Building Endurance with Cardio

Having good endurance is an important part of any athlete’s life, but it plays a part in everyday life as well even if you’re not a professional athlete. Endurance means you can work out at a high intensity for a sustained period of time with minimal fatigue.  It means you can work long shifts in a physically demanding job and not end the day in traction. It means you can keep up with your kids at the park. And it means that you perform better and more consistently no matter what you’re doing.

Endurance isn’t just about cardio, but in this article, we’re going to concentrate on the ways you can use cardio to build your endurance and your health. The best thing about cardio is how many varieties of it there are available to choose from.  Sometimes doing one form of cardio every single day or even several times a week, can lead to boredom and burnout.  By switching up the kind of cardio you do, you can achieve two things; a) keep the body off balance in terms of benefits because it doesn’t become accustomed to the same thing, done the same way, at the same time each day, and b) prevent boredom in the athlete or active person which can lead to a cessation of exercise. 

How Long Do I Need To Exercise To Build My Endurance?

The length of time you perform a cardio exercise does play a part in its effectiveness.  It is recommended that you engage in whatever activity you choose for over 30 minutes. Exercising for longer than 30 minutes helps you burn fat, and increase your respiratory endurance.  Other excellent benefits include lowering your blood pressure, reducing stress, reducing your weight if that is a goal for you, and also aids in elevating your mood. 

It’s been proven that exercise aids in increasing confidence levels and also elevating mood.  If you ever find yourself in a down or crabby mood, try taking a 30 minute walk, or run around the yard with your kids or pets for at least 30 minutes, even if you don’t feel like it.  You’ll find that after a few minutes, your focus will change and you’ll feel better and less down or stressed!  You’ll also find that once you have been exercising regularly for a few weeks, you’ll miss it and feel the effects of its absence if you skip a day. 

Exercise isn’t always about organized routines that involve a gym or weight equipment. Those are fantastic and if you enjoy them and have a gym membership, definitely do it!  But cardio endurance can be built any day of the week in any number of fun and interesting ways and you won’t even realize you’re exercising in some cases.  The benefits will show in your health and in your overall mood as well!