Beginners Guide to the Gym- Aerobic Endurance

Having any form of aerobic endurance is a great place to start when it comes to getting fit. Being aerobically fit lets you run longer, harder, farther and gives you the oppurtunity to metabolically use fats better. You will be more likely to store them in your muscles instead of in your fat cells and it will help you have sustained energy longer. There are several ways that people increase their aerobic endurance and im going to cover them and give you tips to help you increase your aerobic endurance.

Increasing Aerobic Endurance

1. Long Slow Distance- This is exactly what it sounds like. Taking and longer amount of time to run a longer distance at a slower speed. This is a great place to start to build your aerobic endurance. Long slow distance allows you to take your time and go at an easier pace so you can go longer than you would at a higher pace. Now if you have a very low aerobic level you really need to start slow, even walking until you can build up to running would be your best bet if you need to. Use this to build a base level and even later on in training to help with recovering from high intensity training sessions.
2. Aerobic Intervals- Ive talked about intervals in previous articles but those were geared more towards anaerobic(without oxygen) intervals at a very high intensity. Aerobic intervals are the same concept except take are longer periods. You would run at a higher intensity for say 15 minutes then rest for 5 minutes. So the work to rest ratio with aerobic intervals is 3:1 whereas with anaerobic intervals its 1:3. When doing aerobic intervals you shoul shoot for around 3-4 intervals in the beginning and trying to build up from there.
3. Anaerobic Intervals- As strange as it might sound, anaerobic intervals can help increase your aerobic endurance just as good as aerobic intervals. Anaerobic intervals help increase lactate threshold which in turn allows your body to clear lactate from the muscle longer and at higher concentrations meaning you can run longer and harder than someone who has a lower threshold. Anaerobic intervals should start out easier with 15s hard work and at least 45s rest, probably longer when starting out though. Then build up to 20/40 and so on. Never let work be greater than rest though, the lowest your work to rest ratio should be is 1:1. Implement these and you'll be able to give your hardest for a longer time and give yourself a better time.
4. Fartlek- Fartlek is a swedish word that means "speed play". The concept is similar to intervals except there are no set times or distances. Simply start running and randomly begin sprinting/ running faster for a period of time and then ease up and run at a slower pace for however long you want. How far you want to go or how long is completely up to you. If your listening to music when running try jogging for a song then running at a faster pace for another song and keep switching. Youll always have different distances and times and help yourself increase your aerobic endurance.

The last few options are going to be a lot harder and more intense than simply going for a run and should be utilized once you have a solid aerobic base. Also, once you build up your base and begin to add in these other training methods you should vary them up and add resistance training into your training. Resistance training adds strength and stamina to your muscles to allow you to work harder and longer in your runs. Always allow days to rest and recover, these include complete off days, or easy paced long slow distance runs.

Summing It Up
There are many benefits to increasing your aerobic endurance. Fat loss, increased metabolic processing, and an ability to run longer and harder. There are also many ways to increase your aerobic endurance. Remember to always build a solid base of aerobic endurance before starting a high intensity aerobic endurance training program. Make sure to incorporate high intensity anaerobic work to increase lactate thershold increase lactate clearance. Dont forget the importance of rest, because if you dont take a break and let your body heal your going to hurt yourself more and gain less.