Want More Endurance? The ONLY 3 Ways to Build Stamina

Summary

This video script focuses on three key avenues for enhancing a runner's endurance: metabolic endurance, running economy, and VO2 max. It emphasizes that improving metabolic endurance through high mileage and aerobic workouts is crucial for better performance. The script also highlights the importance of running economy, which can be enhanced by practice, form drills, and strength training. Lastly, it mentions VO2 max, suggesting that while it's less trainable and more genetic, a high mileage and intense workouts can still positively affect it. The overall message is to focus on consistent training and building up gradually for improved endurance and faster race times.

Takeaways

• 🏃‍♂️ To improve endurance as a runner, focus on three main areas: metabolic endurance, running economy, and VO2 max.
• 🚀 Metabolic endurance is the body's ability to produce and clear energy efficiently, and it's the most effective way to improve overall running endurance.
• 🔍 High mileage, consistent long runs, and aerobic workouts are key to improving metabolic endurance.
• 🏊‍♂️ Cross-training activities like pool running, cycling, or using an elliptical can supplement running and help build metabolic endurance.
• 🛣 Running economy is the energy efficiency of running at a certain pace, and it involves both mechanical and neuromuscular aspects.
• 💪 High mileage and hard efforts, like hill sprints, improve running economy by enhancing neuromuscular coordination.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Lifting heavy weights, doing form drills, and sprinting regularly can reinforce efficient movement patterns, thus improving running economy.
• 🌪 VO2 max, the maximum volume of oxygen processed by the body, is less trainable and more genetically determined compared to the other two factors.
• 🎯 While VO2 max is important, it should not be the primary focus of training for most runners due to its limited trainability and correlation with performance.
• 📈 Consistency and gradual increases in mileage, along with strength and form training, are recommended for long-term endurance improvement.
• 🍎 Nutrition, like using supplements like AG-1 by Athletic Greens, can provide additional support to ensure the body has all the necessary nutrients for optimal performance.

Q & A

What are the three main avenues for improving endurance as mentioned in the video?

The three main avenues for improving endurance are metabolic endurance, running economy, and VO2 max.

Why is metabolic endurance considered the most effective way to improve endurance?

Metabolic endurance is considered the most effective because it involves your body's ability to produce energy and clear exercise byproducts like lactate, which directly impacts your endurance during running.

What types of training are recommended for improving metabolic endurance?

To improve metabolic endurance, the video recommends relatively high mileage, consistent long runs, aerobic workouts at marathon, half-marathon, and tempo paces, as well as cross-training activities like pool running, cycling, or using an elliptical.

How does cross-training contribute to endurance improvement?

Cross-training helps build endurance by allowing runners to supplement their training when they can't handle high mileage. It also provides a way to train the aerobic system without the impact of running.

What is running economy, and why is it important?

Running economy refers to how much energy it takes to run at a given speed. It is important because runners who are more efficient can run faster without using more energy, leading to better endurance.

What training methods can improve running economy?

Running economy can be improved by running high mileage, incorporating strides, hill sprints, lifting heavy weights, and performing form drills to enhance neuromuscular coordination and movement efficiency.

Why is VO2 max considered less important in endurance training?

VO2 max is considered less important because it is largely untrainable, mostly genetic, and has the least correlation with performance compared to metabolic endurance and running economy.

What should runners focus on instead of trying to improve their VO2 max?

Runners should focus on consistency, gradually building mileage, improving running economy through proper form and strength training, and enhancing metabolic endurance through targeted aerobic workouts.

How can runners improve their form and running efficiency?

Runners can improve their form and efficiency by doing form drills, lifting heavy weights, and working with a coach to receive personalized form cues that address specific movement issues.

What are the long-term benefits of focusing on consistency and gradual improvement in endurance training?

The long-term benefits include substantial gains in fitness, improved endurance, and the ability to race faster, even though progress may seem slow from week to week.

Outlines

00:00

🏃‍♂️ Enhancing Endurance through Metabolism and Training

This paragraph introduces the concept of improving running endurance through three key avenues: metabolism, running economy, and VO2 max. It emphasizes the importance of metabolic endurance, which is the body's ability to produce energy and clear byproducts like lactate during exercise. The paragraph suggests that high mileage, consistent long runs, and aerobic workouts are crucial for enhancing metabolic endurance. It also mentions cross-training activities like pool running and cycling as effective alternatives for those who cannot manage high mileage. The legendary coach Mark Wetmore's approach of patiently building aerobic metabolism is highlighted as a success strategy.

05:02

🔍 Improving Running Economy and Efficiency

The second paragraph delves into running economy, which is defined as the energy expenditure required to maintain a specific running speed. It suggests that running economy can be improved by practicing running frequently and at various paces, including high-intensity efforts like strides and hill sprints. The paragraph also advocates for heavy weight lifting, form drills, and sprinting as methods to enhance neuromuscular coordination and movement efficiency. These practices are posited to lead to a smoother, more efficient running style, which in turn, contributes to better performance and higher endurance.

10:06

🚫 The Myth of VO2 Max in Endurance Training

The final paragraph addresses the misconceptions around VO2 max, explaining that while it is often considered a key indicator of performance, it is largely untrainable and genetically determined. VO2 max represents the maximum volume of oxygen the body can process, but studies indicate that it does not significantly correlate with running performance. The speaker advises runners to focus on performance-based training rather than trying to improve their VO2 max. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the importance of consistency, gradual mileage increase, and incorporating weight lifting and form drills into training routines for long-term endurance and performance gains.

Keywords

💡Endurance

Endurance refers to the ability to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort. In the context of the video, it is the capacity to maintain running performance over long distances. The script discusses three primary avenues to improve endurance, which is the central theme of the video. For instance, the video mentions improving metabolic endurance through high mileage and aerobic workouts.

💡Metabolic Endurance

Metabolic endurance is the body's capability to produce energy and clear byproducts like lactate during exercise. It is integral to the video's main theme as it is identified as the most effective way to improve endurance for runners. The script uses the example of tempo runs and lactate threshold workouts to illustrate how metabolic endurance can be enhanced.

💡Running Economy

Running economy is the amount of energy required to run at a specific speed. It is closely tied to the video's theme as it determines how efficiently a runner can maintain a pace. The script suggests that improving running economy can lead to greater endurance and performance, mentioning high mileage and form drills as methods to achieve this.

💡VO2 Max

VO2 Max represents the maximum volume of oxygen an individual can utilize during intense exercise. While it is a well-known metric in endurance sports, the video suggests it is less trainable and less correlated with performance compared to other factors. The script points out that while VO2 Max is important, it should not be the primary focus for runners looking to improve their endurance.

💡Aerobic Paces

Aerobic paces refer to running speeds that are sustained over longer periods using oxygen efficiently. The video emphasizes the importance of aerobic paces in building metabolic endurance. It includes marathon and half-marathon paces as examples of aerobic paces that are beneficial for runners.

💡Cross-Training

Cross-training involves engaging in different forms of exercise to improve overall fitness. The video script highlights cross-training as a way to build metabolic endurance, especially for those who cannot handle high mileage. It mentions pool running, cycling, and the elliptical as effective cross-training activities.

💡High Mileage

High mileage refers to a large weekly volume of running. In the video, it is presented as a method to improve both metabolic endurance and running economy. The script explains that consistently running high mileage can lead to better performance and endurance for distance runners.

💡Lactate Threshold

Lactate threshold is the point at which the body's production of lactate exceeds its ability to clear it, leading to fatigue. The video discusses lactate threshold workouts as a way to improve metabolic endurance by training the body to manage lactate more effectively during running.

💡Neuromuscular

Neuromuscular relates to the coordination and control of muscle movement by the nervous system. The video script identifies neuromuscular coordination as a key component of running economy. It suggests that activities like hill sprints can improve neuromuscular communication pathways, leading to more efficient running.

💡Form Drills

Form drills are exercises designed to practice and improve running technique. The video script recommends form drills as a method to enhance running economy by reinforcing efficient movement patterns. It implies that incorporating these drills before faster workouts can help runners develop a smoother, more efficient stride.

💡Athletic Greens

Athletic Greens is a nutritional supplement mentioned in the video script. While not directly related to the main theme of endurance, it is highlighted as a way to ensure nutritional adequacy, especially for those training hard. The script describes it as 'nutrition insurance' that provides a range of vitamins, minerals, and other health-boosting components.

Highlights

There are three main avenues for improving endurance: metabolic endurance, running economy, and VO2 max.

Metabolic endurance is the body's ability to produce energy and clear exercise byproducts like lactate.

High mileage, consistent long runs, and aerobic workouts are effective for improving metabolic endurance.

Cross-training with activities like pool running, cycling, or the elliptical can also build metabolic endurance.

Running economy is the energy efficiency of running at a given speed and is influenced by mechanical and neuromuscular factors.

High mileage and running at various paces can improve running economy by practicing movement patterns.

Incorporating form drills and sprints can enhance neuromuscular coordination and running economy.

Lifting heavy weights can reinforce efficient movement patterns and improve running economy.

VO2 max, the maximum volume of oxygen processed by the body, is largely untrainable and genetically determined.

VO2 max is the least correlated with performance among the endurance metrics discussed.

Focusing on performance rather than VO2 max is recommended for athletes.

Consistency and gradually building mileage are key for endurance development in new runners.

Lifting weights and doing form drills can address personal form issues and improve running efficiency.

Long-term focus on high-level issues like metabolic endurance and running economy leads to substantial fitness gains.

The speaker shares a personal anecdote about the benefits of cross-training during his peak training.

Athletes are encouraged to work with a coach for personalized form cues to improve running economy.

The importance of nutrition and the use of supplements like AG-1 by Athletic Greens for comprehensive nutrient coverage.

Transcripts

if you are a runner that wants to race

faster whether you are a miler or an

ultra marathoner you're going to want

more endurance but did you know that

there are actually only three avenues

for improving your endurance what i'm

going to do in this video is talk about

these three avenues for improving your

endurance and how to best take advantage

of each one of them because they're not

made equal and some are much more

productive than others so let's talk

about these three avenues of endurance

if you're a distance runner you want to

get faster you're going to want to work

on endurance through your metabolism

through your running economy and through

vo2 max let's first talk about metabolic

endurance now this is actually what most

of us think about when we think about

endurance your metabolic endurance is

your body's ability to produce energy

it's your body's ability to clear

exercise byproducts like lactate from

your bloodstream and muscle cells as

you're exercising so if you've ever done

a tempo run for example you are running

a lactate threshold workout that is

designed to help you remove that lactate

from your bloodstream now this is

actually the most effective way at

improving your endurance so i wanted to

start with it so that there's zero

ambiguity here if you want to become a

better runner you've got to improve

what's going on inside your body inside

your cells and the best way to improve

your metabolic endurance is through your

training itself things like relatively

high mileage things like your consistent

long run that you do hopefully every

week and things like aerobic workouts

everything from progression runs to

aerobic threshold or steady state runs

anything where you're running at

marathon pace half marathon pace and of

course your tempo or lactate threshold

pace these are what i'll call aerobic

paces they work incredibly well at

building the aerobic metabolism and if

we think back to what legendary cross

country coach mark wetmore who coaches

the university of colorado boulder cross

country team says he says we don't have

any secrets to our training we are

always patiently building the aerobic

metabolism and that's why his teams are

so great now you can also build this

metabolic endurance through cross

training which is why i really love when

runners incorporate pool running cycling

or the elliptical into their program

because a lot of us can't run high

mileage not all of us can run 80 90 100

miles a week i know i sure broke

whenever i tried to go over 90 miles a

week and so i used a lot of pool running

and cycling when i was training at my

peak to help me keep up with the other

much more talented guys that i was

racing against on my cross-country team

and you know what it really did help i

remember the summer before my senior

year in college i would think i was

running about 80 miles a week but i was

doing two to four hours of cross

training on top of that and i had some

friends being like holy cow jason's

running the equivalent of like 100 miles

a week i better get my training in order

so that he doesn't beat me and i had one

of the best seasons i've ever had after

using

aerobic cross training to supplement my

running so you don't necessarily have to

build

endurance through only running you can

supplement with cross training but of

course running is the most effective way

at doing this because after all we are

runners so the law of specificity

certainly applies here so if you are

someone who is running low mileage

you're not doing a consistent long run

you're not doing aerobic workouts at

marathon pace half marathon pace tempo

pace and anywhere in between

then these this is one of the best most

effective ways at producing more

endurance for you so get on the higher

mileage plan if you can try to

supplement with cross training be very

consistent with your long run and you

are doing so much to metabolically prime

your body for endurance and the end

result it's gonna you're gonna be a lot

faster the next leg of this three-legged

stool of endurance we're talking about

is your running economy now your running

economy is simply how much energy it

takes you to run at a given speed and

those runners who are more efficient who

can run at a faster pace without using

more energy are going to have more

endurance now running economy isn't just

metabolic it's not what's going on

inside your body it's very much

mechanical it's how your body is moving

and it's also very much neuromuscular

this is really a coordination issue and

that's why we can use training methods

outside of just running to improve our

running economy so for example one of

the best ways to improve your running

economy is to simply practice it a lot

which in running means run high mileage

so run more and more so that you are

practicing the very thing that you want

to get better at but we don't

necessarily have to just run a lot

because

coordination and more efficient running

economy is kind of based on how well you

move moving in a variety of ways is

super helpful so not only is running a

lot at a relatively easy pace very

helpful but also running a very little

amount but at a very hard effort is also

really important so i love to see

runners doing regular strides two to

three days a week i love to see runners

doing hill sprints or in other words

running very very fast on the regular

this is an act of coordination you are

improving that neuromuscular

communication pathway between your brain

and your legs and that is going to help

you improve your running economy so that

you can run the same pace but use a lot

less energy and that's going to leave

you in a position where you can get more

out of your body and end up running

faster there's also a lot of other

things we can do besides running a lot

and sprinting to improve our running

economy some of the best things to do

are

lift heavy weights that's going to

improve those communication pathways as

well as form cues that are really

helpful at reinforcing some of these

really efficient movement patterns as

well as form drills so if you were to

incorporate maybe three or four drills

before your faster workouts this is a

wonderful way of practicing some of

these

areas of coordination and really helping

you kind of build them into your library

of movement skills that you have that's

going to carry over really well to your

running so you can run faster have great

economy and you'll actually feel good

doing it if you lift heavy weights

sprint regularly run a lot and you're

doing form drills you are going to feel

very very good when you're running

you're going to feel efficient you're

going to feel smooth you're going to

have a nice flow to your stride and it's

that effortless stride that is a stride

that has a very high running economy now

we're on to the last leg of this

three-legged stool of endurance and it's

not something that we should get too

excited about

this is vo2 max

vo2 max is probably the thing that

you're most

aware of from all of these different

metrics of endurance because we've been

taught that vo2 max is one of the best

indicators of performance right you want

a high vo2 max

well first of all vo2 max is simply the

amount of oxygen the volume of oxygen

the maximum volume of oxygen that your

body can process and

it's not actually something you can

really train

so studies have shown that vo2 max is

largely untrainable sometimes it's

really low in very highly trained

athletes and it can be very high in

people who aren't training very hard and

the other thing is that it's the least

correlated with performance of any of

these metrics that we've discussed today

so i want to encourage all of you don't

worry about vo2 max it's not something

that we should be actively trying to

improve

because it's pretty much genetic unless

you chose great parents with very high

vo2 maxes then you're probably not going

to be able to really budge your vo2 max

too much yes it's probably going to go

up when

you're running very high mileage it's

probably going to go up a little bit

when

you're doing hard workouts you know at

3k pace 5k pace those very challenging

workouts are excellent at training the

vo2 max system but that doesn't mean

you're really going to improve it in any

measurable substantial way so i would

much rather athletes focus on training

for performance rather than on training

for vo2 max at the end of the day

runners endurance is fairly simple it's

producing energy over the long term in

an efficient way if you're running a lot

if you're lifting heavy weights if

you're sprinting regularly you're going

to be building that aerobic metabolism

you're going to be improving your

running economy so that you can

ultimately race a lot faster it's not

rocket science but it's also something

that is a little bit counter-intuitive

sometimes because high mileage helps

with both your

metabolic endurance and with your

running economy and while vo2 max is

surely an important part of endurance

it's not really something that you can

train it's pretty much genetic and it's

not really worth our time to focus on it

too much so if you're a new runner i

hope this is giving you some ideas on

what to focus on focus on consistency

focus on gradually building your mileage

over the long term

focus on

lifting weights doing form drills if

you're working with a coach this would

be a wonderful time to ask them about

any form cues that might help with your

unique personal

form issues that you might have so a

coach will be able to look at you run

and say you know what i think these two

to three queues would be great for you

and if you are working on these very

high level big picture issues over the

long term you're going to be building

endurance and your progress

might seem relatively slow and gradual

from week to week

but quarter to quarter you are going to

be making substantial gains in fitness

and you're going to be capable of racing

quite fast

you know i'm not that big into

supplements but i do love ag-1 by

athletic greens i consider it my

nutrition insurance helping me cover all

my bases so i know i'm not missing out

on anything my body needs especially

when i'm training really hard i try to

eat really well but of course ag-1 is

that extra security that gives me peace

of mind over my diet one scoop per day

and i'm getting 75 vitamins and minerals

prebiotics probiotics antioxidants and

adaptogens you can try it out too at

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jason and they're gonna throw in a free

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jason

[Music]

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