9781422272121

CHAPTER 1 Endurance Training:

What it is and How it Helps

Endurance training refers to prolonged, sustained exercise that’s almost entirely aerobic . By relying on oxygen use for energy, low- tomedium intensity aerobic exercise can be kept up for long periods—hence the name “endurance.” There isn’t an exact upper limit on how long humans can endure exercise. Eventually, fatigue will set in, depending on intensity, fitness level, access to fuel, andwillpower. To be considered endurance exercise, however, there exists a logical lower limit. While you can stay aerobic by walking for 10 seconds, that wouldn’t requiremuch ability to endure (for most). Instead, you’d need towalk for much longer to reach a certain level of fatigue. At maximal intensity, it only takes about 90 seconds to twominutes for exercise to become primarily aerobic. Therefore, some consider sprinting an 800-meter(m) race in track as an endurance exercise. It’s just a test of muscular endurancemore than cardiovascular. THE IMPORTANCEOF ENDURANCE TRAINING Humans developed a high capacity for endurance as an evolutionary necessity. Way back before iPhones, cars, and even agriculture, nomadic lifestyle required the ability towalk hundreds of miles. After exhausting the resources in one location, wemoved on to another in a constant search for food and survival. Since we lacked the speed and power of animals, humans had to adapt. We gained the ability to run huge distances to tire out prey. Theymay have been faster, quicker, andmore powerful, but we would eventually catch up. Slow and steady really

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Endurance Training: What it is and How it Helps