Endurance Movements

Part 5 of 5 - Movement Categories Series

By: Jason Bungo, CSCS

Endurance and cardio movements are important to increase our stamina and maintain a healthy cardiovascular system. There are many different ways to use these movements and not all involve slogging away for endless time on a select piece of cardio equipment. In this article we will be reviewing the different pieces of equipment or modalities we will use to train this facet of our fitness.

If we have specific endurance goals, such as a marathon, we will want to be specific and probably focus on running. But, if we are in for more general overall fitness it is acceptable to pick whichever you enjoy the most, or hate the least, depending on perspective.

As far as how to use them, we will want to start off fairly easy in both intensity and duration. To start we should be able to speak several sentences or carry on a short conversation with someone, this is how we will know we are not going too hard. As for duration, start shorter, maybe 15-30 minutes and progress. For duration we will also look at our total weekly time to somewhat more accurately quantify our total work. Programming endurance and cardio can get much more complicated than this, looking at different zones based on pace, heart rate, wattage, perceived exertion and more, but this article will primarily focus on the different forms and movements we can use in our endurance and cardio training to improve our fitness.

Traditional Endurance and Cardio Movements:

Walking:

This is an excellent place to start, it is weight bearing with mild impact to build strong bones and also our primary mode of transportation throughout our daily lives. Many people lead sedentary lifestyles nowadays and simply walking more can be the base to start a fitness routine. Walking is also great because we do not need any equipment and it can be done anywhere.

Hiking:

Like walking, but off road. This will place extra stress on the stabilizing muscles of the body due to the varying types of terrain we will face. And not just our footing, but the elevation changes will add challenge as well. Also, hiking can be great to break up the monotony of gym based treadmill walking and can be fun to get the whole family outside.

Running:

The natural progression for walkers and growing in popularity with people wanting to run races like marathons and obstacle course events. Running is great for the legs, but places extra stress on the lower body due to the higher impact involved in landing each step. This can help to make you stronger, but also increase injury risk if not managing our intensity and duration appropriately. Also like walking, running can be performed anywhere.

Cycling:

One of the best leg training endurance movements. Cycling probably does a better job of developing all of the muscles of the legs when compared to running, especially with cycling cleated shoes, we train our hamstrings and shin muscles as well. Cycling is also not weight bearing, unless standing, and has no impact, allowing us to do more total time each week or more time at higher intensities without increasing our risk of injury too much. Also consider using the air bike with the arm attachments to make cycling a full body workout. If you get into it, you can look at cycling outdoors, which can be very fun do to covering so much ground and getting to see a lot.

Swimming:

Like cycling, swimming is another great endurance movement that trains our full body with almost no impact or than pushing off the walls, allowing us to complete more total time and intensity each week. Swimming is great for the back, shoulders, arms and legs. The downsides are we will need pool access or open water access and be comfortable swimming. Additionally, the struggle with swimming is we need to be efficient enough to get a good workout, and often times we will need to work on our technique before we can count it as an efficient tool to improve our endurance.

Rowing:

Working the full body and being non-weight bearing and non-impact make rowing yet another excellent choice for endurance training. Most rowing machine also have power meter which allow you to view your power output in watts and base training on this metric as well. For the ambitious, a quality rower can be very space efficient and much more affordable than other pieces of cardio equipment.

Elliptical:

The elliptical is similar to the action of running but does not have the impact with landing, it is still weight bearing however which will help build strong bones and connective tissue. It is also a full body exercise when using the handles, training both the legs, pushing and pulling actions of the body.

Stair Stepper:

Climbing an endless flight of stairs sound like fun? Then this is the machine for you and great leg training piece of cardio equipment. Start slower than you think you need to when getting started on this piece of equipment as it can add up much quicker than expected. This is also great for endurance based athletes training for mountainous events with tons of elevation gain.

Group Exercise Classes:

Don't like exercising alone, group exercise classes offer a variety of ways to work out and make new friends. Another perk is they are led by instructors to help teach you the movements and provide advice to improve technique and keep you safe. Most of the group exercise classes will fall into our endurance and cardio movements.

Non-Traditional Endurance and Cardio Movements:

Jumping Rope:

Easily accessible and training the explosive movements of the legs. Start slower than you think you need to and for short durations to make sure the body gets comfortable and you do not risk injury to the legs.

Battle Ropes:

A fun upper body tool that has virtually endless variations to train. It can be used to train almost all actions in the upper body and core. Start with shorter, easier intervals to make sure your shoulders are comfortable with the movement.

Martial Arts:

Learn to defend yourself! Channel your inner discipline and learn a new skill while improving your endurance and cardio. Many martial arts disciplines are largely an endurance and cardio based practice. However, they also do a wonderful job improving strength, explosiveness, coordination and flexibility.