Some call it resistance, breath or, to be more precise, aerobic capacity , however the result does not change, we are talking about how long and how sustainedly an athlete is able to cope with the effort of running.
Shortness of breath has the same symptoms for everyone : heart rate too high, poor muscle performance and the need to breathe harder to compensate for the muscles’ sudden demand for oxygen. Nothing new right?
In this article we are going to see how to improve endurance in running, have more breath and, therefore, improve performance.
Tips to increase running endurance
Before starting, we would like to make a small indent. These are tips that we give to a reader in good shape and without particular pathological situations, these are purely informative concepts and we urge you, as always, to contact a professional in case you find specific difficulties when running. With that said, let’s get started!
Be Constant
It may seem trivial and certainly already heard, however when it comes to sport, the body needs a gradual adaptation that can take weeks, months and even years.
Our advice is to train consistently and to do it at least 3 times a week in a very gradual manner, if you are quite out of shape you could think of running even just 3km at a time, alternating running and walking at a brisk pace .
This approach will not only improve your cardiovascular fitness, but will help your joints get used to the impacts your body receives while running, promoting a gradual adaptation and reducing the risk of injury .
Recovery And Gradualness
It may seem counterintuitive but a fundamental part of sport is recovery. It is true that our body adapts little by little but struggles to do so when subjected to particular stresses. It is therefore of fundamental importance to allocate an adequate number of days to rest and try to sleep an adequate number of hours.
Only by training in this way will you begin to feel the first improvements even after a couple of weeks, being able to run more having more breath available. Be careful though! This state of “improvement” could mislead you and make you take a longer step than you can, always keep an eye out and try not to increase the general effort more than 5-10% during the race.
Even if you run, running requires a good deal of patience.
Exercises To Increase Breath
Now let’s talk about some exercises to improve your breath that don’t involve running. Well yes, running is not only a muscular issue but also and above all circulatory cardio.
So here it is possible to train by doing exercises on the spot that will help you increase your resistance .
Burpees are undoubtedly one of the best exercises for runners. Starting from a standing position, jump with your hands up, as soon as you touch the floor, squat down, bend down by throwing your legs backwards with a hop, complete the bend, return to your feet after bringing your legs forward with a hop .
This exercise involves the use of practically all the muscles of the body and if performed many times it is really exhausting. A workout set is normally 5 sets of 10 reps with 1-2 minutes of rest in between .
Then we have an evergreen which is jumping rope , another bodyweight exercise with which you can both warm up and train. Depending on the speed and variations you do, this is also one of the exercises to increase your breath that gives more results.
If you are looking for tutorials and other exercises for running, we recommend that you take a look at running360.it
Endurance Workouts
Obviously the resistance must then be strengthened and improved “on the field” while running. The types of training that can be done concern three types of running:
- Running at a steady pace . No matter what you’re training for, developing a good fund of breath is key to improving your aerobic fitness at any level whether it’s 1km, 5km or 40km. This kind of training is what those who need to lose weight must also follow .
- Intermittent running . It is a training plan which consists in alternating moments of maximum sprint with others of calm running. Normally they are divided into sets of no more than 15 minutes during which two 20-second or 30-second splits alternate without rest. For beginners it can be very difficult.
- Shots or intervals. It involves running at maximum speed for a certain amount of time or distance and then providing for a passive recovery period, i.e. standing still or walking. The typical training set on the track consists of 5 repetitions of 400 meters, half track.