Stamina is the ability to exercise without exhausting yourself. It’s not just about being able to run a mile without taking a break.
It's also about being able to lift heavy objects, play sports, and do other activities that require high energy levels over long periods of time with minimal rest. Stamina is important for men, as it can help them perform better at work and in sports.
Best Stamina-boosting Exercises For Men
We’ve put together a list of six exercises to help men improve their stamina:
1) High-Intensity Interval Training
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a form of interval training in which you alternate between high-intensity and low-intensity exercise for a given period of time.
It's more effective than steady-state cardio for burning fat, improving cardiovascular health, and building muscle. In fact, it can be more effective than steady-state cardio even when the total amount of exercise time is shorter.
The idea behind HIIT is to alternate between short periods of intense anaerobic exercise and low-intensity recovery periods. For example:
- Sprint on the treadmill for 30 seconds at 90% effort level
- Walk or jog moderately for 1 minute to catch your breath
- Repeat ten times.
2) Squat
Squats are a full body exercise, so they're great at building muscle and improving balance. They also improve hip flexibility and strengthen the lower back.
Squatting to parallel or below increases the amount of time you can hold yourself in a squat position, which is an important measurement of stamina.
Keep in mind that it may take some time for this to happen. Don't give up if you don't see immediate results.
3) Shoulder Touch
This exercise improves stamina as well as strength in both shoulders and core muscles. Here's how to do it:
To perform shoulder touches, you need to
- Lie down, and get in to push-up position.
- Raise one arm up till it is level with the other, and lower it down again.
- Repeat this exercise by raising both arms alternately for ten reps on each side.
- You can make this exercise more difficult by holding a dumbbell or weight plate on each hand during the execution of this movement.
Shoulder touches can be done using different variations, such as holding one end of a resistance band between hands at chest height or inclining slightly forward so that only part of the upper body remains below horizontal when performing repetitions.
4) Dead Bug
Dead bugs are a great exercise for improving core and posture. The goal is to keep the body straight and moving like a plank.
Here’s how to do them:
- Start by lying down on your back, with your knees bent and feet on the floor in front of you.
- Raise your arms directly in front of you, and extend one leg out behind you while keeping your hips level with the floor.
- Return that leg to the starting position, and repeat with the other one to complete one repetition. Try doing 10 or 20 more before trying any variations.
The dead bug can be made more challenging by increasing its range of motion, holding it longer than 30 seconds per set, or adding resistance through weight training or medicine balls (but not too heavy).
5) Side Plank with a Twist
The side plank with a twist is an excellent core-strengthening exercise that also works the obliques.
To do it:
- Lie on your left side, and prop yourself up on your left forearm.
- Your elbow should be directly beneath your shoulder, and the lower half of the same limb should be flat on the ground.
- Extend your right arm straight out to its full length as you raise yourself up off the floor by balancing on just one foot and one hand. The other hand should rest against the back of your waist.
- Hold for a minute or as long as you can without dropping down from fatigue. Switch sides when done, and repeat two more times.
6) Push-up
Push-ups are another great exercise for men, especially for improving stamina. They build strength in the chest, arms, back, and core. They also help with abdominal muscles — even though they're one of the easiest exercises out there.
How to do a push-up:
- Find a place or object suitable for doing push-ups on your hands and feet, like a bench or wall. Make sure it's not too high up so you can see what you're doing clearly or too low that it becomes uncomfortable to hold this position while doing push-ups regularly over time.
- Place your arms at shoulder width, and press down till your chest is almost in contact with the floor.
- Using solely your chest muscles, push back up to the starting position. Repeat for as many reps as you can.
Takeaway
There are many types of exercises that can be used to improve stamina. The aforementioned exercises we’ve listed here are some of the best, but if you want to improve your stamina even more, it may be worth trying out others as well.
The most important thing is that you find exercises that you enjoy doing and which don’t cause too much pain or discomfort.