Athletes need to think about stamina and endurance all the time. Whether you’re a runner, a basketball player or a swimmer, your ability to push hard and keep going often determines who wins and who comes out on top.

But endurance and stamina aren’t just important for athletes. They can also affect how easily you tackle everyday activities, like yardwork or helping a friend move.

Exercise physiologist Christopher Travers, MS, explains what sets stamina and endurance apart and how to build up both with a variety of workouts.

How stamina and endurance work together

Stamina and endurance often go hand in hand — but they’re different.

Think of stamina as how hard you can push yourself, and endurance as how long you can maintain that effort.

In car terms, stamina reflects how hard you push on the gas pedal for a quick jump in speed. Endurance reflects how far you can go before running out of fuel.

Together, they help you reach your destination and achieve milestones in your physical performance.

Let’s dig a little bit more into what makes each unique.

What is stamina?

Stamina describes your mental and physical ability to sustain high-intensity effort over a shorter period of time. It’s that quick burst at the starting line, the second-wind sprint you get during the last push of a marathon and the fast acceleration that carries you uphill.

“With stamina, you’re trying to push through at a higher heart rate,” says Travers. “It’s your power, your speed and your repeated burst of effort.”

What is endurance?

Endurance describes your body’s ability to sustain low-to-moderate-intensity activity over very long periods of time. It’s the ability to endure a marathon, miles of cycling and long workout sessions without stopping or decreasing intensity.

“With endurance, you’re learning how to maintain a certain level of intensity for the longest period of time,” says Travers. “You’re focused on your breathing, keeping a steady pace and sticking to correct form so you can go longer without running out of energy.”

How to increase endurance and stamina

Building stamina and endurance involves different approaches to physical fitness. Stamina relies on quick bouts of high-intensity exercises, while endurance is less intense but for longer periods of time.

Working on both simultaneously can improve your performance and make a significant impact on your overall health. Let’s now focus on each one individually.

How to increase stamina

Circuit training is a great way to build stamina because it combines strength and cardio exercises with limited rest. A circuit involves moving through a series of exercises that target different muscle groups with little-to-no break between each one. After completing a circuit, you take a longer recovery before repeating the entire circuit.

“The big thing with stamina workouts is your recovery,” notes Travers. “When you finish an entire circuit made up of several quick exercises, you want a longer recovery so you can come back and do the entire circuit over again at the same high intensity.”

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) can also improve stamina. HIIT alternates short bursts of intense exercise with brief recovery periods, training your body to:

• Work hard even when you’re fatigued
• Recover quickly between exercises
• Tolerate higher levels of exertion
• Use oxygen more efficiently

A stamina workout might combine these approaches by using a circuit of high-intensity exercises followed by a longer recovery period before repeating the circuit.

Exercises commonly used in stamina workouts include:

• Hill sprints
• Box jumps
• Stair climbs
• Mountain climbers
• Jump squats
• Burpees

How to build endurance

To build endurance, you’ll need to learn how to maintain a certain level of intensity for longer stretches of time.

“With endurance, we’re going for that longer, steady state and gradually increasing our time and our distances,” explains Travers. “Endurance requires consistency over weeks and even months.”

It helps to focus on workouts that keep your body moving for extended periods. Cardiovascular exercises are especially effective at building endurance. But strength training can be adapted to improve muscular endurance, training your muscles to work longer before they become fatigued.

When working on endurance, you want to increase the amount of time, distance or reps as you progress through your training.

Common exercises for endurance include:

• Cycling
• Running
• Hiking
• Swimming
• Rowing
• Planks

Final note for the miles ahead

Whether your goal is to move faster, exercise longer or simply keep up with the demands of daily life, stamina and endurance can help you get there. Building both takes consistency and practice. But over time, those efforts can pay off in improved performance, better fitness and greater confidence in what your body can do.

“If you train consistently and you’re seeing progress, both your stamina and endurance are improving,” encourages Travers. “It doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, practice and attention to your overall health.”

GLP-1 medications have reshaped the conversation around weight loss, but fitness experts are quick to point out that the blueprint for a strong, healthy body hasn’t budged. In fact, it’s never mattered more. The fundamentals of healthy living, from strength training and prioritizing protein to staying active, remain essential for preserving muscle, supporting metabolism and creating results that last. Here’s what top trainers want everyone taking a GLP-1 to know.

“Weight changes quickly, but structure doesn’t,” says Tracy Anderson (@tracyandersonmethod), founder of her namesake movement catalog. For anyone relying on GLP-1s without prioritizing movement, she has a clear warning: The body you’re uncovering still needs tending. “The health of your metabolism relies a lot on how you interact with your muscles.” And for Anderson, that means keeping movement varied and consistent. “You want to recruit as much activity as you possibly can in your body. It’s not enough to just say, ‘I’m going to lift; I’m going to build muscle.’ Things atrophy, and you want to keep as much awake and as much alert as you possibly can.”

“When you’re on a GLP-1, as much as 40 percent of the weight you lose may be lean muscle mass,” explains Kira Jones (@kirajones), founder of Cacti Wellness, who adds that the fix for this is non-negotiable. “It’s essential that GLP-1 users actively work to gain and maintain strength and build muscle. Muscle protects your metabolism long-term and provides that toned appearance.” Her advice: Strength train two to three times a week with weight that genuinely challenges you, prioritize protein at every meal and protect your recovery. “Eating well and exercising means nothing if you don’t give your body time to properly digest food, rebuild muscle and release stress.”

Nicole Winhoffer (@nicolewinhoffer), founder of the NW Method, has watched GLP-1s change not only her clients’ bodies, but also their relationship with movement. The risks she highlights are both physical and behavioral, particularly when medication replaces lifestyle habits. “For some individuals, GLP-1s can work best when paired with natural long-term habits around nutrition, movement and overall wellness.” But, she’s also seen something more encouraging: clients who feel better in their bodies showing up differently in the studio. “I would encourage anyone on a GLP-1 to incorporate dance into their routine. Dancing is a great way to improve self-esteem and build confidence in both social settings and personal style.”

It never feels like there’s enough time in the day – after prioritising your kids, work and other commitments, simply finding an opportunity to get in the gym can prove tricky. But instead of obsessing over gym sessions, Lawrence Price – former professional rugby player, coach and recent guest on MH’s Built for Life podcast – says busy dads should instead prioritise three weekly pillars.

These pillars are less about creating a perfect environment and more about building consistency that works with your life. The idea is that if life gets hectic and one pillar drops off temporarily, the other two pillars keep progress moving.

‘If pillar one is out the window because we can’t train for a couple of weeks, we can still manipulate things by making sure we’re hit hitting pillar one and three by getting those things on point,’ Price tells MH.

1. Increase Your Daily Movement

Price is a big proponent of increasing your NEAT – non-exercise activity thermogenesis – which is the energy your body uses for daily, non-structured exercises. These include things like walking more, taking the stairs instead of the lift or escalators, and moving during phone calls.

‘If your training window for the day has gone, then the reality is you can still take phone calls on your feet, you can take the stairs. It’s just boring to talk about – it’s unsexy, it’s uncool. But if you get people into that mindset where, whatever your life looks like, you’re prioritising that need. It’s 15% of your total daily expenditure or more,’ Price says.

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‘Even even when your training window is put on the back burner, because the hierarchy of needs outside of your own health needs is obviously undulating and sometimes it pulls us away, whatever circumstance you have during the week, just moving more is something you can go towards.’

2. Strength Training

There’s no such thing as training too little – if you’ve only got time for one gym session a week, then make the most of that time and incorporate some strength training. Compound movements help to stimulate muscle growth efficiently.

‘Resistance training is the second pillar. Even if you only get one or two sessions in a week and it’s a really targeted, simple, basic functional hypertrophy routine, you know that when you’re sitting at your desk or when you’re doing the school run, your body is trying to adapt to that stimulus.’

‘If pillars one and two are the energy output pillars, pillar three is the energy input pillar,’ Price concludes.

‘If we have a rough idea of eating in alignment with our energetic needs and body composition goals, even if the environment changes we can still embody the habits and actions that align with our goals and and our visions.’

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This is crucial for when you might not have time to train as much as you’d like – adapting your nutrition will still keep you on track with your goals, even if you’re expending less daily energy.

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If there’s one thing Kori Sampson knows, it’s how to optimise your body composition for performance. To tap into his knowledge as an elite athlete and coach, we asked him to create a 4-week plan to help you move faster, recover quicker and keep pushing when the fatigue sets in – all while improving your muscle-to-fat ratio.

Ready to build muscle, burn fat and come out the other side looking, feeling and performing better? Click here to get 14 days of free access to the plan via the Men’s Health app.

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Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.

During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.

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Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…

You can follow Ryan on Instagram or on X