Exercise Routine to Increase Stamina & Lose Weight

by Dave Samuels

Combining stamina and weight loss goals is achievable with a single workout because improving stamina and burning calories can both be achieved with steady-state aerobic exercise. Creating a routine that makes you work longer, rather than focusing on working harder, will help you meet your dual-purpose goals for a workout.

Warm Up Properly

Don’t begin your exercise routine at full speed. Help your heart, lungs, circulatory system and other muscles gradually coordinate their efforts to get you to the intensity you’ll want to maintain for the rest of your workout. Start with jogging in place, raising your speed every minute for two or three minutes until you are breathing hard. Include some arm movements, such as circles or swings, to get your upper body warmed up. Jumping rope creates an effective full-body workout. Don’t perform traditional stretching that extends your muscles and holds them there. This can cause a loss of power for 15 minutes or longer.

Heart Rate

Stamina and endurance refer to your ability to work over time, so very intense heart rates aren’t appropriate for your workouts. While high-intensity interval training is helpful for athletes who want to train their recovery system and burn more calories, its frequent breaks won’t train endurance as well as steady-state workouts, in part because they often last 15 minutes or less. Aim for a heart rate that makes you breathe heavily, but allows you to talk while you’re exercising. Find a heart rate that won’t require you to stop frequently for breaks. It’s better to start at a moderate intensity, working your way up to the maximum speed you can maintain, than to start at too high a heart rate and have to stop for breaks. If you are using an exercise machine that comes with a heart rate monitor, a beginner might aim for a target heart rate range between 60 percent and 70 percent of your maximum heart rate, or similar to a 2.5 to 3.5 mph walk on a treadmill. An intermediate should aim for 70 percent to 80 percent of maximum heart rate, or a jogging speed on a treadmill.

Exercise Options

Choose exercises or machines that work your entire body. If you want to use a treadmill or exercise bike, include dumbbell exercises, or use the machine for only part of your workout. A rowing machine works your entire body and lets you give your legs a rest while you use your arms and vice versa. Ellipticals with arm poles offer a full-body workout, as well. Swimming is another effective choice for a full-body aerobic workout. If you don’t have access to machines or a pool, exercise along with a TV workout program or find one on the Internet. If you’re exercising at home, use low-resistance calisthenics such as jumping rope, running stairs, hula hooping, burpees, mountain climbers, jogging in place, box jumping and cross-body toe touches to raise your heart rate and work your muscles. Change exercises every several minutes to prevent muscle fatigue. The longer you work, the more stamina you’ll build and calorie you’ll burn. Try to work your way up to 30-minute workouts, five times per week, or 60-minute workouts, three times each week.

Intervals

Adding high-intensity intervals helps improve cardio capacity, rather than stamina, but this can have benefits for your weight-loss goals. In addition to burning more calories, intervals can eventually increase your capacity to work harder while you work longer. Start with 30-second bursts of high-intensity exercise, followed by two minutes of slower recovery. Add 15 seconds to your intervals each week until you can perform intervals for 90 seconds. Check with a health professional before trying interval training, which raises your heart rate close to its maximum intensity.

References

• The New York Times: Stretching: The Truth
• American Heart Association: Heart Rate Chart
• MayoClinic.com: Rev Up your Workouts with Interval Training