Increasing cardio stamina?

micheleb15

I have been working out regularly for about 5 months now. I am much stronger than I was when I first started, but feel like I should have more cardio endurance than I should. I do training 3 times a week - Usually 2 circuits. (ex. workout - 3 sets each circuit - Circuit 1 - decline bench, decline abs, 20 box jumps - Circuit 2 - pull-ups, bosu burpees, kettle bell squats and then 3 sets of running 4 flights of stairs).

I run 2 miles and do HIIT 2x a week and then usually take off two days. There are days that I still need to stop and take a few minutes to catch my breath which is fine, but I feel like my cardio capacity should be greater. Is there anything else I can do to help increase my cardio stamina or will there always be days that I feel like I may die? (being dramatic)

FYI, my workouts only take between 30-45 minutes a day.

mreeves261

The thing I found that helps me is added 1 day of long distance bicycle riding. I'm not fast but I'm steady and make myself do a minimum of 2 hours, ends up being between 25 and 30 miles. It makes my jogging/walking 3 miles a lot easier, or at least feel a lot easier. When I find myself crunched for time I will cycle 20 and run 20. This might not work for you but it has me being able to jog more and walk less.

heybales

So all that training is at anaerobic or high aerobic level, none of which will help with endurance cardio.

Really just trains the body to go in to carb burning state faster than really needed, and in that state, much easier to push over the line and be anaerobic which will be out of breath as body catches up.

I'd count your stair work as HIIT, well, at least intervals if you do them right. Most people don't do HIIT anyway, but some other form of intervals.

So skip the HIIT on running days, and give the time saved to running longer. And then slow down, don't try to race it each time as fast as possible.
You should be in the middle Aerobic HR zone for that 3-4 mile run.

That will also benefit your other stuff.

Because high level aerobic or anaerobic doesn't train the endurance part much at all, usually makes it worse.
But low level aerobic can train the anaerobic level higher, as you improve your ability to be aerobic for longer before going anaerobic.

micheleb15

So all that training is at anaerobic or high aerobic level, none of which will help with endurance cardio.

Really just trains the body to go in to carb burning state faster than really needed, and in that state, much easier to push over the line and be anaerobic which will be out of breath as body catches up.

I'd count your stair work as HIIT, well, at least intervals if you do them right. Most people don't do HIIT anyway, but some other form of intervals.

So skip the HIIT on running days, and give the time saved to running longer. And then slow down, don't try to race it each time as fast as possible.
You should be in the middle Aerobic HR zone for that 3-4 mile run.

That will also benefit your other stuff.

Because high level aerobic or anaerobic doesn't train the endurance part much at all, usually makes it worse.
But low level aerobic can train the anaerobic level higher, as you improve your ability to be aerobic for longer before going anaerobic.

Thanks for this. I'll try for longer runs rather than extra HIIT.

Azdak

So all that training is at anaerobic or high aerobic level, none of which will help with endurance cardio.

Really just trains the body to go in to carb burning state faster than really needed, and in that state, much easier to push over the line and be anaerobic which will be out of breath as body catches up.

I'd count your stair work as HIIT, well, at least intervals if you do them right. Most people don't do HIIT anyway, but some other form of intervals.

So skip the HIIT on running days, and give the time saved to running longer. And then slow down, don't try to race it each time as fast as possible.
You should be in the middle Aerobic HR zone for that 3-4 mile run.

That will also benefit your other stuff.

Because high level aerobic or anaerobic doesn't train the endurance part much at all, usually makes it worse.
But low level aerobic can train the anaerobic level higher, as you improve your ability to be aerobic for longer before going anaerobic.

Agree--training benefits are specific to the training being performed.