Cardio is probably the least favorite form of exercising for most people and you may or may not be a part of this group.
I hear the same complaints from people about how boring cardio is and how they wish they didn’t have to incorporate it into their weekly fitness regimens.
Fortunately, those same folks understand the positive health benefits that cardio provides.
The biggest benefit being an increase in the metabolism…
The faster you metabolism, the more calories you’ll burn even while resting.
The people that despise cardio exercises have not developed their Fat-Burning Mindsets…
If they had the right mindset towards cardio, they’d see it as a gift to be able to transform their bodies into a fat-burning machine.
You on the other hand, understand vary clearly the importance of adding cardio to your fitness routine.
In this quick guide, you’re going to learn 5 ways you can use to improve your cardio endurance.
Let's jump in so that you can get your metabolism revved up…
WAY #1: Reduce The Amount Of Rest Time In Between Sets
When you reduce the amount of rest in between sets, you force your body to work harder in order to continue the exercise.
For example, let’s say that you’re performing sprints on a treadmill in which you run for 20 to 30 seconds intervals, and then get off to rest for 1 minute…
Then you get back on and repeat.
So, you’re sprinting for 20 to 30 seconds and resting for 1 minute.
All that you have to do to improve your cardio endurance is to reduce your resting time from 1 minute to 30 seconds.
This small change will make a huge difference in your cardio conditioning, not to mention burn more fat due to the increase in metabolism.
NOTE: The above is just an example; you must adjust your resting time according to where you are physically.
Tip: Go easy at first, don’t reduce your rest time so much that you’re not able to regain your normal breathing pattern or close to it. For best practices, gradually reduce your rest time in between sets to avoid injuries and overtraining.
WAY #2: Increase The amount Of Time Performing The Exercise
Another way to improve your cardio endurance is by increasing the duration of the exercise that you’re performing.
In other words, if you normally walk for 1 hour, simply increase it to 1 ½ hours.
That extra half hour will allow you to boost your metabolism and endurance at the same time.
Reminder: The average person can burn anywhere from 100 calories plus per mile walked.
WAY #3: Perform Exercises That Involve The Whole Body
Exercises that involve the whole body are what are called compound movements.
This is great news for you because you can burn more fat faster in a shorter period of time.
A good example of a compound movement is running, because multiple muscles come into play…
Your legs are moving, your arms are swinging, your core muscles (Abs/Lower back) are stabilizing your torso, your chest muscles are flexing due to your arm movement.
When you have all those muscles working to propel your body, you can’t help but improve your cardio endurance.
Examples Of Compound Cardio Exercises:
- Running
- Jumping Rope
- Jumping Jacks
- Squat Jumps
- Mountain Climbers
WAY #4: Perform Fast-Paced Movements
Remember, Way #2 was all about increasing the duration of cardio exercises to improve endurance…
Way number four is just the opposite.
So instead of going for longer periods of time, you simply increase the speed in a safe manner.
In essence, you will burn the same amount of calories in a shorter period of time.
A good analogy would be to think of traveling from Los Angeles to New York.
You have many options for traveling…
You can go by plane, train, car, and so forth.
Regardless of which travel method you choose, you’ll still get to New York.
The question is how fast?
It’s the same concept with performing your cardio exercises.
You can increase your exercise pace to burn that 300 calories in a shorter period of time or you can slow down the pace and increase your duration which will take a little longer, but in the end, you’ll still burn the 300 calories.
Does this make sense?
Tip: To avoid injuries and overtraining, increase your pace a little at a time
WAY #5: Combine Resistance Training With Cardio
I’m a firm believer in synergy, where you combine multiple methods, components, action steps, or what have you together to get a greater outcome.
Resistance training and cardio are no different…
When you combine the two, you will melt the fat off of your body so much faster than performing them individually.
Resistance training builds lean muscle mass while cardio boost your metabolism and build your endurance.
The more lean muscle mass you have, the more fat it burns…
So now you have the lean muscle mass and the cardio component melting the fat off right alongside each other.
This is power folks!
Tip: If you’re going to perform resistance training and cardio on the same day, perform your cardio first, as this will get your metabolism fired up.
Bonus Tip: If you really want to boost your enthusiasm, I highly recommend investing in a fitness tracker so that you can measure how many steps you’ve taken. Watching your number of steps increase is very rewarding and motivating to say the least.
Some of the fitness trackers allow you to participate in friendly walking competitions with people from around the world.
Conclusion
Boom! I just laid out five powerful ways that you can use to improve your cardio endurance anytime that you want, on-demand!
Remember the power in simplicity…
I want to emphasize the point that you should slowly implement these techniques to avoid injuries and overtraining…
I can’t stress that enough, always have something left in your energy tank, because your weight loss journey is a lifestyle now.
There’s no need to go out there and hurt yourself, and if you do, that can cause a major setback in your progress.
Well, I hoped that you’ve enjoyed the 5 Ways To Improve Cardio Endurance guide.
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