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How To Build Endurance and Stamina

endurance and staminaWith the lockdown slowly lifting, I am sure we’ll be able to run freely and participate in marathons and other sporting events. As we’ve been indoors for so long, there’s a chance that your endurance and stamina might have been affected. To avoid gasping for breath while increasing speed and to improve your time duration while avoiding injuries, let’s take a look at how you can improve your endurance and stamina and prepare for the new normal! 

Tip To Improve Endurance and Stamina 

Endurance and stamina are the body’s ability to exert itself to its maximum without completely gasping for breath while being able to speak a sentence. There are certain tips and tricks to increase and build endurance and stamina.  

  1. Maintain a Schedule: with 2-3 short distance runs and a long distance run at least once a week to acclimatize the body to run farther distances and to build Aerobic capacity. Then slowly try to increase the duration of the run by 1km per week or 0.5 km per week depending on your fitness levels. For instance, 2-3times, 5-8km runs in a week with one 10km run in the first week (this is for athletes who are at moderate level intensity). With increasing the distance by 0.5-1km per week for Long runs for a couple of months, followed with increasing the Speed needed to cover the same distance.
  2. A simple rule of thumb that can be followed here is the FITT (Frequency of exercise, Intensity of Exercise, Type of Exercise and Time duration needed to complete a distance) principle: Always increase the time duration first (of the long runs) in the first few weeks of training. Then increase the speed/intensity of the workout in the coming months of training. This trick  helps in preventing any form of injury.
  3. Muscle Strengthening: For completing marathons in less time and improving speed and fitness, strengthening the core muscles and the lower body muscles is a necessity as doing only cardio will reduce the resistance in joints and muscles. The weight of the entire body lies on the legs and is supported by the core muscles. It would be great to sneak in a couple of days of weight bearing strength training into the schedule. But my advice would be try for more repetitions and lesser weights while doing strength training (avoid extremely heavy weights as the goal is to build on Muscular Endurance and strength and not become bulky). 
  4. Nutrition: is as important as exercises for improving stamina. It can make or break a performance. 1-2 bananas or 12-15 grapes 20mins before a short run would be a great option or 1 bowl muesli with 1 banana and milk would be perfect 1-1.5 hours before a long run. Even 1-2 Idlis 1 hour before the workouts would be a perfect blend of Carbs, Proteins and Salt. A homemade Nimboo pani with pink salt and jaggery/sugar would be great to be carried for sipping during the runs or a coconut water or even an electoral would work the trick for long runs. 20-30mins post workout is the window of anabolic opportunity where max absorption of nutrients happens. Preferable to have post workout nutrition within 20mins of workout. Dates(4-5 in nos), Prunes(handful), Banana(1-2), Raisins(handful), Grapes(12-15 in nos), Watermelon(1-2 slices) along with a glass of Milk or Whey isolate or 2 (whites):1(yolk) eggs for proteins would be great. Even having your Breakfast rich in carbs-proteins immediately post workout (if a morning run) would work as a fantastic post workout meal.
  5. Recovery: No training or progression with any goal is complete without sufficient rest and recovery periods. Sleep, rest is essential to excrete toxin and lactic acid build up in the body. It is very important to also reduce the levels of the stress hormone Cortisol (which also increases with training), it helps in recovery of every cell and muscle in the body thereby enabling better performance.

Simple things like doing an active warm-up pre-workout and static cool down stretches post workout is essential to prevent any forms of injury and will indirectly help in building endurance and stamina.

We hope this article helps you prepare when lockdown is completely lifted. For tips on weight/strength training, you can check out home-workouts by our fitness experts on GOQii Play. To read more about indoor workouts, check out Healthy Reads. 

Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments below! 

#BeTheForce 

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How much strength training you should do?

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In my previous article, I mentioned about how much cardio you should do? In that article, I have mentioned about 3 components of exercise: –

Cardio

Strength training

Flexibility

So, after writing about cardio exercises and how much one should be doing it, the next logical question which comes to the mind is how much strength training you should do?

When we talk about cardio, it becomes a bit easy to answer the question HOW MUCH? Because we can measure it in time but when we apply this question to strength training it becomes a bit tricky.

When people exercise, not everyone does it in the same way. Some people who exercise for 25 minutes are actually working out more than someone who does it for an hour.

When someone tells me that they exercise for 1.5 hours in the gym, my next question to them is – how can you do that?

So, this 1.5 hours includes 30 minutes of the workout, 15 minutes of phone checking session, 10 minutes of MIRROR SELFIES, 10 minutes of water break and some talks here and there.

This isn’t 1.5 hours of gym.

So, if I answer the question saying you can do strength training for 1 hour that won’t be fair.

When we talk about strength training in sports science,

How much? Means total volume per session.

How is this total volume per session calculated?

Number of sets x Number of repetitions x Weight in pounds

For example: –

Number of sets = 3

Number of repetitions= 10

Weight (60kg) = 132 pounds

Let’s put these values in the formula mentioned above: –

3x10x132 = 3960 pounds (1796 kg)

This means that the answer for how much strength training you should do?

Is 1796 kg for that particular workout?

I know, this was extremely technical for you and I don’t even want you to understand that because except the trainer, nobody actually even thinks about it.

So, my whole point is, do not quantify exercises in the terms HOW MUCH. The answer could be as tricky as the example mentioned above!

You should always focus on the following points when you talk about strength training exercises.

(1) What is your goal?

  • Same way as the cardio works, strength training to depends upon your goal. For a person who has to make a record in activities which needs strength will have a different goal as compared to a one who has to run a marathon.

Please note: – Everybody requires all the 3 components of the exercise as mentioned in my previous article and also mentioned in the first paragraph. All the components have to be modified based on the GOAL of the individual.

I don’t want my readers to get bored with these scientific basics so I have tried to put some generic numbers depending upon different goals but it may vary from person to person.

GOAL How many times a week? How many exercises? How many sets? How many reps?
Endurance athlete in sports season  Once 10-12 1-2 3-5
Endurance athlete not in sports season Twice 4-10 2-4 5-15
Fat loss Thrice 3-8 3-7 6-20
Muscle gain 4-5 times 4-8 3-10 3-12
Bone-strengthening 3-4 times 3-7 3-8 5-12
Strength training 3-12 times (2 times a day might also be needed) 2-6 3-10 1-5

 

(2) What is your level?

  • You are a beginner if you have never done any strength training exercises.
  • You are a beginner if you are resuming your strength training exercises after a gap of 6-7 months.
  • You are a beginner if you are doing exercises regularly but yet not reached your desired results (which also means that you are not working out properly)
  • You can do advanced strength training exercises only after 6 months of proper form.

(3) What is your intensity?

  • Higher intensity, less frequency helps you a lot if you are planning to lose weight.
  • Higher intensity strength training exercises less frequently can give you better results than lower intensity strength training exercises every day.

(4) What is your body’s response?

  • This is perhaps the most important part when you exercise. It all depends upon your body’s response. It depends on your age, metabolism.
  • For someone who is exactly same like you, working out like you will have different results as compared to you.
  • All you should do is continue on the right path, trust your body and everything will fall into place.

I always tell,

“Workout for fitness and good health, weight loss will come as a gift to you”

I will soon be out with different strength training exercises for different levels

 

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Weight Loss Vs Fat Loss

weight loss vs fat loss

Who does not want to look good? Be it family functions, office dos or even a society party? There would seldom be anyone who thinks otherwise. Being fit, with a chiselled and curvaceous body fitting in the LBD with a glow on your face, playing with an awesome stamina, doing a set of proper push ups/pull ups to impress someone is natural. Burt, this is not all. Invariably the idea to look like this is more often than not accompanied by the very thought of weight loss.

I have never understood this fixation of the mind for weight loss. Why is it such a big thing to lose those extra kilos? Is it all about weight loss or looking your best in that party dress, being the most beautiful bride, a guy on the beach with a dashing personality, being awarded as the best player

YOU JUDGE!!

As a nutritionist, I am often battling these questions on weight loss. I have lots of people coming up to me with a target of losing 5-7kg in 2 months or losing that belly fat. And, to achieve this they are ready to give up on their food, gym twice a day for hours, go around running like crazy.

Let me at the outset tell you that weight loss in numbers will never give you that toned lean body and that lovely skin; it will just show you that the weight is reducing without any significant positive effect.

In order to achieve that toned lean body, you have to concentrate on losing your inches by losing that stored fat in your body. But, there is never a guarantee of weight loss.

After having battled the questions on how to lose weight, how do I get a lean and toned body, the other big question often thrown at me at the end is HOW CAN YOU SAY NO GUARANTEE of weight loss.

 Well, the answer to this question is because Body weight consists of adipose tissue and lean body mass-muscle, bones, organs, water. Of these, the Muscles are the most important part as it takes cares of your body’s calorie burning capacity. If you burn more calories you lose more fat. Therefore preserve that muscle and increase it. Muscles are dense tissue and therefore it weighs more but takes less space and gives a shape to your body.

Rather than checking on the number on the weight machine, check on what is that weight made of, the percentage of muscle versus fat in it. Start concentrating on your fat loss as that gives you a good health, happy life, more energy, more stamina and endurance so you can give in your best at work, home and LIFE. Thus, leading you to shift to a healthier lifestyle permanently!!

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