Endurance training has been a staple of healthy living and fitness culture since the running craze in the 60s. It is highly assessable to everyone because it costs little to nothing to get started and there is so much written about it. With all the knowledge constantly circulating about endurance training, it is less intimidating to get into than Olympic Weightlifting or calisthenics. The need for coaching isn’t necessary to start but it is always helpful to speed up success and accomplishing your goals. Here are three coaching tips for enduring you endurance training.
Fitness Tip 1: Log
The importance and benefit of recording what is done is severely overlooked. Getting a legal pad or a notebook and jotting down what was done that day and how you felt doesn’t just improve performance, it also improves the psychological aspect. Accountability goes up, stress and anxiety decrease, and mood improves. This all happens by simply writing down what is going to be done and what has been. It doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated, but it should include certain things to get the most out of your time.
Recording You Endurance Training
- Date
- Time of Training
- How you feel pre, during, and post training
- Goals
- Training Routine
All these elements let you track the progress being made. If you are getting closer to your goals and the consistency of your training. It is vital information to know feelings and progress to ensure that sustainability is being established. Without sustainability, this is just a “crash diet of fitness” and won’t endure throughout your life. Establishing a vision for your health is time well spent.
Check out bulletjournal.com for tips on maximizing the journal.
Fitness Tip 2: Distance
It’s all about the distance! Don’t worry about speed, cadence, intensity, or percentages. Just get the distance in. The body needs a base to work from and not just from a lung capacity point of view. Bone, joint, ligament, and muscle all need time to adapt to the new stresses of moving. Volume is the only way to do it safely without getting a serious injury.
Too often intensity and volume are both done at a higher rate in the beginning which does not give the anatomical features of the body time to adapt. This inevitability leads to injuries, broken spirits, and the giving up on your goals way too soon. Keep it simple. Do 1 mile and then the next day, do 1 mile. When you are not tired after 1 mile, add another mile or a half and continue on from there. Depending on your goals, intensity and volume can all be adjusted after an initial phase. Putting in mileage should not be overlooked or undervalued, simplicity is key.
Fitness Tip 3: Variety
Many people start the new year of their fitness careers by running. All it costs is a pair of shoes. After consistently running for a month it starts to get boring. Motivation dwindles and you don’t enjoy it like you use to. When starting towards a new goal, consistency is key to making progress, becoming an expert, while variety keeps the spark alive.
Beginning fitness goals include losing weight for the most part which allows for endless variety. Bike, run, sprint, swim, play, jump rope, row, crawl, ruck and even walk to achieve your goals. Distance is distance to your body and even though biking is less stressful on the gastrocnemius than running, it doesn’t really matter. Big calves or lose weight? Thus the importance of logging and knowing your goals. The difference between biking, rowing, and running should be left for experienced trainees, elite athletes, and professionals. Is a mile bike ride the same as a mile jogging? It doesn’t really matter, put in the mileage. Doing something is better than doing nothing!
Just remember LDV; log, distance, and variety. Don’t get caught up with VO2 Max and the science. So get out there and log a mile or two. Just remember not to make it complicated, leave it to the coaches and elite to complicate training. Have fun with your endurance training and accomplish your goals.
Kyle Esep
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