When it comes to increasing physical performance, cardiorespiratory endurance is a term highly relevant to understand, as it affects your ability to perform better and longer. But what is it exactly and what can you do to improve it? In this post, we will give you an overview of cardiorespiratory endurance, how it is related to your physical performance and what you can do to boost it.
What is Cardiorespiratory Endurance?
In short, cardiorespiratory endurance measures how well the body performs during long periods of exercise. It is, therefore, an indicator of how fit and healthy you are. Increasing cardiorespiratory endurance means that you will increase your physical shape, and therefore be able to exercise for longer periods and at a higher intensity level, without getting tired. Your body can keep exercising for a long time without stopping.
More specifically, cardiorespiratory endurance is the level at which your heart, your lungs, and your muscles work together. When we exercise, your muscles need fuel, one of them being oxygen. And it is your heart, lungs and blood vessels that have to provide this to your muscles. So when a person’s cardiorespiratory endurance is measured it means that you examine how well their body takes in and utilizes oxygen. That will directly influence your physical performance.
The term can also be referred to as aerobic capacity, cardiovascular fitness, and aerobic fitness.
Whether you want to strengthen your physical performance, get in shape or lose weight, it is important to look at how you can increase your cardiorespiratory endurance. But let us first look into how it is tested and measured.
Measuring your Cardiorespiratory Endurance
The test of cardiorespiratory endurance is done by measuring maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max) and metabolic equivalent (MET.) VO2 determines the maximum amount of oxygen that the body is capable of using during high-intensity activities. Both heart rate and oxygen consumption are measured in the test of VO2. Test candidates are measured while exercising, typically at a treadmill or stationary bicycle. The higher the number in the VO2 test, the higher the maximum oxygen uptake.
MET is the ratio between the energy expended during physical activity and the energy expended while resting. What you want to know, is how much energy a person is using while sitting at rest. That number is one MET and by multiplying, the number can tell us how much energy a person consumes during different levels of exercise. The tests can be done at a clinic, laboratory, or hospital.
If you are physically very fit or an athlete, you can also test yourself in a submaximal exercise test. This can give you the same indications. Submaximal exercise tests are for example:
- Astrand treadmill test
- 2.4 km run test
- Multistage bleep test
These tests will give you an indication of how your good your heart and lungs are at bringing oxygen to your muscles during exercise. The higher results, the longer you will be able to perform. It is linked to your respiratory strength and the stronger, the better the endurance.
The cardiorespiratory system and why it is important for your physical performance
Your muscles need oxygen and when we are active and are training, they need more. The process of making sure they will have enough oxygen includes your heart, lungs, and blood vessels. The word cardiorespiratory explains to us, that we are dealing with both the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system.
The cardiovascular system is the system that keeps your heart beating and pumps blood out into your body. The system is controlled by the heart and includes veins, capillaries and arteries. All of these together pump blood and oxygen around the body.
The respiratory system enables us to breathe. The system is controlled by your lungs but also includes your nose, mouth, and diaphragm. The system takes in air and hereafter transfers the oxygen into the blood which then pumps it into your muscles and organs.
By strengthening cardiorespiratory endurance your body will be able to take in and carry more oxygen. This will result in an increased number of red blood cells and hemoglobin. Your heart rate will also become stronger and be able to pump out larger volumes of blood and distribute the oxygen better.
Physical performance
But how is it related and important to your physical performance? The slower these two systems are, the less efficient they are. And the slower they are, the tougher it is for your body to pump the oxygen around. It will eventually impact your endurance and performance. You will need more energy to pump the oxygen around in your body, which means that you can perform at a shorter period and you will loose breath faster.
How can you boost cardiorespiratory endurance?
By exercising regularly, you can improve your cardiorespiratory endurance and continuously increase the difficulty of the aerobic or cardio activity that you are performing. You have to push yourself to reach a higher heart rate when you exercise.
4-6 times of exercise per week, at around 60 minutes at a time of medium intensity training is efficient. If you perform high-intensity training, 30-40 minutes is enough.
Each time you workout you should strive to go a little further and have continuous progression in your performance. Adding variation is also important to remember, as this pushes your body and makes sure that you train different muscle groups.
There are several different types of exercises you can do and perform to improve your cardiorespiratory endurance, and also different types of activities. Just keep in mind that the best cardiorespiratory workout is one that gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat. We have listed some good ideas here:
Exercises:
- Run and jump in one spot
- Jumping jacks
- Side hops
- Hopping squats
- Burpees
- Mountain climbers
Activities:
- Running
- Swimming
- Power walking
- Dancing
- Basketball and soccer
- Rollerblading
- Rowing
Other benefits of improving your Cardiorespiratory Endurance:
Improving cardiorespiratory endurance is good for your overall health. Not only does it enable you to physically perform for longer and at a higher level, but it also has a positive correlation with the health of your heart and a negative correlation with risk factors. This means decreasing your risk of heart diseases. Also, the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes can be minimized, since you strengthen the health of lungs and heart which altogether has a positive influence on your physical wellbeing.
Inspiratory Muscle TrainingRespiratory Muscle Training
Whether you are training for a marathon, hiking up a mountain, or climbing the stairs to your bedroom, there is one thing you will need for all three activities: cardiovascular endurance.
Understanding cardiovascular endurance is the first step to being able to improve it. We’ll touch on what cardiovascular endurance is, how to measure it and how to improve it.
What Is Cardiovascular Endurance?
Cardiovascular endurance is a measure of how well you can perform large-muscle, dynamic exercises at moderate to high intensity for an extended period of time (typically over 20 to 30 minutes). It is a measurement of your body’s ability to remove carbon dioxide and pump oxygen-rich blood to your organs. This makes cardiovascular endurance a direct indicator of heart function, lung capacity, and muscle function. If you have high cardiovascular endurance, you’ll be able to perform intense exercises and workouts longer than someone who has low cardiovascular endurance.
Here’s the science behind it: When you inhale, your body draws in oxygen from the outside world, filling your lungs. Some of this oxygen helps you continue breathing while other oxygen atoms are transferred into the bloodstream. This oxygen-rich blood then travels to the heart where it’s pumped out to your muscles, cells, and organs through the circulatory system.
When you engage in strenuous physical activity, your muscles need more oxygen than when you’re resting. This means your cardiovascular system works harder than normal to move oxygenated blood to your working muscles. If you have poor cardiovascular endurance, you won’t get enough oxygen to your muscles and you may feel light-headed or start to experience fatigue.
How To Measure Cardiovascular Endurance
Cardiovascular endurance involves measuring the amount of oxygen your body uses during intense exercise. There are two metrics used to provide insight into the health of your cardiorespiratory system: METs and VO2 Max.
METs
Metabolic equivalent (MET) is a ratio of the amount of oxygen consumed while at rest compared to the amount of energy expended when you’re exercising. One MET is the calculation of how much energy, measured in calories, you expend while at rest. The number of METs you use up during exercise indicates how much harder you are working. These MET scores can be derived from a stress test using a treadmill or stationary bike, usually performed at a medical facility or sports clinic.
VO2 Max
The second test measures your VO2 Max, which is also known as maximal oxygen uptake. This test measures the maximum amount of oxygen your body consumes during sustained and exhaustive exercise. The test is performed while an individual performs graded maximal exercise on a treadmill or a bike, while wearing a mask measuring oxygen consumption as well as a heart rate monitor. VO2 Max tests are generally expensive and performed by a clinician or exercise physiologist.
Why Cardiovascular Endurance Matters
Having high cardiovascular endurance means you can perform strenuous activities for longer periods of time. This is important not just in the gym, but for performing daily tasks in everyday life. Increasing cardiovascular endurance has a positive impact on overall health and fitness. Focusing on improving cardiovascular endurance can also be beneficial to maintaining a healthy body composition, due to performing higher levels of aerobic activity. Additionally, you may experience improved sleep, decreased stress and improved immune system.
The good news is that cardiovascular endurance can be improved with small changes to daily movement and exercise.
How To Improve Cardiovascular Endurance
The best way to improve your endurance levels is to increase the volume and intensity of your exercise. While all types of exercise can improve endurance, some are more effective than others.
Aerobic activity is particularly useful as it involves sustaining high output for extended periods of time. This can help increase your heart’s stroke volume, so your heart will become more efficient in pumping oxygenated blood to muscles with every beat. It may also help improve lung capacity, meaning you’ll increase your VO2 max over time.
Aerobic exercise is different from anaerobic exercises, which involve short bursts of energy and include activities like weight training programs, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and sprints. Endurance exercises like jump rope, running, swimming, dancing, and mountain biking are all great aerobic activities.
You can also play sports including: soccer, hockey and basketball. Basically, you’re looking for exercises that require you to maintain moderate activity levels for long periods of time. This will help train your body to use oxygen more efficiently and improve your cardiovascular endurance.
Anaerobic exercise programs on the other hand are also important as they can strengthen your ability to perform at peak levels. This will help increase your VO2 max, and over time, you’ll be able to perform at a higher intensity without feeling fatigued as quickly. Incorporate higher intensity exercises such as calisthenics, heavy weightlifting, and resistance training to improve your cardiovascular endurance.
How Biostrap Can Help
When it comes to health and performance, Biostrap is the ultimate tool. Our devices make it easy to track health metrics and give you insights into your overall health and performance. Whether you’re looking to maximize your endurance training or focus on strength training and working certain muscle groups, our devices make it easy to reach your goals.
Our Biostrap Recover Set is perfect to monitor your health while you’re asleep. Besides various sleep parameters, it measures your resting heart rate, oxygen saturation, heart rate variability, and respiratory rate. To accurately track your active heart rate, HRV, caloric expenditure and heart rate progression, make sure to grab one of our external heart rate monitors — armband or chest strap.
With the Biostrap Active Set, you can track everything from rep consistency and caloric burn to exercise duration and heart rate progression, so you can quantify and work toward improving your cardiovascular endurance!