How to Increase Aerobic Capacity

When it comes to endurance sports like long distance running, your aerobic capacity is what drives your ability to keep going and reach your distance goals. But how do you increase your aerobic capacity to be able to run further?

In this post we’ll cover everything you need to know - but first, a little more on the basics:

Endurance training - in other words, training to increase the distance you can run, is also known as aerobic exercise. 

Aerobic exercise includes any activity that is done for more than a minute or two at a time, so typically, long distance running, swimming, cycling and triathlons. During aerobic exercise, your heart pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body, allowing your muscles to burn fat and carbohydrates as fuel.

This is in contrast to anaerobic exercise, which doesn’t use up as much oxygen, because it tends to be at a higher intensity. This means your heart can’t deliver oxygen to the muscles, and therefore you can only keep it up for shorter bursts of time. Examples include heavy weightlifting and sprinting.

What are the Benefits of Improving Aerobic Endurance?

Improved aerobic endurance provides a lot of benefits for runners, including:

• Increased stamina and ability to run further distances

• Lower cholesterol and reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases

• Lower blood pressure

• Helps to regulate and reduce blood sugar

• Increased energy and sense of wellbeing

How is Aerobic Capacity Measured?

As we’ve hopefully covered by now, aerobic endurance sports are essentially a competition to see how much oxygen your body can deliver to the muscles that need it. While there are of course other factors in improving your running performance, such as your fuelling strategy, your running shoes, how experienced you are on this particular route or in this type of terrain, and many more - your aerobic capacity is arguably the most objective measure of your running performance.

When you train, your aerobic capacity improves in two main ways - one is your heart’s improved ability to deliver more oxygen, and the other is your legs’ more efficient use of that oxygen.

When scientists measure this use of oxygen, they refer to VO2 max, or maximum oxygen uptake.

All of your runs and other kinds of training boost your VO2 max and help you get better at running. Yes, even shorter, low effort runs. But different methods of training are better at improving it than others.

How to Improve Your Aerobic Capacity While Running

One effective way to increase your aerobic capacity is to practice interval running. To try this for yourself, run slightly faster than your typical 5K pace (roughly 10-30 seconds per mile). For example, if you usually run 5Ks at around 7:50 per mile, try aiming for 7:20-7:40ish.

This is likely not a pace you can maintain for a long time. If you feel it is, then try going a little faster. Runners using this method typically aim for around 800m-1k in distance, or 4-5 minutes in time.

After completing this, jog very slowly for 4-5 minutes or around 1k, focusing on catching your breath - then repeat the process again. 

3-4 repeats is enough to start, but as you get fitter, try aiming for 7-8 repeats.

Doing this kind of workout on a track is popular as it’s easier to measure distance, but road or trail is just as effective (especially if this is the terrain type you’re training for).

This type of training should be mixed in among your other runs, and ideally not carried out more than once per week. We’d recommend skipping them on harder weeks or the week of a race since they can take a lot out of you.

Another type of run that works for aerobic capacity is fartlek, which is Swedish for “speedplay”. This is similar to interval training but less structured, so instead of sticking to strict distances or times, you set those goals as you run, for example “to the next lamppost”. While this is less predictable and measurable in its benefits, it will still improve your aerobic capacity.

Other Tips to Increase Aerobic Capacity

Outside of interval running, there are other workouts that can help boost your aerobic capacity and endurance, such as:

HIIT

HIIT, or high intensity interval training, involves short bursts of intense exercise, mainly focused on fast twitch muscle fibres as opposed to slow twitch. It includes most functional fitness and circuits classes, as well as more recent trends like Hyrox. It’s highly effective for boosting your VO2 max and can help boost your running performance quite significantly. 

Strength Training

Strength training at first may be a confusing inclusion on this list, given that it’s typically anaerobic exercise. However, it’s not only highly recommended for runners due to its ability to strengthen our leg muscles and reduce the risk of injury. When you carry out sport-specific movements with proper form, you strengthen the muscles that are used when you run. 

This makes each step just that little easier, and helps your body to maintain proper form for longer, all of which enables you to run further than ever.

Run Slow

If you’re training to improve your distance running, you’re likely doing a long run every week, traditionally on a Sunday. Focus on slowing down on these runs and push for a higher distance. 

Going slower/sticking to zone 2 allows you to increase your aerobic endurance while putting less stress on the body and preventing injury. Going slower for longer also helps your body become more efficient at burning fat instead of glycogen. Glycogen stores typically only last 90 minutes, which is why it’s so important to regularly take energy gels - but if your body is also more efficiently burning fat, that helps a lot too.

Find Something to Listen To

Whether it’s your favourite music, or a new podcast, listening to something makes running for longer feel more easy, and prevents the boredom that can also cut a run short. Studies have found that listening to music can increase performance at aerobic exercise - and even decrease the perceived effort your run takes.

Don’t Forget to Rest, and Build Up Gradually

The way to run further with less effort, is to gradually run further and further, consistently with time. But up your distance too fast and you’ll risk injuring yourself, or simply exhausting yourself too much to recover effectively in time for your next run.

Don’t be afraid to build your distances up slowly - this will allow your body time to adjust and make for more reliable, lasting gains.

Rest days are equally important - they are when your body recovers, when your muscles repair - and without them, an otherwise perfect training schedule will still struggle to create any improvements.

Nutritional Tips for Boosting Endurance

While nutrition and fitness are typically two different sides of training for long distance running - they do directly influence each other.

For example, if you don’t fuel properly on your weekly long run, you’re making it more difficult for your body to run further. Doing this consistently over time will reduce your ability to improve.

Here are some key tips to improving your endurance through nutrition:

Hydrate

Being even slightly dehydrated will reduce your ability to perform. Even if you’re well hydrated when starting, your body loses water and electrolytes through sweat while running.

Hydrating properly, both during your runs and the rest of the time, will prepare your body to go through the stresses of your training and to improve in the process.

Get Your Carbs In

Carbohydrates are the body’s number 1 source of fuel - and as touched on earlier, glycogen stores only last for around 90 minutes. Our natural maple syrup energy gels contain 24g of carbs per sachet, meaning 2-4 per hour (depending on the length of your run and your running experience) is the perfect amount to keep you performing at your highest level for longer.