Building and improving your endurance is as important as improving your strength, technique and accuracy. This proves to be true when it comes to MMA as well as with a lot of other sports where having the upper hand endurance-wise could spell the difference between victory and defeat. If only you could outlast your opponent every time.
Having that lasting endurance doesn’t come easy. Of course you have to work hard for it and there are some exercise routines and nutrient rich foods that do exactly just that; build your endurance. Now we should understand that there are two types of endurance.
If we’re talking about the muscle’s capacity for continuous performance of localized activity; that’s what you call “Muscular Endurance”. “Aerobic Endurance” on the other hand simply means “with oxygen”. It is the process of taking in, transporting and using oxygen during aerobic work. This is when the body is working at a level where the demands for fuel and oxygen are supplied by the body’s intake.
The two are inter-related of course and knowing how to improve the two would be a big advantage for any athlete. Let’s talk about some foods that I found to be useful in building endurance. For example; I didn’t know that ginseng, sweet potatoes, and beetroot are good sources of nutrients that naturally boost a person’s endurance.
“Ginseng” refers to both American (Panax quinquefolius) and Asian/Korean ginseng (Panax Ginseng) which both have somewhat the same chemical makeup. I’m sure that a lot of us have heard testimonies as to how ginseng helps improve sexual endurance but there are also some studies using Asian ginseng for athletic performance in humans and laboratory animals and the results were quite astonishing. 
Different studies showed an increase in strength and endurance, while others showed an improvement in reaction time and agility. Regardless of the results, I am aware of a lot of athletes that often take Asian ginseng to enhance both their strength and endurance. Ginseng was also found to reduce fatigue in a published study of 332 patients.
We have to remember that endurance also comes with eating healthy. If you’re building on endurance for a long event, try eating or drinking a light carbohydrate snack every 15-30 minutes. This would ensure that you stay fueled and wouldn’t fall short on your energy requirements.
I know that eating and drinking during a long workout could be difficult for some but you should practice doing it. Figs, smoothies, bread and jam and root crops especially yams and sweet potatoes are very good options to top up your glycogen stores.
You could significantly boost your endurance with one of the most unlikely sources; “beetroot”. A research led by the University of Exeter came up with a new study that shows that droning beetroot juice improved the endurance of cyclists by reducing their oxygen consumption therefore increasing their athletic stamina to a greater degree compared to training and, decreased fatigue after consuming 500ml in a span of just six days.
Previous studies conducted on the benefits of beetroot showed that the nitrates found in it can relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure. The health benefits found in beetroot juice is continuously generating interest from endurance athletes and martial artists.
Body weight exercises could do wonders in building up your endurance as well as it’s a great way of incorporating something different to your exercise routine. These are timeless fitness systems that have been used by athletes and warriors to build astounding endurance and strength for thousands of years.
It is inexpensive because you only need to use your body weight for familiar exercises such as push ups, squats, sit ups and chin ups. You’d have to mix them up of course. I don’t see how doing just push ups would improve your overall performance. Back Lunges and two-point obliques are two other exercises that you could use to achieve greater endurance.
High Altitude Training can also help improve your endurance and stamina. Contrary to what a lot of people think, high altitude training is not just a fad. There are studies that prove that this type of training has a positively serious effect on athletic performance.
A number of elite athletes have been using the low-oxygen conditions found in high altitude as a great training tool in improving their oxygen uptake and delivery. Even trained athletes are sure to gain an increase in power, strength, speed and endurance by 3% or more. Some of us are thinking that it’s not much of an advantage but sometimes, that’s all we need to win.
CrossFit training is also a proven way to develop endurance. It is a strength and conditioning fitness method promoting broad, general and overall physical fitness that combines lifting weights, sprinting, and gymnastics.
Any serious athlete or martial artist hoping to improve their endurance has a lot of ways to do this at their disposal. Just remember to stick with whatever works for you, eat healthy and live a healthy lifestyle to compliment your fitness routine. Enjoy your training!