What Is Endurance?

What is Endurance?

It means the ability to go on working for hours at a slow speed, or with alternating periods of high level and low level activity. If the pace is slow, most of the energy will come from fats – and a kilogram of fat provides enough energy to run for 50 miles.
Moreover, in a slow-paced event it is possible to take in high carbohydrate drinks on the move. Since speed is less important for these types of events, older athletes are not handicapped by lack of pace and may have better capacities for metabolising fatty acids than their younger counterparts.

As you get older, the elasticity of your heart diminishes and with it your maximum heart rate. The rule of thumb is that your maximum heart rate, in beats per minute, is 214 minus (0.8 x age), but consistent training slows the decline. In any case, when adopting ‘ready-made’ training schedules from a book, it is advisable to check your real heart rate rather than relying on an estimate. Other things being equal, the greater your aerobic fitness the less stressed you will be in a strenuous sport and the greater will be your endurance.

Benefits Of Endurance Exercise:

1. It makes the heart stronger;

2. The arteries retain their elasticity, allowing for greater blood flow through them, which keeps blood pressure under control.

3. It burns up fats, thus reducing the risk of clogged arteries.

4. It maintains muscle strength and bone density, which normally decline with age.

5. By controlling weight, it reduces the risks associated with obesity, including diabetes.

6. By maintaining good blood flow in the brain and stimulating the release of chemicals known as endorphins, it reduces the risk of stroke and has a beneficial effect on mood.

7. By increasing the supply of oxygen and circulating antioxidant molecules, it combats the free radical activity that can cause cancer.

8. Through sweating, harder breathing and increased bowel movement, it eliminates toxins.

Is it too late to start?

No, never. The marathon runner Fauja Singh had done some running as a young man, but had given up in his early 20s. After moving to Britain in his mid-80s, he took up running again after a break of about 65 years. At age 90 he ran the London Marathon in around 6:20, and the following year improved on his own record by nearly 40 minutes! Whatever age you are when you start training you will show rapid improvement.

Ageing and hormones:

Human growth hormone (GH) is crucial to the processes of growth and repair in the body. It also enables athletes to cope with heavy training loads, which is why GH is used as an illegal aid to performance. As we get older, we produce less GH; but, as with the other parameters of ageing, this decline can be modified by hard training.

How much is too much exercise?

This question is always with us. How much is enough? How much is too much?