Question about endurance levels...

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HakunaMatata137
HakunaMatata137 Posts: 63 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone,

So in my 8 month weight loss journey, I've worked out a lot. There are certain types of workouts that used to be super hard for me (like hour long spin classes, kickboxing, and some HIIT classes), but now they're not nearly as hard, and I sometimes even have to increase my speed/weights/whatever in order for me to get a good sweat on.

But then there are some workouts, like running or walking uphill for a long time, for instance, that I can barely do without losing my breath within just a few minutes. Workouts that burn about the same amount of calories (or even less) than my spin and kickboxing classes, but feel way harder.

It just confuses me. Is it possible that my cardio endurance has increased for some workouts (like spin class) and not for others (like running, which I don't do as often) ?

Replies

  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    You get good at what you practice...I can easily go out and ride a 1/2 century...I could run a 5K, but it wouldn't exactly be pretty considering I haven't run in over 4 years.

    Also, increasing speed, distance, weight is what you're supposed to do...it's called progression...but getting a good sweat on doesn't really mean anything either.

    Agreed.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    edited October 2018
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    HakunaMatata137 wrote: »
    It just confuses me. Is it possible that my cardio endurance has increased for some workouts (like spin class) and not for others (like running, which I don't do as often) ?

    Not only is it possible, but it's to be expected.
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,259 Member
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    This is what keeps me cross training.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    Running is hard. I thought I had decent cardio fitness until I tried running. Yes you can be good at one activity and not at another.
  • landfish
    landfish Posts: 255 Member
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    What everyone else said. Endurance is often specific to what you train for. I’ve settled on not being really great at any one thing, but pretty good at quite a few. I can run a half marathon on any given day, but the people who train to run half marathons will be faster. I’m not a fast cyclist, but I’m good on hills and could probably do a century with a bit more training. I also don’t train specifically for obstacle course races but usually finish in the upper third. All in all, I’m pretty happy with being that versatile.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    landfish wrote: »
    What everyone else said. Endurance is often specific to what you train for. I’ve settled on not being really great at any one thing, but pretty good at quite a few. I can run a half marathon on any given day, but the people who train to run half marathons will be faster. I’m not a fast cyclist, but I’m good on hills and could probably do a century with a bit more training. I also don’t train specifically for obstacle course races but usually finish in the upper third. All in all, I’m pretty happy with being that versatile.

    Sounds like triathlon is made for you! 🏊🏻‍♀️ 🚲 🏃🏻‍♀️
  • LeanButNotMean44
    LeanButNotMean44 Posts: 852 Member
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    I used to run A LOT (50+ mpw). After getting injured, my only choice was to swim. I figured it’d be a can of corn since I was in great running shape. Yeah...not remotely the same.
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    edited October 2018
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    Have you ever tried to quantify your workouts with a HRM? When you use a Heart Rate Monitor, you will know how hard your heart is working. It also could be that you overestimated your effort on other workouts aside from running or walking uphill. Running is something that you have to constantly do. The other things you mention -- Spinning, HIIT type classes and other workouts have breaks, which allow your HR to settle down. Running, if you stay running, your HR will gradually climb and stay there or even increase just a bit more, perhaps near your max even if you push it for over 15/20 minutes (I doubt it would be your true max, though, because that's assuming that your body can take 20 minutes of hard running, which most beginners can't do).

    When I started working out consistently, around 12 years ago, the things I did then versus the things I do now (like you) are far apart in effort. What I thought was hard years ago would be a super light day for me now. Running is something that if you're over a certain pace, there's no fluff time or break time. It's by definition constant movement.

    The better shape you get into related to cardio, the less effort it should take, but that should be related to everything, including running.

    There also is a lot to be said for what others have mentioned, specificity. I can row for over an hour solid, but I haven't ran in over five years. Quite frankly, rowing is harder than running used to be for me, and I'm in better cardio shape as a rower than I was as a runner (because my cruddy joints limited me in running speed), but I'd be hard pressed to run even a mile now. The pounding of running is different on your body and even the efficiency of the sport takes time to learn/adjust to.
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    You get good at what you practice...I can easily go out and ride a 1/2 century...I could run a 5K, but it wouldn't exactly be pretty considering I haven't run in over 4 years.

    Also, increasing speed, distance, weight is what you're supposed to do...it's called progression...but getting a good sweat on doesn't really mean anything either.

    Agree.

    During training and racing season, I work on multiple disciplines at once, dividing training into blocks that have a specific sport focus, such as an 8 week "run focused" block, or a "swim focused" block. That means I do some work in all disciplines, supplemented by extra work (say 3 x's/week) in the focused discipline to build endurance and/or speed. I then maintain that increase in sport specific fitness by continued effort (say 2x's/week) as I focus on another discipline. That way, my overall fitness improves in each of the disciplines over time.

    You will hear athletes talk about "run fitness", "rowing fitness", "bike fitness", "swim fitness" etc., because each one requires a different type of effort. For example, this past year my bike and swim fitness was great, but a heel injury forced me to cut back on running, so my run fitness was way off. Maintaining sport specific fitness requires practice or else we become "de-conditioned" in that discipline over time.


  • BZAH10
    BZAH10 Posts: 5,710 Member
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    landfish wrote: »
    What everyone else said. Endurance is often specific to what you train for. I’ve settled on not being really great at any one thing, but pretty good at quite a few. I can run a half marathon on any given day, but the people who train to run half marathons will be faster. I’m not a fast cyclist, but I’m good on hills and could probably do a century with a bit more training. I also don’t train specifically for obstacle course races but usually finish in the upper third. All in all, I’m pretty happy with being that versatile.

    I don't think that's settling at all! I think that's smart. Sure, it's great to have a passion for say running or cycling or whatever, but I too like to diversify my workouts both for variety and to avoid over-use injuries.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    edited October 2018
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    Simple rule is if you want to.get better at something, do more of that. If your fitness for spin class is growing, I'd hazard you do more spinning than running. The body is very effective at adaptation if given the chance.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
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    I think it may be a difference between weight bearing and non-weight bearing exercise. For example with spinning you are just moving your legs mainly, while running you are moving your legs and bearing your weight at the same time.

    When I first started power walking I also bought a bicycle. The bike was very hard to ride, but as I got used to power walking, I started running, and now the bike is so easy to ride that I use it for recovery.

    Just one example of what I'm talking about.
  • jdubois5351
    jdubois5351 Posts: 460 Member
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    HakunaMatata137 wrote: »
    It just confuses me. Is it possible that my cardio endurance has increased for some workouts (like spin class) and not for others (like running, which I don't do as often) ?

    I actually have the same problem at the doctor's office, when they do those endurance tests. I can rather easily ride the stationary bike with some light shortness of breath after a while, so I actually don't do too bad on them. If they'd put me on a stairmaster or a treadmill with an incline instead, the results would be dramatically different, as in much, much worse. Unfortunately, they only ever use the bikes. I really, really don't understand it. My only exercise is walking, I haven't ridden a street bike in more than ten years, so it can't be about the training.

  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    This is why I cross train and rather than just do one thing I do lots of different cardio and strength work, even though my focus is currently running. To improve with endurance (and speed) at any activity takes doing the actual activity regularly pushing to your limits at least some of the time.
  • youngcaseyr
    youngcaseyr Posts: 293 Member
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    In addition to what everyone else has said about performing better at workout A compared to workout B because you do A more often, it's also reasonable to think that sometimes you just have an "off day". My daily/weekly mileage fits within the parameters for long distance running and, while I have a typical/average pace and speed, I also have days where my performance is way above or below average. Sometimes it's for obvious reasons, but when it's not I chalk it up to being a normal human animal that has occasional really good or not-as-good days
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    HakunaMatata137 wrote: »

    It just confuses me. Is it possible that my cardio endurance has increased for some workouts (like spin class) and not for others (like running, which I don't do as often) ?

    Your CV conditioning will have increased on a general level which helps with other endurance activities but as you haven't trained specifically for something like running it will still remain difficult.

    You get what you train for or to put it in more fancy terms: S.A.I.D - Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand. Your body will have adapted to the cope with the specific stress you placed on it before.

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