How to increase stamina: build your fitness and endurance, week by week

Any steady activity counts

Brisk walking, cycling, swimming, rowing, dancing and running all build stamina. In trials, walking programmes alone raised fitness in people who weren't active.

Sources 1, 2

Aim for the guidelines

At least 150 minutes a week of moderate activity, where you can talk but not sing, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or a mix, plus strength work on 2 days.

Sources 1, 3

Little and often

In one trial, a single 60-minute session a week left most people unchanged after 6 weeks, while 4 or 5 sessions a week improved everyone. Across hundreds of studies, more sessions brought bigger gains.

Sources 4, 5

Add intervals once you have a base

Interval training raised VO2 max (the most oxygen your body can use) a little more than steady training in 28 studies. Once or twice a week is enough for most people (the starting point in our HIIT guide, on high-intensity interval training).

Source 6

It changes within weeks

Fitness rose within 3 weeks in a cycling trial, and by 18 to 31% over 12 weeks. How long you can keep going can improve even sooner.

Sources 7, 8

Measure it with what you have

Use the talk test, a timed walk or run over the same route, and your resting heart rate, which tends to fall as you get fitter.

Sources 9, 10

Aerobic fitness

This is how much oxygen your heart, lungs, blood and muscles can take in and use. VO2 max, the most oxygen your body can use in a minute, is the lab measure; our VO2 max guide covers what's typical for your age. Training raises it mainly through more oxygen-carrying blood, and more mitochondria (the parts of muscle cells that use oxygen) and tiny blood vessels in your muscles.

Sources 4, 5

Endurance

This is how long you can keep going at a given pace before you have to slow down or stop. It can improve before VO2 max does: in one study of 8 people, 6 short sprint interval sessions over 2 weeks doubled how long they could keep cycling at a hard pace.

Source 8

Stamina or endurance?

In everyday use they mean much the same thing: being able to keep going. This guide uses them that way.

The talk test

Moderate effort means you can talk but not sing; vigorous means you can't say more than a few words without pausing for breath. In 16 adults, the point where talking first became hard matched a lab marker of effort (the ventilatory threshold).

Sources 1, 3, 9

Where people differ

The least active have the most to gain. Up to about half of the differences between people in fitness, and in how much it improves, run in families, but almost everyone improves with enough sessions. Women gained more in percentage terms across many studies, and in one small trial older men gained at least as much as young men.

Sources 1, 11, 12, 5, 7

Steady training raises fitnessStrong evidence

In 28 studies of 723 adults aged 18 to 45, steady endurance training raised VO2 max by about 4.9 mL/kg/min (millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight a minute): roughly 12% from where people started. Walking programmes raised it by about 3 in people who weren't active.

Sources 6, 2

Intervals add a little moreStrong evidence

Interval training raised VO2 max by about 5.5, about 1.2 more than steady training. Longer intervals gave the biggest gains in one analysis of 37 studies, and short all-out sprint intervals raised fitness within 2 to 8 weeks across 19 studies.

Sources 6, 13, 14

How often mattersEmerging evidence

In 78 adults training for 60 minutes at a time over 6 weeks, 69% of those doing 1 session a week didn't improve, against 40% at 2 sessions, 29% at 3 and none at 4 or 5. When the people who hadn't improved added 2 sessions a week for 6 more weeks, every one of them improved.

Source 4

More sessions, bigger gainsEmerging evidence

Across 353 studies of 5,973 people, more sessions a week brought bigger gains in fitness and in the muscles' oxygen machinery. Women and less fit people gained more in percentage terms, and the ability to adapt lasted through life.

Source 5

It starts within weeksEmerging evidence

In 8 young and 8 older men cycling for 45 minutes 3 times a week, VO2 max rose within 3 weeks, and by 18% in the young and 31% in the older men after 12 weeks. It's a small study.

Source 7

Endurance can rise before VO2 maxEmerging evidence

In one study of 8 people, 6 sprint interval sessions over 2 weeks doubled how long they could cycle at a hard fixed pace, from 26 to 51 minutes, while their VO2 max didn't change. It's one small study.

Source 8

Genes affect how much, not whetherStrong evidence

In the HERITAGE family study, at least half of the differences in fitness before training, and up to 47% of the differences in how much it rose over 20 weeks, ran in families. The average gain was about 0.4 litres of oxygen a minute, ranging from little to over 1 litre, and in another trial more sessions brought every slow responder along.

Sources 11, 12, 4

Fitness fades, but not overnightEmerging evidence

In 7 trained endurance athletes who stopped training, VO2 max fell 7% in 3 weeks and settled 16% lower by 8 weeks, still above untrained people. Recently gained fitness can be lost completely after a long break, but keeping some hard effort while cutting the time preserves most of it.

Sources 15, 16

Strength training helps enduranceEmerging evidence

In 894 runners, heavy and combined strength training improved time trials and time to exhaustion, though the certainty of the evidence was very low to moderate. In 93 highly trained runners, it made running more economical.

Sources 17, 18

Cardio and weights don't cancel outStrong evidence

Across 43 studies, doing both didn't reduce strength or muscle gains; explosive strength gained a little less when both were done in the same session.

Source 19

Resting heart rate fallsStrong evidence

Across 191 studies, endurance training and yoga lowered resting heart rate, more in people who started higher.

Source 10

Start with the guidelines

Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, spread through the week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or a mix. Any activity is better than none, and the health benefits build fastest up to about 150 minutes.

Sources 1, 3

Your starting dose

Three to five sessions a week of 20 to 30 minutes at a talk-but-not-sing pace, adding about 5 minutes a week until sessions reach 30 to 60 minutes (our editorial starting point, as in our zone 2 guide).

Source 1

Choose what you'll keep doing

Brisk walking, cycling, swimming, rowing, the cross-trainer, stairs, dancing and running all count. Our walking plan builds to 150 minutes a week in 8 weeks, and Couch to 5K takes beginners to 30 minutes of running.

Sources 3, 20

Train often

Aim for at least 3 sessions a week; more sessions brought more gains in trials (our reading of them).

Sources 4, 5

Then add intervals

Once you can manage 30 minutes steadily, add 1 interval session a week, such as our Norwegian 4x4 (four 4-minute hard efforts with 3 easy minutes between), and a second later if you like (our editorial starting point, as in our HIIT guide). Harder exercise brings bigger gains but more risk of injury, especially if you're not used to it.

Sources 6, 1

Lift twice a week

Strength training on 2 days a week is part of the UK guidelines, and it helps running performance too.

Sources 1, 17

Build up gently

Lengthen your sessions first, then add a session, then add harder intervals (our suggestion). For running, Couch to 5K starts with 1-minute runs and 90 seconds of walking, 3 times a week, and builds to 30 minutes of running over 9 weeks or more.

Source 20

Fuel and sleep

Eat enough, with carbohydrate around long sessions (the International Society of Sports Nutrition's advice for endurance athletes), and sleep 7 to 9 hours: sleep loss lowers endurance performance. Tiredness and breathlessness that don't fit your training can be iron deficiency anaemia, so see a GP.

Sources 21, 22, 23, 24

Weeks

You may notice a difference within a few weeks: fitness rose within 3 weeks in a cycling trial, and how long people could keep going rose within 2 weeks in a small study of sprint intervals.

Sources 7, 8

Months

Fitness rose 18 to 31% over 12 weeks in one trial, and Couch to 5K takes 9 weeks or more to reach 30 minutes of running. People vary a lot, so compare yourself with yourself.

Sources 7, 12, 20

If you stop

Fitness fades over weeks, not days, and shorter sessions that keep some brisk effort hold on to most of it. On a busy week, 2 short sessions with a few brisk efforts beat stopping (our suggestion).

Sources 15, 16

The talk test

As you get fitter, you can go faster before talking gets hard. Note the pace or speed on the same walk or ride every few weeks (our suggestion).

Sources 1, 9

A timed test

Time the same route, or see how far you get in 12 minutes, every 4 to 6 weeks (our suggestion). Our VO2 max calculator turns a 12-minute run, a 1-mile walk or a 1.5-mile run into an estimate, and the six-minute walk test and the beep test have their own pages.

Resting heart rate

Take your pulse for a minute on waking, a few mornings in a row. It tends to fall as you get fitter; our resting heart rate test explains how to take it.

Source 10

The same session feels easier

The same walk or ride feels easier, and your heart rate is lower at the same pace (our suggestion for tracking it).

Older adults

The NHS asks adults over 65 to be active every day, with 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity if you're already active, plus strength, balance and flexibility work on 2 days. In a cycling trial, older men's fitness rose at least as much as young men's.

Sources 25, 7

Pregnancy

Keep up what you already do, but the NHS says it's not recommended to start a new vigorous activity in pregnancy, such as running. Our pregnancy guide has the details.

Source 26

Heart and lung conditions

Follow your cardiac or pulmonary rehab team, and check with them before hard intervals; our guides to heart disease, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and asthma cover the details. With asthma, symptoms during exercise are a sign to get your asthma reviewed.

ME/CFS and long COVID

NICE says people with ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome) shouldn't be offered general exercise programmes or graded exercise therapy, so the advice to keep adding sessions doesn't apply. Our long COVID guide explains how to check for post-exertional malaise (symptoms that get worse after effort) and pace instead.

Source 27

Call 999 (911 in the US)

For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, or spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back; if someone faints while exercising; or for severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get words out), a chest that feels tight or heavy, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. During any session, stop for chest pain or pressure, unusual breathlessness, dizziness or fainting.

Sources 28, 29, 30

NHS 111 (in the US, your doctor or urgent care)

If you're more short of breath than usual, have palpitations, or have pain and swelling in one leg.

Source 30

See a GP

If you've felt tired for weeks without a clear reason, or if tiredness, breathlessness or palpitations seem out of proportion to your effort. The NHS also suggests speaking to a GP before you start if you haven't exercised for some time or have a health condition.

Sources 31, 24, 3

Running pains

Shin, knee, calf and back pain from running each have their own guide. Ease off rather than running through pain that changes how you run (our suggestion).

"Stamina is set by your genes"Strong evidence

Genes account for up to about half of the differences in fitness and in how much people improve, but in one trial every slow responder improved once they trained more often, and across 353 studies people kept the ability to adapt throughout life.

Sources 11, 12, 4, 5

"You have to run to build stamina"Strong evidence

Walking programmes raised fitness in people who weren't active, cycling raised VO2 max by 18 to 31% in 12 weeks, and the guidelines count any activity that makes you breathe faster.

Sources 2, 7, 1

"Only intervals work" or "only long, slow sessions work"Strong evidence

Both raise fitness. Intervals added about 1.2 mL/kg/min more to VO2 max in 28 studies.

Source 6

"Every session should leave you exhausted"Emerging evidence

Harder exercise raises fitness more but brings more risk of injury, and in the non-responder trial, how often people trained mattered more than how hard.

Sources 1, 4

"Lifting weights slows runners down"Emerging evidence

Strength training improved running performance and economy in trials, and doing both doesn't blunt either.

Sources 17, 18, 19

"You lose all your fitness after a week off"Emerging evidence

In trained athletes, VO2 max fell 7% over 3 weeks off and stayed above untrained levels even after 12 weeks. Shorter, still-brisk sessions keep most of it.

Sources 15, 16

"It's too late to build stamina in later life"Emerging evidence

Older men's VO2 max rose 31% in 12 weeks of cycling, at least as much as young men's, and the ability to adapt lasts through life.

Sources 7, 5