home, reference is made to the Internet at this point.
Google and YouTube offer a variety of well-explained and motivating articles and videos under search terms such as “endurance training at home” or “cardio workout at home”.

Read more on this topic at: Endurance sports at home

Endurance training in the gym

The “basic equipment” of a fitness studio already offers a wide range of options for completing endurance training. Appropriate training units can be completed both on the treadmill and on an elliptical cross trainer. Further possibilities arise through rowing machines, spinning bikes or steppers in often special fitness courses in a studio.

In better equipped studios you can also find sports equipment from the area of ​​crossfit or sling training, sled pulling or, in special studios, also by swimming. The devices can be used both for long-term training and for so-called HIIT training units.

What exercises can I do endurance training with?

Possible exercises are:

• to jog
• Cycle
• Jumping rope
• Box jumps
• rowing

There are hardly any limits to the imagination of the trainee when it comes to this question.
The exercises can be done both outside and inside, with or without equipment, as well as for a long time or only for a short time.
To start with the most mundane exercise: jogging. Running at a moderate pace is basically possible all year round and does not require any special equipment except for a well-functioning pair of running shoes.

But cycling is also an excellent exercise for endurance training. In addition, it has the advantage that it is much easier on the joints than running training.

In principle, almost all exercises can be carried out as endurance training, as long as they do not completely tire the muscles and do not drive the cardiac output to unhealthy heights. For example, box jumps or skipping rope can be carried out as endurance training, provided that the training is not approached too quickly.

Other classic endurance training exercises are: using an elliptical cross trainer, hill sprints, step aerobics, rowing and many more.

I can do endurance training with these devices:

• Cross trainer: A cross trainer imitates active running. Due to the electrical operation, different resistances can be set here, which mean different loads.
• Bicycle ergometer: An "electrically operated bicycle". Through the power supply, various resistances can be set on the bicycle ergometer, thereby increasing the intensity of the training.
• Bicycle roll: A bicycle roll is a clamping device with the help of which the normal bicycle can be used in the house even during winter.
• Upper body ergometer: A training device that mainly uses the upper body region. A so-called skier is one such device, for example. Here a powerful pushing off with ski poles is imitated.
• Exercise bike: The exercise bike is not that different from the stationary bike. However, the exercise bikes are usually cheaper than an ergometer due to their lower equipment
• Treadmill: Depending on the equipment of the treadmill, both the speed and the incline of the device can be varied in order to vary the resistance during training.
• Rowing machine: A rowing machine primarily uses the back muscles. Here, too, the resistance of the cable pull can be set individually in order to adjust the load.
• Stepper: The stepper serves as a kind of raised step. The stress arises from the high frequency of the sequence of steps. Different step sequences with different degrees of difficulty are possible with an adjustable stepper height.
• Trampoline: Even if it is mainly known as a children's toy, the trampoline can be used for endurance training sessions. In addition to endurance training, it also strengthens coordination.

Endurance training with the ball

Of course, this depends on the type of ball:

• Football: If we take football or something similarly large, runs are ideal, during which the ball has to be guided as close to the foot as possible. This also trains the coordination of the trainee. Of course, such a ball can also be used to hold it between your hands during a squat, for example. If the squat is now performed, the arms with the ball move in front of the body.
• Medicine ball: The effort involved in this exercise can be increased, for example, by exchanging the ball for a medicine ball. This is heavier, so the exercise becomes more strenuous. In addition, exercises such as repeatedly picking up the ball, lifting it over the head and dropping it to the ground can be practiced with a medicine ball.
• Exercise ball: The best way to do endurance exercises is with an exercise or Pezzy ball. This can be used, for example, as a point of support for the feet during a push-up exercise. Since the ball is not a secure support, the core muscles must be used permanently - but unconsciously - to stabilize the body.

Ideal pulse for endurance training

This is difficult to say as there are a ton of formulas out there for determining what is supposedly the ideal heart rate. One of the most common and probably very easy to remember formulas is:

Ideal heart rate = 180 - age (in years) +/- 5 [beats per minute]

However, this formula does not take into account the fitness level of the athlete, his gender or his pre-exhaustion. This rule of thumb can therefore be regarded as a good guide, but not as an absolute truth. With this calculation, the trainee should feel as close as possible to the aerobic-anaerobic threshold that he would like to shift in favor of aerobic energy production through endurance training.

Since measuring the aerobic-anaerobic threshold is very complex and can only be achieved with special medical equipment, for example by means of a lactate level test, such rules of thumb are still better than training completely by feeling if the athlete's endurance is to be improved.

What is a lactate level test?

The lactate level test is used to find out the aerobic-anaerobic threshold. In other words, the stress that leads to increased acidification of the muscle, as it has to break down its energy sources into lactate.
In practice, the test subjects should be rested and have had a lactate level test for three hours without eating. During the test, the test person either rides a bicycle on an ergometer or runs on a treadmill. The performance that has to be provided is increased at fixed time intervals (pedaling resistance increases). Shortly before the increase, a drop of blood is taken from the test person's ear or fingertip and the heart rate is noted. By superimposing the lactate value and heart rate, it can later be read off at which frequency the individual aerobic-anaerobic threshold is.

Read more on this topic at: Endurance performance diagnostics

What kind of endurance training methods are there?

The common endurance training methods are the permanent method, the interval method, and the repetition or speed method.

• With the endurance method, the user completes the endurance training at a constant pace. The load should be around 60% of the maximum load capacity. With appropriate fitness, this load can then be maintained for several hours without great difficulty.
• The interval method is characterized by alternating phases with high and phases with low stress, so-called recovery phases. During the heavy load, the person exercising is required to train with at least 90% of the maximum load capacity, which is then followed by a recovery phase with a maximum of 60% load. This interval is repeated depending on your preference or your fitness level. However, with this form of training it is important to ensure that the recovery phase should be around 3 to 4 times as long as the stress phase.
• The repetition method focuses on specific parts of an endurance training or competition. These sections are then completed in a targeted manner at a higher pace than in a competition. However, this training can be seen more as a supplement and is not as well suited for creating “basic endurance” as the first two mentioned.

Also read our article: Running - the endurance sport for body and mind

What do I have to consider as a beginner?

For every newcomer, it is important to find the sport that is most fun for you. The best training is pointless if you don't stay on the ball due to a lack of motivation. It is also important to pay attention to the stress on the joints in the various endurance sports. For example, if jogging puts a lot of strain on the knees and ankles, this heavy strain does not apply to cycling.

Another important aspect is the adaptation of the training to the current fitness level. Beginners should gradually get their bodies used to the strain, so that they do endurance sports for about 30 to 45 minutes at a low training frequency (about twice a week). Once the body has come to terms with this, either the intensity of the exercise, the frequency or the length of individual training units can be increased.

If you have then decided to practice the sport permanently, the selection of the appropriate sports equipment is a point that should not be neglected. In running sports in particular, a well-cushioned, possibly reinforced shoe is an important criterion for reducing stress on the joints and preventing poor posture.

How often should you ideally do endurance training?

The answer to this question depends on the fitness level of the athlete, his ability to regenerate and the length of the training units.
Studies in the past have shown that endurance training once a week has no effect on performance or the cardiovascular system. The training breaks between the units are too generous. Two to three training units per week are recommended if increasing performance and strengthening the cardiovascular system are the stated goals. However, if endurance training only serves as a supplement to a main sport, care must be taken to ensure that the athlete does not "overtrain".

Can you combine endurance training with muscle building?

Endurance training can to a certain extent be combined with muscle building. If you look at triathletes or marathon runners, for example, they only look slightly more muscular than a hobby athlete. Strength athletes or bodybuilders, on the other hand, have a significantly larger muscle mass than a hobby athlete.
This suggests that muscle gain depends on the type and intensity of training. Rather, the endurance training leads to a change in the muscle fiber type and only to a small extent to an increase in muscle mass.

Should I do cardio before or after strength training?

Every athlete has to find the answer to this question for himself. Most people tend to add cardio training to strength training. Since the strain and the associated symptoms of fatigue during endurance training are not as great as with strength training, it is easier to add this training to the more demanding training.
Of course, this question also depends on the muscle groups that are being trained. If, for example, only the upper body muscles are used during strength training, endurance training, which primarily focuses on the lower body muscles, could also be preferred to strength training.

How can I do endurance training without putting any strain on my legs or knees?

When you think of endurance training, you usually think of extended running training or cycling units. Although difficult to imagine, exercises that only target the upper body muscles can also be performed as endurance training. The main component is the permanent stress when increasing the heart rate. For example, pedals could be driven with the arms, rowing exercises in a fixed seat or strength exercises with minimal weights.

The decisive advantage that the lower body muscles offer is that the muscles here are larger and therefore not fatiguing as quickly. However, if the knees and legs can be lightly stressed, either cycling or swimming is recommended.

What are the effects of endurance training on blood pressure, heart rate and blood lipids?

As mentioned in the above sections, endurance training has positive effects on the athlete's cardiovascular system.

The systolic blood pressure value drops as the resistance in the body's blood vessels decreases. The heart does not have to pump with so much force (pressure) against the resistance in the body. The heart rate decreases at rest and during exercise. As the heart grows, it can circulate more blood volume. In order to pump the same amount of blood per time, fewer heartbeats are required per unit of time (Heart rate).

In addition, studies show that endurance training helps lower LDL cholesterol and provide more HDL cholesterol in return. This also shifts the quotient of LDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol in favor of HDL. The lower this quotient, the lower the susceptibility to a heart attack or stroke.

Endurance training and fat burning

Endurance training makes a decisive contribution to burning fat, but it should be undisputed nowadays. However, the crucial factor in this formula is the oxygen uptake capacity. The larger this is, the more oxygen can be made available to the muscle, which can then burn fats to generate energy, known as lipolysis. Because unlike the metabolism of carbohydrates, the metabolism of fats can only succeed if sufficient oxygen is available. That is why it is also important to do endurance sports below the anaerobic threshold, provided that fat burning is the declared goal. But what does endurance training have to do with it?
To put it in the simple words at the beginning of the article: Endurance training ensures that you don't run out of breath so quickly. It increases the volume of our lungs and enables the oxygenated blood to flow better through the human body, so that more oxygen is available to the muscles, which can then be used to burn fat.

Read more on this topic at: Fat burning