Five components make up overall physical fitness: muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility and body composition. Two of these five involve stamina. Muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance give you the stamina to perform sustained periods of activity. According to the Ask the Trainer website, muscular endurance allows your muscles to contract and relax repetitively, while cardiovascular endurance is your heart's and lungs' ability to keep oxygenated blood flowing through the body during sustained exercise. You can build both types of endurance through low-impact exercise, which protects joints and helps you to avoid injury. Consult your doctor before beginning any new exercise program.
Bicycling
According to the AARP website, bicycling not only increases stamina, but also builds muscular endurance in the legs. Bicycling is a low-impact exercise, because it places minimal stress on joints. Bicycling outdoors, over hilly and challenging terrain, provides a varied workout that strengthens your heart and lungs and increases the endurance of your leg muscles. Using an indoor stationary bike can also provide a varied workout. Select programs that automatically change the bike's resistance. While all bicycling improves your stamina, try to spend progressively longer periods during bicycling sessions exercising at a level of intensity that challenges you.
Low-Impact Fitness Equipment
Home-fitness stores and gyms are full of low-impact fitness equipment that you can buy or use to improve your stamina. Stair climbers, elliptical trainers, stationary bicycles and rowing machines all provide a low-impact workout. These machines will generally have programs you can use to vary your exercise session using different speeds and resistance levels. Elliptical trainers and cross country ski simulators both have workouts designed to work both your upper and lower body, meaning that you'll gain muscular endurance in more muscle groups than with equipment that uses only your legs or only your upper body. To gain stamina from low-impact fitness equipment, progressively increase the length and intensity of your exercise sessions. You can increase intensity by moving more quickly or increasing the resistance of the equipment.
Swimming
Swimming provides exercise that is virtually non-impact. This is because the density of the human body is similar to the density of water, the Epigee website explains --- therefore, you experience a feeling of weightlessness when you swim. Swimming protects your joints, but the water's resistance exercises many of the major muscle groups of your body. Swimming also elevates heart rate and increases lung function, which are two essential elements for increasing stamina. Swimming builds stamina in both upper- and lower-body muscles, as well as increasing cardiovascular stamina. To get the most out of swimming as an endurance exercise, frequently change the strokes you use and progressively increase the length and intensity of your sessions by swimming faster or using a more challenging stroke.
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