Fitness

Want to increase your stamina? Work on your cardiorespiratory fitness and endurance!

Published

2 years ago

May 24, 2024

Want to increase your stamina? Work on your cardiorespiratory fitness and endurance!

Cardiorespiratory fitness refers to how well your body does while performing a physical task. A healthy diet, weight control and interval training are great ways to improve this.

An increase in stamina, low chances of heart disease and control over high blood pressure are all benefits of cardiorespiratory fitness. Cardiorespiratory fitness, also known as cardiorespiratory endurance, cardiovascular fitness, and cardiovascular endurance, improves oxygen levels in the lungs and heart when we are doing anything that involves physical exertion.

Cardiorespiratory fitness refers to how well your body can perform when you are exercising. If your cardiorespiratory fitness is on point, you can endure long, physical exercise without getting tired. Read on to learn more about cardiorespiratory fitness, the exercises that can help you improve it, as well as the risks involved.

What is cardiorespiratory fitness?

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) refers to the ability of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems to deliver oxygen during prolonged physical activities. “It is an important sign for overall health and heart function,” explains cardiologist Dr Chirag D.

According to research published in Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Abdominal Obesity, cardiorespiratory fitness can be determined by gender, age and genetics, as well as, the relationship between your health and physical activity. Strong CRF allows you to perform daily activities with more ease, reducing fatigue during tasks like climbing stairs or carrying groceries. It also helps you recover faster from exercise, allowing you to get back to your workout routine sooner.

What are the various endurance tests for cardiorespiratory fitness?

Your cardiorespiratory fitness can be measured through some tests.

1. VO2 Max Test

This test measures the maximal uptake of oxygen in a high-intensity exercise. In this exercise, you get on a treadmill or a bike and increase your intensity every few minutes, until you are exhausted. This method is touted to be the most accurate one, states this research, published by the University of Virginia.

2. 6-Minute Walk Test

This test evaluates sub-maximally distance covered within six minutes. This test is low risk and is useful in assessing adults who have love cardiorespiratory fitness, states this study, published in Pulmonology.

3. Treadmill Stress Test

This test monitors heart rate during increasing intensity levels on a treadmill. This test is usually done in a lab, where electrodes are put on the patient’s chest, and these are then connected to an ECG machine. This makes a record of all heart activity, including blood pressure and heart rate, states this study, published by the National Institute of Health.

What are the causes of low cardiorespiratory fitness?

Various causes are associated with low respiratory fitness levels. Some of these are as follows:

Sedentary lifestyle: No regular exercise and sedentary desk jobs can lead to cardiorespiratory fitness levels dropping. No exercise often leads to fatty material in your arteries. This can cause serious problems, including a heart attack. Exercise is beneficial for cardiovascular health, states this study, published in Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine.
Chronic diseases: Illnesses like heart attack, diabetic condition, and lung problems can also lead to a drop in cardiorespiratory fitness. This disease can also cause pain and fatigue.
Obesity: The burden of excessive body weight on the heart and lungs can lower cardiorespiratory fitness levels. It may also lead to cardiovascular diseases and needs to be worked on at once, reports a study, published in the Journal of Obesity.
Aging: Gradual deterioration of body strength and muscle mass over time. A study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, states that cardiorespiratory fitness levels decrease with age.

How can you improve your cardiorespiratory fitness?

There are various ways to work on your cardiorespiratory fitness levels. Here are a few ideas that you can try out.

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1. Regular aerobic exercise

Regular exercise such as walking, running, and cycling improves the performance of both the heart and lungs. A study, published in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, states that adults should do 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 60 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity per week, as recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association (AHA).

2. Interval training

Endurance can be enhanced through fluctuating intensities between highs and lows. High-intensity interval training is a form of exercise where you have short periods of intense and explosive movements, followed by low-intensity exercise or even rest. This helps control obesity and increase cardiorespiratory fitness levels, states this study, published in Frontiers in Public Health.

3. Healthy diet

Nutrient-rich foods support overall physical health and energy levels. A study, published in Nutrients, observed the impact of a healthy diet on a group of Korean adults from 19-64 years. The VO2 Max test was used to determine the cardiorespiratory fitness levels. It was seen that adults, in the age group of 19-34 years, reported high CRF levels.

4. Consistency

Regular, sustained effort is crucial for long-term improvements. Make sure that you continue to do the above-mentioned things regularly to see a change.

Cardiorespiratory fitness can be improved by regular exercise. Image courtesy: Freepik

Cardiorespiratory activities

You can try some cardio-respiratory activities that help elevate your breathing and heart rate for an extended period of time, suggests fitness expert and Fit India Ambassador Wanitha Ashok.

Brisk walking
Running
Jogging
Cycling
Swimming
Aerobics
Dance
Zumba
Jumping rope
Stair climbing
Treadmill
Stationary cycling
Cross trainer
Circuit training
High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
Kickboxing

What to keep in mind while doing CRF exercises?

Make sure to keep these things in mind when you practice cardiorespiratory fitness:

One should start slow and gradually build the workout in terms of duration and intensity.
You should not push yourself and listen to your body.
Hydration before, during and after the cardio respiratory exercises is advised to replace the list water in the form of sweat and to prevent giddiness and nausea.
It’s not advisable to do cardio respiratory exercises in the hot Sun, the best time to workout is early morning or evenings. In cold temperatures it’s advisable to be dressed in layers.

What are the risk factors related to cardiorespiratory fitness?

Low cardiorespiratory fitness, linked to an inactive lifestyle, weakens your body’s ability to use oxygen during exercise. Age, genetics, and certain medical conditions can also contribute. Additionally, high lipid values, high blood pressure, higher heart rates, higher waist circumference and higher body fat percentages can affect cardiorespiratory fitness levels, states this study, published in Scientific Reports.

Regular physical activity is key to improving your CRF. Even small increases in activity can significantly benefit your heart, lungs, and overall health.

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Fitness

Higher fitness levels linked to lower risk of depression, dementia – Harvard Health

Published

9 hours ago

April 21, 2026

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Higher fitness levels linked to lower risk of depression, dementia – Harvard Health

research review

People with high cardiorespiratory fitness were 36% less likely to experience depression and 39% less likely to develop dementia than those with low cardiorespiratory fitness. Even small improvements in fitness were linked to a lower risk. Experts believe that exercise’s ability to boost blood flow to the brain, reduce bodywide inflammation, and improve stress regulation may explain the connection.

Fitness

These 20-Minute Burpee Workouts Replaced His Entire Gym Routine – and Transformed His Physique

Published

21 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

These 20-Minute Burpee Workouts Replaced His Entire Gym Routine – and Transformed His Physique

While many swear by them, most people see burpees as a form of punishment – usually dished out drill sergeant-style by overzealous bootcamp PTs. Often the final blow in an already brutal workout, burpees are designed to test cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance and mental grit. Love them or loathe them, they deliver every time.

For Max Edwards – aka Busy Dad Training on YouTube – they became a simple but highly effective way to stay fit and lean during lockdown. Once a committed powerlifter, spending upwards of 80 minutes a day in the gym, he was forced to overhaul his approach due to fatherhood, lockdown and a schedule that no longer allowed for long, structured lifting sessions.

‘Even though I was putting in hours and hours into the gym and even though my physique was pretty good, I wasn’t becoming truly excellent at any physical discipline,’ he explained in a YouTube video.

‘I loved the intentionality of training,’ says Edwards. ‘The fact that every session has a point, every rep in every set is helping you get towards a training goal, and I loved that there was a clear way of gauging progression – feeling like I was developing competence and moving towards mastery.’

Why He Walked Away From Powerlifting

Despite that structure, Edwards began to question whether powerlifting was sustainable long-term.

‘My sessions were very taxing on my central nervous system. I was exhausted between sessions. It felt as if I needed at least nine hours of sleep each night just to function.’

He also noted that his appetite was consistently high.

But the biggest drawback was time.

‘I could not justify taking 80 minutes a day away from my family for what felt like a self-centred pursuit,’ he says.

A Simpler Approach That Stuck

‘Over the course of that year I fixed my relationship with alcohol and I developed, for the first time in my adult life, a relationship with physical training,’ says Edwards.

With limited time and no access to equipment, he turned to burpees. Just two variations, four times a week, with each session lasting 20 minutes.

‘My approach in each workout was very simple. On a six-count training day I would do as many six-counts as I possibly could within 20 minutes. On a Navy Seal training day I would do as many Navy Seal burpees as I could within 20 minutes – then in the next workout I would simply try to beat the number I had managed previously.’

This style of training is known as AMRAP – as many reps (or rounds) as possible.

The Results

Edwards initially saw the routine as nothing more than a six-month stopgap to stay in shape. But that quickly changed.

‘I remember catching sight of myself in the mirror one morning and I was utterly baffled by the man I saw looking back at me.’

He found himself in the best shape of his life. His energy levels improved, his resting heart rate dropped and his physique changed in ways that powerlifting hadn’t quite delivered.

‘It has been five years since I have set foot in a gym,’ he says. ‘That six-month training practice has become the defining training practice of my life – and for five years I have trained for no more than 80 minutes per week.’

The Burpee Workouts

1/ 6-Count Burpees

20-minute AMRAP, twice a week

How to do them:

Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart
Crouch down and place your hands on the floor (count 1)
Jump your feet back into a high plank (count 2)
Lower into the bottom of a push-up (count 3)
Push back up to plank (count 4)
Jump your feet forward to your hands (count 5)
Stand up straight (count 6)

20-minute AMRAP, twice a week

How to do them:

Start standing, feet shoulder-width apart
Crouch down and place your hands on the floor
Jump your feet back into a high plank
Perform a push-up (chest to floor)
At the top, bring your right knee to your right elbow, then return
Perform another push-up
Bring your left knee to your left elbow, then return
Perform a third push-up
Jump your feet forward
Stand or jump to finish

Kate is a fitness writer for Men’s Health UK where she contributes regular workouts, training tips and nutrition guides. She has a post graduate diploma in Sports Performance Nutrition and before joining Men’s Health she was a nutritionist, fitness writer and personal trainer with over 5k hours coaching on the gym floor. Kate has a keen interest in volunteering for animal shelters and when she isn’t lifting weights in her garden, she can be found walking her rescue dog.

Fitness

Six ways your smartwatch is lying to you, according to science

Published

1 day ago

April 20, 2026

Press Room

Six ways your smartwatch is lying to you, according to science

You check your smartwatch after a run. Your fitness score has dropped. You’ve burnt hardly any calories. Your recovery score is really low. It’s telling you to take the next 72 hours off exercise.

The worst bit? The whole run felt amazing.

So why is your watch telling you the opposite?

Ultimately, it’s because smartwatches and other fitness trackers aren’t always accurate.

Smartwatches can shape how you exercise

Using wearable fitness technology, such as smartwatches, has been one of the top fitness trends for close to a decade. Millions of people around the world use them daily.

These devices shape how people think about health and exercise. For example, they provide data about how many calories you’ve burnt, how fit you are, how recovered you are after exercise, and whether you’re ready to exercise again.

But your smartwatch doesn’t measure most of these metrics directly. Instead, many common metrics are estimates. In other words, they’re not as accurate as you might think.

1. Calories burned

Calorie tracking is one of the most popular features on smartwatches. However, the accuracy leaves a lot to be desired.

Wearable devices can under- or overestimate energy expenditure (often expressed as calories burned) by more than 20 per cent. These errors also vary between activities. For example, strength training, cycling and high-intensity interval training can lead to even larger errors.

This matters because people often use these numbers to guide how much they eat.

For example, if your watch overestimates calories burned, you might think you need to eat more food than you really need, which could result in weight gain. Conversely, if your watch underestimates calories burned, it could lead you to under-eat, negatively impacting your exercise performance.

2. Step counts

Step counts are a great way to measure general physical activity, but wearables don’t capture them perfectly.

Smartwatches can under-count steps by about 10 per cent under normal exercise conditions. Activities such as pushing a pram, carrying weights, or walking with limited arm swing likely make step counts less accurate, as smartwatches rely on arm movement to register steps.

For most people, this isn’t a major problem, and step counts are still useful for tracking general activity levels. But view them as a guide, rather than a precise measure.

3. Heart rate

Smartwatches estimate your heart rate using sensors that measure changes in blood flow through the veins in your wrist.

This method is accurate at rest or low intensities, but gets less accurate as you increase exercise intensity.

Arm movement, sweat, skin tone and how tightly you wear the watch can also impact the heart rate measure it spits out. This means the accuracy can vary between people.

This can be problematic for people who use heart rate zones to guide their training, as small errors can lead to training at the wrong intensity.

4. Sleep tracking

Almost every smartwatch on the market gives you a “sleep score” and breaks your night into stages of light, deep and REM sleep.

The gold standard for measuring sleep is polysomnography. This is a lab-based test that records brain activity. But smartwatches estimate sleep using movement and heart rate.

This means they can detect when you’re asleep or awake reasonably well. But they are much less accurate at identifying sleep stages.

So even if your watch says you had “poor deep sleep”, this may not be the case.

5. Recovery scores

Most smartwatches track heart rate variability and use this, with your sleep score, to create a “readiness” or “recovery” score.

Heart rate variability reflects how your body responds to stress. In the lab it is measured using an electrocardiogram. But smartwatches estimate it using wrist-based sensors, which are much more prone to measurement errors.

This means most recovery metrics are based on two inaccurate measures (heart rate variability and sleep quality). This results in a metric that may not meaningfully reflect your recovery.

As a result, if your watch says you’re not recovered, you might skip training — even if you feel good (and are actually good to go).

6. VO₂max

Most devices estimate your VO₂max — which indicates your maximal fitness. It’s the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise.

The best way to measure VO₂max involves wearing a mask to analyse the amount of oxygen you breathe in and out, to determine how much oxygen you’re using to create energy.

But your watch cannot measure oxygen use. It estimates it based on your heart rate and movement.

But smartwatches tend to overestimate VO₂max in less active people and underestimate VO₂max in fitter ones.

This means the number on your watch may not reflect your true fitness.

What should you do?

While the data from your smartwatch is prone to errors, that doesn’t mean it is completely worthless.

These devices still offer a way to help you track general trends over time, but you should not pay attention to daily fluctuations or specific numbers.

It’s also important you pay attention to how you feel, how you perform and how you recover. This is likely to give you even more insight than what your smartwatch says.

Hunter Bennett is a lecturer in exercise science at Adelaide University. This piece first appeared on The Conversation.