Stamina is important whether you’re a professional athlete looking to do a marathon, or you simply want to live life to the fullest. Stamina is the ability to withstand physical and mental efforts for long periods. And for some, it is referred to as their gas tank.
If you’ve ever felt out of breath climbing up the stairs, or if you ever felt like your legs can’t carry your weight anymore after running, then maybe it’s time that you look into these approaches that can boost your gas tank.
Focus on short rest interval workouts
A lot of people think that individuals with good cardio don’t rest. In reality, some of them simply recover faster than others. For athletes, cutting your recovery time from 1 minute to just 30 seconds can make a huge difference.
In the 1990s, Dr. Izumi Tabata published a study to describe a program consisting of 20-second high-intensity effort followed by a 10-second rest period. This program increased the maximum aerobic capacity and anaerobic capacity of the participants.
Soon, this became the popular “Tabata workout” that broadened our understanding of high-intensity interval training. Since then, the duration of rest and work have been manipulated by coaches and sports scientists.
Fast forward how many decades, a recent study may have confirmed what Tabata did in the 90s. In the recent study, 30:15 intervals were used. It means that 3 sets of 13 x 30-second max RPE efforts were done along with 15-second rest in between sets. It yielded better results than four sets of 5-minute intervals with 2.5 minutes of rest in between.
What it only means is that doing short bursts of high-effort activities along with a short rest period can help improve your cardio. You can try doing 20-30 second bursts of sprints followed by a 10-15 second rest in between. If you don’t have the luxury of running, then you can also do the same using a stationary bike or an assault bike.
Walk for long durations
Not everyone can do Tabata workouts. And it is also true that it could potentially do more harm than good especially if you’re out of shape. Going from 0 to 100 will just lead to injuries and you won’t be able to consistently do the workouts.
A simple, yet effective way to build stamina is to make the body move for long durations. Walking for 30 to 60 minutes is a great way to build the foundation for your stamina. Try walking on uneven roads or even try the outdoors to make things more challenging for you. Nowadays, more and more people wear fitness trackers where these devices function as odometers where people monitor how many steps they’ve taken throughout the day.
While an accumulated number of steps help in keeping yourself healthy, walking straight for 30 to 60 minutes can help condition your legs to tolerate work for long durations.
Improve the body’s coordination
One of the reasons why people get tired so fast is because the body lacks coordination making every step twice more difficult than it should. If you’re going to ask professional marathon runners, there is a proper technique to how they should run. From which part of the foot lands on the ground to how they breathe. These are things that can make the movement smooth and effortless. This means that whatever sport or activity you choose to do, be sure that you are going to focus on proper form.
Just imagine running without properly exhaling to get rid of the carbon dioxide? This becomes a recipe to build up lactic acid in your muscles.
Also, you might want to focus on your core. Core allows the body to transfer energy efficiently. If you seriously want to have a strong core, forget about doing sit-ups and start doing planks. Planking requires the activation of more muscle groups.
Try rowing over cycling
If you’re into cycling, and you want to still push your body towards building stamina, why not try rowing for a change? What makes rowing a good option if you want to build stamina? Experts believe that rowing requires more muscle groups and is more intense compared to cycling. If you don’t have access to a river or the sea, there are row machines found in most gym facilities.
Train the mind
There are instances when you can still push for one or two more sets but your mind already had enough. Training the mind is equally important if you don’t want to gas out. Some would recommend meditation as a way to strengthen the mind. For others, doing ice baths can help train the mind. Not only does it help in your recovery, but the cold can also trigger a fight or flight response to the brain. And the longer you could stay in ice-cold water, the stronger the mind gets.
Do everything consistently
One of the biggest mistakes that people make is that people quit after their first or second day. Building your stamina and endurance takes time. And you have to trust the body’s ability to keep adapting to changes.
Do these things consistently and you will notice small changes happen. You will soon find yourself no longer gasping for air like you used to.