i was wondering about increasing my staminer i run about 3miles twice a week. i was wondering weather anyone has any other ways of increasing your staminer?

also i have been worcking on my abs for about 1 and a half years does anybody hve any exercises that i can do other than situps and crunches? to tone my abs (i am getting fairly bored of them?

thanks!

Well, you could try another method while you are running. If you are running out on the street, you can try jogging between lamposts and then sprinting between another. Basically, you are mixing up jogging and sprinting. It is quite hard and is one of the quickest ways I know of getting fit.

Hope this helps.

Increasing stamina....

Push yourself when running, cycling, swimming and try to break that barrier, Its like stretching your legs, you keep stretching to your limit then apply slight pressure beyond the limit. Each time it gets looser.

Abs...

I like working with a yoga exercise for the abs where you lay on your front, put your hands together under your chin with your elbows point out at 45deg. spread your legs shoudle width apart and then lift your wieght and hold it so your balacing on ur forearms and toes.


Hold for maybe 1 minute then lift one leg and hold, place leg down then lift other leg and hold, place back down and do the same for each arm.


After that cycle raise 1 leg and 1 arm e.g left leg and right arm and hold. then repeat with the others.

Try to breathe evenly and relax as much as you can. Determine the time by feeling how tired your muscles are getting.

For what kind of activity do you want to increase your stamina?

Long, slow activity (aerobic) has different demands than quick bursts (anaerobic) or muscular endurance.

Lesley's suggestion to incorporate sprints is great. Also consider hill sprints, where you run up a hill (15-30 seconds on a 30% incline is ideal) and then walk down to catch you breath. Ten or fifteen sprints is a good workout, and I find it easier on my joints than sprinting on level ground.

Some other Martial Edge members may be able to suggest some chi kung breathing exercises. They're known to increase lung capacity.

Abs are stabilizing muscles. This means that exercises that require you to keep your torso rigid under resistance may be more effective than contraction exercises such as crunches and sit-ups. Ryusui_Ryu's plank exercise is a good example. You can get creative in devising ways to make it harder, such as adding weight. If you have rope or gymnastic rings, suspend your hands, or your feet, or both. The free-hanging will place extra demand on your abs.

I've heard bodybuilders claim that one can maximally train their abs in six weeks. After that, it's just a matter of dropping body fat to get the visible six-pack. If that sounds like your case, sprints are the way to go. Several studies have found that sprinting over the same distance as jogging burns 9x the calories (in addition to improving stamina faster).