Have you ever felt winded climbing stairs or walking up a hill? You are not alone.

Building endurance should be a big part of every fitness routine. Doing so increases the amount of oxygen in the body, which boosts your ability to perform basic tasks such as setting up for a picnic on the beach or lifting groceries to the car.

Below are some ideas to help you do it:

Intervals

Studies show that sessions of sprint interval training increase muscle potential and endurance capacity. Sometimes endurance is sacrificed for heavy strength training or steady-state cardio.

Try adding endurance work to your everyday fitness routine by breaking up your cardio routine with a few short sets of sprints.

Rest less

Typically, we give ourselves between 30 and 90 seconds of recovery time in between sets, but if your goal is greater endurance, be prepared to lower your break time.

By the end of your sets, your muscles should be burning; you should be breathing heavily and sweating. Take a break only if you physically cannot continue.

Try doing ten pull-ups, ten squats, ten push-ups, ten sit-ups. Do three to five rounds of the series back-to-back, taking as minimal a break as possible.

Sleep

A good night’s rest is necessary to build endurance. Being well rested allows your body to work longer and harder simultaneously. It is recommended that we get between eight and ten hours of sleep per night. Ten hours may seem like a lot, however, try increasing your present sleep pattern by an hour and see if it improves your fitness endurance.

Balance your diet

Appropriate nutrition improves athletic performance, conditioning and avoids injury. So what is “appropriate nutrition”?

A balanced diet — specifically one with healthy carbohydrates, proteins and healthy fats that limit heavily processed foods — is essential to increasing fitness endurance. Speak to your nutritionist to find out the best plan for you.

Change it up

Growing comfortable with a specific strength training workout can hinder your endurance. Change your workouts and intervals to challenge your body in new ways. Mix up your training by working out at the Arboretum, the National Stadium; visit a different gym or class.

Get out of your comfort zone and try something like boxing, yoga or a dance workout. Pushing your limits and setting new goals opens your mind to other areas in your life where you can go further or succeed more than you expected.

Stay consistent, full of endurance and B-Active For Life!

• Betty Doyling is a certified fitness trainer and figure competitor with more than a decade of experience. Check her out on Facebook: facebook.com/B.ActiveForLife