How to improve your endurance - effective tools & tips for better performance

Whether it’s running, front crawl or cycling for long periods at a time – people with good endurance are masters of their craft. Endurance therefore describes the ability to sustain a level of exertion for as long as possible without becoming fatigued.

And what, then, is fitness? Well, in German usage, the two terms ‘endurance’ and ‘fitness’ are often used interchangeably. In fact, however, fitness encompasses far more than just pure endurance – it describes your overall athletic performance. As well as your endurance, this is also influenced by your strength, speed, agility and coordination.

The next question you might be asking yourself now is: what options do I have for training my endurance? What endurance sports are there? You might initially think of the classics like jogging or cycling. But guess what? There’s loads more! So you don’t necessarily have to run a marathon if you’d much rather be out and about in the mountains or sweeping across the dance floor like a Dancing Queen. Just choose whatever suits you best. Then you’ll stick with it.

Whether it’s swimming or Nordic walking – the question is: how quickly can a beginner improve their stamina through these activities? What’s realistic? The good news is: even as an absolute beginner, you can expect to see a significant improvement after just 4–6 weeks with a simple training plan. That sounds doable, doesn’t it? There is one slight catch, though: to boost your stamina, you’ll need perseverance. So you’ll have to put on your sports kit regularly. But even though every beginning is often difficult – you’ll soon start to notice the first positive effects. And this health boost is addictive!

More profound results, such as a lower heart rate at the same running pace, take longer to achieve – usually 3–6 months. The reason? Your body needs repeated stimulation so that your entire system – including, for example, your cardiovascular system – can adapt to it.

So you’ve taken the first step – now it’s all about sticking with it. And about the ‘how’ – how exactly do you improve your endurance? To boost your endurance, you should train at least 2–3 times a week for at least 20–30 minutes. As a beginner, it’s best to get yourself a heart rate monitor. That way, you’ll know exactly when you’ve reached your limit.

Pay attention to your exercise heart rate – that is, your heart rate during the workout – as this helps you control the intensity of your training session. As a general rule, your exercise heart rate should be 60–70 per cent of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate, in turn, is age-dependent. A rule of thumb for calculating your upper exercise limit is the formula: ‘220’ minus your age. At the age of 20, the maximum heart rate is therefore 200, whilst the exercise heart rate for endurance training should be between 120 and 140. However, these are not set-in-stone rules – well-trained individuals can still improve their endurance even at 80 per cent of their maximum heart rate, whilst those who are less fit can start at below 60 per cent.

Your ally when it comes to boosting your endurance? The aerobic heart rate zone. This is because, within this zone, your cells have sufficient oxygen available for energy production and your body learns to draw its energy primarily from fats, thereby conserving your carbohydrate stores.

If your heart rate is regularly within this zone, you’ll not only improve your performance but also your basic endurance. And it pays off: people with good basic endurance can exercise for longer overall, but also benefit in everyday life from this extra boost of energy, a more efficient metabolism and immune system, better oxygen supply, recovery and mental fitness.

Don’t have a heart rate monitor to hand? Then try this trick: to reach the aerobic zone, you should have enough breath to carry on a conversation comfortably, but at the same time be working hard enough that the conversation occasionally falters. That’s exactly your sweet spot.

You already know the most important things. But there are a number of further tips you can follow to improve your stamina:

If you’re a beginner, start with short training sessions and gradually increase the duration and intensity. This gives your body the time it needs to get used to your new, active lifestyle. A structured training plan will help you with this. You can also keep track of your progress – it’ll be a real boost to your motivation!

Whether you’ve only just discovered exercise for yourself or are already in top form – it’s not just about giving it your all on a regular basis; your body also needs sufficient rest. This is the only way to make progress and avoid injuries. Use this time-out to reflect and adjust your training plan

One of the best ways to recover? Restful sleep. Because during this phase, your body repairs itself and fights inflammation. Your muscles also relax, your heart rate and blood pressure drop, and the detoxification process is in full swing. As an active person, you generally need more sleep than those who aren’t keen on exercise – and that’s a good thing.

To ensure you have enough energy for your workouts, you need a healthy, balanced diet.

Carbohydrates play a key role in endurance sports. So, for example, if you focus on carbohydrates before a longer endurance session, studies suggest this can have a positive effect on your performance. Make sure to choose easily digestible carbohydrates that won’t weigh you down during your workout. For your main meals, you should focus on complex carbohydrates such as whole grains or legumes.

Protein should not be underestimated in endurance sports either. If you eat enough of it spread throughout the day and also consume some immediately before and after training, your body may be back in action more quickly. This also helps to keep muscle damage in check and means you lose less muscle mass.

Thanks to recent scientific studies, fats have also been gaining popularity amongst ultra-endurance athletes. However, for endurance athletes training at a ‘normal level’, a high-fat diet does not usually lead to any improvement in performance. Nevertheless, high-quality fats are important for hormonal balance and should definitely form part of your diet.

If you already have some experience of exercise and now want to train your endurance in a targeted way, you can try advanced methods such as ‘High-Intensity Interval Training’ (HIIT). This involves alternating short periods of exertion – usually lasting 20–60 seconds – with short active recovery periods of around 10–30 seconds. The main pieces of equipment used for this are rowing machines, treadmills, exercise bikes or cross-trainers.

Whilst experienced endurance athletes usually train for 45–90 minutes, a HIIT session, including a warm-up, lasts only between 10–20 minutes. This means you can not only quickly improve your endurance and boost your fat burning, but save time too.

Another characteristic of HIIT is that the exercise phases take place in the upper anaerobic zone, causing lactic acid (lactate) to build up in your muscles and blood. During the recovery phases or after the workout, this is slowly broken down again.

Do you need one last bit of motivation to finally get started with endurance training? Then take a look at the many benefits.

But be careful: you should not overdo it, especially at the start, to avoid the open-window effect. What does that mean? Whilst exercise has been proven to boost your immune system, if you push yourself too hard, the opposite can happen in the short term. After strenuous training sessions, the ‘window’ for pathogens remains wide open for a period of around 3–72 hours – making you more susceptible to falling ill.

The early bird catches the worm? When it comes to endurance sports, this is only true to a limited extent. It’s true that your body will benefit if you start early. But even people for whom sport hasn’t played a major role in their lives so far can still take it up at any time – and feel the positive effects very quickly. So it’s never too late to lace up your running trainers regularly or hop on your mountain bike. Every bird catches the worm! To ensure your endurance training pays off as quickly as possible, you should also make sure you maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle and can give your body an extra boost with performance-enhancing supplements.