While exercise is absolutely paramount to your wellness, if you don’t take the steps to prevent injury you could be putting your wellbeing at risk. This is especially important to you endurance event trainers out there, so we’ve outlined six ways to improve your endurance without doing yourself a mischief.
1. Give yourself time off: When you’re creating your fitness plan, make sure you include rest days in which you both physically and mentally take a break from training. Vic Brown, associate strength and conditioning coach at Boston University and assistant coach for Boston Performance Coaching, a triathlon and endurance athlete coaching service, says, ‘I recommend training no more than two weeks consecutively without resting. Novice and/or masters athletes may require “off” days more frequently.’ He adds that you should include recovery weeks – which typically include fewer hours spent exercising or less miles trained – every third to fifth week.
2. Employ recovery techniques: ‘There are a number of ways to incorporate recovery into your routine,’ Brown asserts. ‘Biofoam rollers and massage sticks help sore, achy or stiff muscles recover from exercise. Watching movies, spending time with family, reading, listening to music or socializing with friends can all be effective relaxation strategies that allow you to disassociate from physical exercise and reduce tension while developing positive mood states of happiness and calmness.’
3. Get enough sleep: Sleep is vital for your body to grow and repair, especially if you’re physically active on a routine basis. Without the recommended eight to nine and a half hours of sleep each night, you may compromise your cardiovascular performance by up to 20%, which has a further impact on your reaction time, ability to process information and emotional stability. Brown adds, ‘Naps are always icing on the cake.’
4. Fuel up after exercise: It’s important to restore your muscle and liver glycogen stores with good post-workout nutrition, as well as improving your hydration and repairing your muscle tissues. Brown advises, ‘You should eat 15 to 30 minutes after exercise, preferably as soon as possible, when the muscles are most receptive to fuel. Muscle replenishment and tissue repair can be accelerated if you combine carbohydrates and protein together in a ratio of 4 to 1.’ You can work out how much water you’ve lost if you weigh yourself before and after exhaustive exercise. Then, in order to stay hydrated, you need to consume at least 24 ounces per pound of body weight lost within six hours after exercise. If you’re engaging in activity for more than four hours, make sure you include electrolytes to eliminate your risk of hyponatremia.
5. Warm Up…: Brown notes, ‘A proper warm up is a key component to preparing the body for the demands of any training session or competition. Developing a pre-race warm up is unique to each individual. Performing a warm up will elevate heart rate and VO2, and increase blood flow to the connective tissue and local muscles to be trained. This in turn will raise muscle temperature and help decrease joint and muscle stiffness, therefore improving range of motion.’ It is recommended that you warm up for five to 15 minutes, and then re-warm up after 45 minutes of inactivity.
6…And cool down: On the other side of the coin, a proper cool down is the beginning of your recovery process and preparation for the next day’s training. To clear lactic acid and reduce the severity of your muscle soreness, try effective cool down activities such as low-intensity aerobic exercises. This includes aquatic-based training, light jogging or cycling.
