Although regular exercise sessions naturally build your level of endurance, you may already have the capacity to do more. In a 2004 study from the U.K.'s Lincoln College, researcher Lee Crust discovered that subjects who listened to music while walking on a treadmill posted "significantly longer" endurance times than those who did the activity with no music. In addition to strapping on a pair of headphones, you can follow a progressive fitness plan to test and improve your endurance.
Step 1
Judge your current endurance by performing an individual treadmill test. Adjust a treadmill to a low incline setting and elevated speed so that you can run until you fatigue, keeping careful track of how long it takes. If you do not have access to a treadmill, do the test outside with a clock or stopwatch and find a hill on which you can run. Carefully record your results as well as how you felt during the test so that you can use them for comparison later.
Step 2
Build up to longer exercise sessions by extending each workout, such as going from 10- to 12- minute workouts, then 15. Keep making gradual extensions until you can continue exercise for 30 minutes or more at a stretch. Longer sessions, even if they require you to ease up on your intensity level, will improve your endurance and make the lengths you started out with feel much easier to complete.
Step 3
Work out harder with interval training, which alternates periods of intense exercise with more moderate activity. If you like walking on the treadmill, dial up the intensity for 30 seconds at a time and run or jog for those intervals. If you enjoy aerobics, do a specific move in double time.
Step 4
Add resistance to cardio exercises, such as strapping on ankle weights or wrist weights -- or both -- and wear them during your normal cardio workout. Another method is to hold a dumbbell or weighted medicine ball while you complete certain activities, such as a side-to-side shuffle or jogging in place. Use resistance in every other exercise session for several weeks to get used to the added challenge.
Step 5
Re-evaluate your results by doing the treadmill endurance test again after about four weeks of building up to longer workouts, doing interval training and using resistance. Do the test as you did originally, without added resistance or intense activity bursts, and take note of how much easier it feels and how much you've improved your total time.
Tips and Warnings
- An interval training session burns more calories than a typical workout and may be more successful at improving your aerobic capacity.
- Always check with your doctor before beginning any new exercise regimen.
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