Build Endurance for Your Summer
Let Fuel 100 help you build endurance for your summer of fun. Photo Source: livestrong.com
Summer is here and you will want to get outside and enjoy the weather and comradery of friends and family. The only problem is that winter and a hectic work schedule has reduced your fitness level. Not to fear, build endurance needed for your summer adventures with these fitness tips.
1. Make a Goal. This sounds simple and hokey, but there is science behind it. When you write down a goal and the steps to accomplish the goal it focuses the mind on something concrete and the brain starts to program itself to accomplish it. Put the goal someplace visible to increase the impact. As you cross-off steps to accomplish the goal you will get a little boost of dopamine to help sustain motivation. Isn’t the brain wonderful!
2. Sustained Activity. Build endurance with sustained activity using the concept of periodization. Periodization is alternating between segments of intense effort and recovery effort. Running intervals while maintaining a heart rate of around 60 percent of max is a good way to start. Conduct a good 10 minute warm-up and then sustain the interval workout for 25-30 minutes using periods of intense effort mixed with recovery effort. As your fitness level improves try increasing the heart rate to the 70 and 80 percent mark. Your goal should be three interval workouts a week for around a month to build endurance foundation for your activities.
3. Building Strength. While the most visible sign of fitness, or the lack of fitness, is breathing hard during a workout, muscular strength is also important for endurance. Resistance training has evolved in the last decade and does not require a complicated gym workout. Most strength training for endurance can be done with items around the house or at a local park. Core strength is the key to help build endurance; push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and pull-ups all help build a strong core and can be done without an expensive gym membership.
4. Nutrition. While you build endurance for your summer adventures, it is also a good time to revisit your nutritional habits. Your body will be working hard doing intervals and strength training, make sure you are fueling it with wholesome foods in the right proportion and try to stay away for these items. As you progress in your endurance training and on your endurance adventures, consider taking an easy to eat energy source that doesn’t take a lot of water to wash down. Fuel 100 makes a variety of high-octane all-natural great tasting calorie and electrolyte replacement snacks that can keep you fueled while you build endurance.