Cardio Endurance Exercises

From professional level athletes to those who just want to stay in shape, cardiovascular workouts have a place in every workout. There are numerous ways to build your levels of endurance, including high repetition weightlifting, bike riding and power walking. No matter what exercises you use, carefully pushing yourself beyond what you think is your limit is the only way to build your cardio endurance level.

  1. Cardiovascular Health

    • Also known as aerobic health, cardiovascular health deals with how well your body consumes oxygen. During exercise your body produces glucose, a natural sugar, which is then used with oxygen to create the energy needed to power your body. To improve the duration and level of intensity you can work at, you must exercise at the recommended cardio levels and slowly go beyond them.

    Running: It's Natural and Cheap

    • Running is often considered the best way to improve your cardio health. This exercise doesn't require much other than comfortable clothing and supportive shoes. A brisk jog around the neighborhood three times a week will do wonders for beginners. Running allows you to burn high levels of calories. Using the calories burned calculator at aolhealth.com (find a link in the Resources section), you can see that an individual weighing 140 pounds can burn more than 300 calories while running for 30 minutes at a rate of 10 minutes per mile. The main concerns with running is that over time it can begin to do damage to your knees and lower back. To prevent this, stretching, warming up and cooling down are highly recommended.

      When it comes to using running to help build your cardio endurance, patience is key. You must not over extend yourself too quickly or you can discourage yourself from reaching your goals. The first thing you need to do is gauge your current levels of fitness. On the first day don't set a planned distance to run, but run until you feel the need to stop. When you reach that point, take note of it, and continue to push yourself a little more beyond that each day. Keeping a workout notebook helps because once a week you can see how well you are improving.

    Biking

    • Whether you ride a stationary bike at the gym or bike outside, this exercise will also help improve the strength in your legs, particularly if you throw in hills or higher levels of resistance. While you may not burn as many calories as you would running, you'll still improve your cardio health and build leg strength.

      As with running, pushing yourself further will help you reach new levels. However with biking it is a good idea to use different types of terrain during training. If your neighborhood or local riding area has numerous hills, then using those paths or streets will give an added boost to your workout. Mountain biking can be good for this.

      Using higher levels of intensity when riding will help you build higher levels of cardio strength and endurance. Casually riding a bike will not force your body to adapt to new stress, so you must ride at a faster pace for longer periods of time than normal.

    Elliptical Machine

    • A cross between running and skinning, the elliptical trainer is a good tool to push yourself to new levels of endurance. This machine works several muscle groups throughout your body while allowing you to set varying levels of resistance to help improve your strength.

      Interval training on the elliptical machine will improve your cardiovascular strength. When you first start, stay on the machine for 10 to 15 minutes at the lower settings. As you feel yourself becoming accustomed to these levels, increase your total time and the resistance. Varying the direction that you push the leg pedals will train different muscles in your legs and core, which also helps to build endurance.