Scientifically speaking, endurance matters because it means your muscle fibers can keep firing for longer periods of time which means you become more efficient at going faster, longer— or both.
Whether you’re in the weight room or out on the road or working the spin bike, ultimately, building up your endurance is a key component to your overall health. Better endurance is a sign that your heart is pumping more efficiently and we need that to live longer, healthier lives.
Here are three general tips that will help you increase your your ability to endure:
Slow down Whatever it is, take your time. Keeping your body under tension will allow you to build both cardiovascular and muscular endurance.
Increase your frequency A few more reps at a slower tempo or additional sessions at that slower pace will help increase your efficiency at any activity.
Interval/Plyometric Train Doing sprints and jumping exercises will help train your fast twitch muscle fibers and the efficiency of your anaerobic cardiovascular system.
Stay with me now, and let’s pivot for a moment. In our every day life let’s think about endurance as a fundamental human quality, a silent strength that underpins our ability to overcome challenges, adapt to hardships, and ultimately, survive. It allows us to outrun danger, climb to safety, or persevere through an ordeal until help arrives. It fuels the fight-or-flight response, keeping us alive when seconds count. Ask Desi Linden how endurance led her through a nor-’easter right to the podium of the 2018 Boston Marathon. Read about how Corrie Ten Boom never let go of her faith in God, even as she endured the horrors of the Holocaust. Discover the unmistakable willpower of Henry Dempsy who survived a freak plane accident hanging partially in and out of a plane for 10 minutes before it finally landed.
Now look around at your friends and family and see how they have endured-- a diagnosis, a loss, infertility, abuse, depression, an accident. Friends we are strong because we endure. Every obstacle we face, we are tested and each time we take the proverbial “next step” we teach not just our heart, but our soul how to be strong. Endurance is life’s greatest skill.
Here are a few way to endure in life:
Accept the unchangeable Understand that the unchangeable things are the irritants that refine our character just as a grain of sand can create a pearl.
Adjust to the obstacles No one likes having to redirect their course or take a detour that could result in a much longer route, however, journey’s are rarely linear. In reality some of the best parts of the journey are actually on the detour!
Abide with patience Friends, life can be boring. You learn patience in these boring times. When the day to day becomes monotonous and you have to keep choosing to go on, that is where you learn patience. Embrace it!
Announce HOPE Believe that what is coming is better than what has passed!
