Ideas to Improve Cardiorespiratory Endurance

Endurance athletes are interested in improving their cardiorespiratory endurance to improve their athletic performance, but developing the cardiorespiratory system is beneficial for everyone. When the heart and lungs are strengthened and improved, you have a lower risk for chronic and cardiovascular diseases. To improve your cardiorespiratory system, participate in the appropriate workouts and exercise for the right duration and at the correct intensity.

  1. Cardiorespiratory Endurance

    • Cardiorespiratory endurance is the ability of your heart and lungs to effectively provide your working tissues with oxygen and nutrients as you complete submaximal exercise activity over a period of time. It requires your heart, lungs and circulatory system to efficiently work together, which can be improved by training in a particular manner.

    Choosing Appropriate Exercises

    • The types of exercises that improve cardiorespiratory endurance are the ones that tax your cardiovascular and respiratory systems over time, stimulating them to increase in strength and become more efficient. These aerobic activities include jogging, walking swimming, biking, riding an elliptical machine, rowing and other exercises that elevate your heart rate and breathing rate as you continuously work over time. To improve the likelihood that you'll be consistent with your workouts, choose the activities that you enjoy.

    Exercise Duration and Frequency

    • To improve cardiorespiratory endurance, a healthy person should complete aerobic activities for at least 30 minutes per day on most days of the week, according to the American Heart Association. If you're unable to complete an entire 30-minute workout at once, whether because of physical or time limitations, you can still receive benefits by splitting up the 30 minutes of exercise into multiple shorter exercise sessions. If you're capable, consider exercising for longer periods, which will further develop your cardiorespiratory system.

    Vary the Intensity

    • Instead of always completing 30 minutes of exercise and always at the same intensity, you can further develop your cardiorespiratory system by incorporating different types of aerobic training, which include longer durations at lower intensity, shorter durations at a higher intensity and interval training, which includes mixing in low and high intensity exercise into one workout. Longer durations at lower intensity workouts include maintaining a set intensity, typically about 50 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. Shorter durations of a higher intensity workout feature maintaining 80 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate. It's more difficult to maintain, and workouts are typically shorter. Interval workouts feature moving back and forth every few minutes between bouts of low and high intensity.