How to build up your cardiovascular endurance

What is cardiovascular endurance?

Cardiovascular endurance, also known as cardiovascular fitness or aerobic fitness, is your body’s physical ability to keep exercising for an extended period. It’s made up of:

1. Cardiovascular endurance and
2. Muscular endurance.

Cardiorespiratory or cardiovascular endurance is your body’s physical capability to do a large-muscle, whole-body exercise, for example, vigorous distance running, swimming and cycling, at moderate to high intensities for extended periods of time. One of the five components of physical fitness, cardiovascular or aerobic endurance is also your heart and lungs’ ability to fuel your body with oxygen. Another term for this type of physical fitness is ‘aerobic capacity’.

Cardiovascular endurance tests and ways to measure cardiovascular endurance

Maximal aerobic power (VO₂max) – the maximum capacity of your body to absorb and use oxygen during exercise – is the gold standard measure of cardiorespiratory endurance.

It’s usually a doctor, cardiologist or qualified fitness expert who would conduct an accurate VO₂ max test in a laboratory or hospital.

Other trained specialists, such as personal trainers and fitness instructors may also have knowledge and certifications that qualify them to carry out VO₂ max tests. As they’re done below maximum heart rate and exhaustion levels, these tests are referred to as “submaximal”. Examples of submaximal tests include the multistage bleep test and the Rockport 1-mile walk test. You can find out more about these here, but the type of test that’s most suited to you will depend on your fitness level.

What about if you don’t fancy a trip to a lab or have access to a personal trainer but are still curious about your measuring your cardiorespiratory endurance? For an effective cardiovascular endurance test, you can time yourself on a 1.5 mile run or jog and see how you compare to benchmarks for certain ages and sexes. Alternatively, there are wheelchair aerobic tests you can do. Our exercise to energise: how to move more everyday article explains more about how to do these and what your results mean.

Your resting heart rate is a measure of heart health fitness. For most well adults, a resting heart rate of 60-100 beats per minute (bpm) is healthy, (though there can be exceptions to this, please see our article here for more information), with an absolutely maximum recommended heart rate of 220bpm when exercising. So, measuring your heart rate both when resting and doing varying intensities of exercise can also be an indicator of aerobic fitness, when compared to age and sex benchmarks. Note, age is a crude measurement but gives you an idea of your cardiovascular endurance.

Aerobic exercises to increase cardiovascular endurance

There isn’t one type of aerobic exercise that’s better than the rest. It’s about finding a variety of activities that you enjoy. That way you’re more likely to mix them up during each week and stick to them to reach the recommended minimum amount of weekly exercise for healthy adults aged 18-64 – at least 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week, or at least 75-150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity a week; or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity throughout the week. This is the same as five lots of 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise or three 25 minutes’ vigorous intensity activity sessions.

If you’re doing moderate aerobic activity you should be able to talk, but not sing during the exercise. Should you be doing vigorous intensity activity, you shouldn’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for breath.

Some ideas to get you moving (and lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, hypertension, and premature death from all causes while you’re at it!) include:

1. Walking – Don a pair of good walking shoes and enjoy this cost-effective, low-injury risk activity at a brisk pace to sufficiently increase your heart rate so you gain the maximum benefits. If you’re a novice, alternate brisk walking with short segments at a slower pace to build your stamina.

2. Running – Sport a pair of running shoes to suit your running style, foot shape and the terrain you plan to run on and embrace this calorie-burning endurance building exercise. However, running does have a higher injury risk.

3. Cycling – Whether cycling stationary at home, at the gym or in the great outdoors, bike riding is a low-impact activity that may be favoured by those with certain lower-body joint issues who prefer not to do the previously mentioned two exercises.

4. Swimming – No matter if you do classes, swim solo or in a group, taking to the pool (if you have access to one) provides a full-body strength and endurance workout that’s low-impact and easy on your joints. Some even find it relaxing and a stress reducer.

5. Group exercise – Experimenting to find exercise classes like Zumba, boxing, aerobics or cardio circuits at local community centres or fitness studios to find one you gel with can give you a sense of community that can work wonders for your mental, as well as physical, wellbeing.

Chair aerobics, that is seated repetitive movements, will also elevate your heart rate. Most strength-training exercises, when done at a fast pace and repeated several times, can have the same effect for those living in wheelchairs. Many community centres and gyms will run accessible classes for each exercise type.

6. Bootcamp or HIIT – If you’d prefer to turn it up a notch and are already in good shape but find fitting exercise into your schedule challenging, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or a boot-camp style workout could be for you. Equally, don’t be afraid to give it a go if you’re a beginner – but be sure to listen to your body’s current capability and ask the instructor any questions you have.

7. Skiing – Live in a snowy area or able to travel to one? Exploring skiing can provide the benefits of cardiovascular exercise. You may prefer to rent skis and have a few lessons to try it out before investing in your own equipment.

How to improve cardiovascular endurance – key considerations

Change your habits – cardiorespiratory performance is determined by a mixture of genetics, and behavioural and environmental factors. In addition to including cardio in your schedule, healthy lifestyle choices like taking the stairs over the lift, parking a bit further away to encourage walking, and getting up to move regularly during the day, will help improve your cardiovascular endurance too.

The Evergreen Life DNA Test can shed light on if you’re more likely to have enhanced cardiovascular performance from a generic point of view. But, as genetics are only one piece of the cardiovascular puzzle, there’s a lot everyone can do to improve their cardiovascular endurance.

Consistency – once you’ve weaved some of the aerobic exercises you enjoy into your workout routine, stick to them, as results will only come from being consistent.

Challenge yourself – just as it’s important to be realistic about your fitness aims and consider your cardiovascular endurance starting point when you set yourself goals, the fact that our bodies quickly adapt is also key to remember. To get the maximum benefit from cardiovascular exercise, explore switching up the frequency, intensity, time, and activity type of your workouts to keep challenging your body.

Reviewed by:

Anna Keeble MA BA Wellbeing Expert and Head of Content

Dr Claire Marie Thomas MRCGP DFSRH DTMH DipNLP MBChB BMedSci Medical Expert

1. Francis P, Whatman C, Sheerin K, Hume P, Johnson MI. The Proportion of Lower Limb Running Injuries by Gender, Anatomical Location and Specific Pathology: A Systematic Review. J Sports Sci Med. 2019 Feb 11;18(1):21-31. PMID: 30787648; PMCID: PMC6370968. Available here.
2. Klevjer, M., Nordeidet, A.N. and Bye, A. (2023). The genetic basis of exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness – relation to cardiovascular disease. Current Opinion in Physiology, [online] 33, p.100649. Available here.
3. Mayo Clinic (2017). Measure your fitness level with these simple tests. [online] Mayo Clinic. Available here.
4. Minnis, G. and Jewell, T. (2022). VO₂ Max: Definition, How It’s Measured, How to Improve. [online] Healthline. Available here.
5. Pate, R., Oria, M., Pillsbury, L., Youth, in, Food and Nutrition Board and Institute of Medicine (2012). Health-Related Fitness Measures for Youth: Cardiorespiratory Endurance. [online] Nih.gov. Available here. [Accessed 9 Feb. 2020].
6. Key areas of fitness
7. Robinson, L. and Segal, J. (2023). Limited mobility doesn’t mean you can’t exercise. [online] HelpGuide.org . Available here.
8. World Health Organization (2022). Physical Activity. [online] World Health Organization. Available here.
9. YoPRO. (n.d.). 5 Tips for Improving Cardiovascular Fitness for Better Performance. [online] Available here.