7 Ways to Boost Your Endurance and Stamina

1. Combine strength days with cardio days.

It’s a simple equation: the more muscle you can get working, the more it will challenge your heart and your cardiovascular system. Instead of building cardio-only workouts (the pitfall that’ll prevent you from building endurance) make sure to weave strength days into your training. “Most people reserve one day for strength and another day for cardio. 

2. Reduce your amount of rest between sets.

Men typically give themselves between 30 and 90 seconds of recovery time in between sets, but if your goal is greater endurance, be prepared to sacrifice break time. “By the end of your sets, your muscles should be burning—you should be breathing heavily and sweating,” says Torres.

3. Do fast-paced, high-intensity lifting.

“When you use weights at an extremely rapid pace, it will not only improve your strength, but also carry over to improve your endurance activity,” says Torres. “It’s one of the best ways to ignite your metabolism. 

4. Choose compound movements over isolation.

Compound moves that require using more than one joint—like squats, step-ups, push-ups and pull-ups—will improve your endurance more so than exercises in isolation. “Isolated exercises like bicep curls and leg lifts aren’t going to stimulate you enough to increase your stamina,” he says.

5. Remember: Routine is the enemy.

Switching up your workout is essential to building endurance and stamina. According to Torres, the human body gets used to a workout after two weeks. So if you’re always running, start doing Muay Thai instead. Or if you’re an avid cyclist, change it up by running stairs.

6. Go for hybrid exercises.

A squat with an added overhead press (a “thruster”), jumping pullups, and lunges with biceps curls are all great hybrids: exercises that take two separate movements and combine them. “The more muscles you can get working in a movement, the more it will stimulate your heart muscles, which in turn improves your stamina.”

7. Add explosive movements to your workout.

Explosive movements that take a lot of energy challenge your strength, endurance and stamina simultaneously. Once you become more explosive, you’ll notice that you’ll actually start moving faster. Try adding things like burpees, box jumps, jumping knee tucks and power pushups to your workout routine.

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