Endurance...

RTW2 · 03-25-2009, 05:24 AM

I love running/jogging, but im really not that good at long distance. I cant even run half a mile without having to stop for a little bit.

Are there any methods to increase stamina/endurance?

Phil2009 · 03-25-2009, 05:29 AM

Practice makes perfect. Pretty straightforward with running goals. Its just about persistence.

Ironlife · 03-25-2009, 05:33 AM

Is it that your body wants to stop or is it your mind... think about it. If it is your body you just have to do what Phil said and keep persisting at it work on your fitness and after a few weeks youll notice some good results.

RTW2 · 03-25-2009, 05:41 AM

yeah i guess i should have said this in the first place, sorry.... im a exsmoker so its pretty much the fact that i cant breath.

Ironlife · 03-25-2009, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RTW2

yeah i guess i should have said this in the first place, sorry.... im a exsmoker so its pretty much the fact that i cant breath.

Good effort on smoking there i thought id say that, and yeah just continue to increase your overall fitness by running with small goals in mind..it might be run X distance in X amount of time and try to improve.

Mindi911 · 03-25-2009, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RTW2

yeah i guess i should have said this in the first place, sorry.... im a exsmoker so its pretty much the fact that i cant breath.

Like Phil said in your case practice makes perfect. It's tough because you can't breathe and yes you are going to have to stop and continue once you've got your breath back however it's the only way.

The other way to do this is run for two minutes, walk two minutes, run, walk, etc. and build on it from there.

RTW2 · 03-25-2009, 05:51 AM

thanks guys, reps to all..

akasp · 03-25-2009, 06:06 AM

I have a story about the "mind over body" thing.

When I started doing cardio, I did 20 minutes, thought I was very tired so I didn't bother more because I didn't want to exhaust myself completely.

Next time, a few days later, something was bothering me so I started doing cardio on the same bike to think about something else... I did 80 minutes this time... how the heck could I quadruple the time with about the same intensity just a few days later? Take into account I was completely untrained when it came to cardio work.

So I came to the conclusion that my mind gives in A LOT quicker than my legs.

I hate to jog, after 10 minutes I feel like I'm done. But I know that's only my mind trying to convince me to stop, because it doesn't like the activity. Of course, jogging is a lot tougher than a cardio bike, but still.

I realize a smoker might have issues with his respirotary system that I'm unqualified to talk about but... I still have this feeling that your respirotary system is capable of more than your mind leads you to believe! The mind is your enemy, really, in most things. It's devious as well. I wouldn't be surprised if you're going to quick sometimes, just because you unconscienciously want to quit, and therefore fail to pace yourself because that gives you an excuse to just go home

Our bodies can endure a lot of ****. Let me put it like this. Hunters/gatherers in the stone age are estimated to have taken 25 000 steps per day on average. Modern, physically active humans average around 10 000. Inactive modern humans average 1000-2500 steps. Yeah, these numbers are vague, but potentially, you have most of our sociecty taking 10 to 25 times less steps today, then they would've done some thousand years ago.

Oh, and yesterday I saw a women swim from Florida to Cuba or something on TV. Set a record. It took her 24 hours IIRC... 24 hours in the water swimming... that sounds incredible doesn't it? Just goes to show how much our bodies are capable of!