When you think of "stamina", you may think of cardio training like running, jogging, or maybe cycling. But your cardio stamina is only a small part of the equation. With the popularity of obstacle course races like Tough Mudder or Spartan that involve running, climbing, sliding and sloshing, training for these types of challenges requires you to combine a variety of techniques to increase stamina and endurance that go beyond just running or biking.
Stamina and endurance both refer to your muscles' ability to work for sustained periods of time. Running is a great way to boost your stamina, but it's not the only way. Here are several others:
Combine Your Strength and Cardio Days
Most of us do cardio on one day and maybe do some lifting in the gym on another day. Combing the two into one day will get muscles working better and will further challenge your heart and your cardiovascular system. Push yourself on the weights or bodyweight training for 30 to 40 minutes, and follow it up with a good cardio workout for 30 to 45 minutes. It will push your heart to its max, and you'll boost your stamina greatly.
Rest Less
Men, in particular, give themselves between 30 and 90 seconds of recovery time in between weight sets. But that only helps to build strength, not stamina. If you want to push your endurance to the next level, give up your break time. Push yourself hard, and only give yourself a few seconds of rest between each set.
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MOVE FASTER
When you use weights at an extremely rapid pace, it will not only improve your strength, but will also carry over to improve your endurance. This also boosts your metabolism activity because excessive endurance-only training can actually slow down metabolism since it starts to eat away at your muscle tissue. Don't just curl, squat, or bench press slowly, but do the exercises at double speed -- and be mindful of your form so as to cause any injuries.
COMPOUND YOUR MOVEMENTS
Movements like leg extensions, bicep curls, and triceps are all good for isolating the muscles you want to build, but they won't demand as much from your body. Compound moves that require using more than one joint—like squats, step-ups, push-ups and pull-ups—will improve your endurance more so than exercises in isolation.
TEMPO RUNS
When you do your cardio try tempo runs rather than just going for a longer and further run. Tempo runs are normally run over a shorter distance, but at a higher pace than at which you normally train. Training like this helps your body to clear lactic acid from your bloodstream quicker, which means you can run longer before fatigue and lactic acid builds up and slows you down.
EAT FOR ENDURANCE
Carbs! Especially, as a runner, you should focus on making 55% – 65% of your calorie intake from carbs. Always go for complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, brown rice and oatmeal instead of refined carbs and sugary foods that will spike your blood sugar (a spike is always followed by your blood sugar crashing). If you find yourself tired, in a low mood or unable to complete your planned training, then increase your carbs.
As a final piece of advice, avoid routine. Switching up your workout is essential to building endurance and stamina. After two weeks, you body gets used to a workout. So if you’re always running, start biking. If you're only do weights, start running up stairs or putting your treadmill on an incline. You always want to move your muscles in different ways so that you don’t develop overuse, or get bored!
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