Endurance, Help!

Man im depressed. I have a serious endurance problem. It prevents me from training as hard as I want to. I gas out much too fast and my heart rate just wont come down unless I take a solid break, which I cant when im wrestling.

Anyone have any experience or info on how to tackle this problem?

I take a submission grappling class that is a lot like high school wrestling. Its very very tough. After a tough workout we wrestle for half an hour straight and it just kills me. I gas out and am about to puke and no one else in class is nearly as tired as I am. Im a soaked sweaty mess and the other guys are barely damp.

My endurance just doesnt seem like it wants to improve. Im at a loss. HELP!

I would do long sprints 200-400 meters, maybe some build up 400’s or 800’s. YOu could go on some medium distance jogs and throw in some faster pace for a few minutes at a time (3-5 miles)

Okay, I recommend the single finest endurance movement known to modern man (how do you like that build up? :slight_smile:

RUN!

If your endurance is that bad you need to go out on a hard two mile run three times per week. After a month of this you can then go a shorter distance for speed.

Nothing will get your heart rate up and keep it up like a hard two mile run.

Are there any nutritional deficiences that are common among athletes I should be aware of?

Think im going to get some blood tests done or something. Something is not right here.

Honestly, you should simply run more. Do you even run now? It will help tremendously by simply doing more endurance activities. Don’t cop out to genetic problems, until you’ve exhausted all other possibilities.

Endurance like weight lifting takes time and persistence.

If you know what a tabata work-out is, try tabata style jump roping. It will do the trick in four minutes. Dan has archived articles here somewhere. I used to be a serious runnner, so I know that for most people is can be a drag. Also, how much extra weight are you carrying around? Maybe you need to do more “push-aways”. Eat less, then push away from the table.

You probably should have some blood tests done, just to be on the safe side. Could be that you are still suffering after effects of some virus (glandular fever?). Also you should make sure you don’t have some sort of congenital heart problem.

I dont carry any extra weight. Im quite lean.

The thing is, my grappling class is hard core. It gets your heart going much like a hard run, or worse.

Ive done some work on the treadmill, but it just doesnt match the intensity of my class.

My class is the equivalent of doing sprints on the treadmill. But when I do sprints its psychologically much harder because I focus on the pain. When im fighting in class, im focused on winning and get my heart running very hard for longer periods of time than I can just running.

What bothers me is, ive been at this for over 6 months and although there has been some improvement, the guys in class are obviously far better conditioned.

This includes guys who are newer than me. My conditioning just doesnt seem to improve, but everyone else’s does.

This is why im suspicious of some kind of nutrional issue or weird medical issue. Its incredibly frustrating. Im tired all the time. My recovery is painfully slow as well. Something just isnt right.

I got checked out by the docs over a year ago, before I started doing realy physical activity, and they said I was perfectly healthy. So I asked them why I felt like I was near death all the time. They just didnt get it. Used the depression excuse. Bullshit. Im no where near depressed, ive got it good. Im a happy guy.

Still searching for answers :frowning: 60 year old dudes have more energy than me.

[quote]Gary John wrote:
If you know what a tabata work-out is, try tabata style jump roping. It will do the trick in four minutes. Dan has archived articles here somewhere. I used to be a serious runnner, so I know that for most people is can be a drag.[/quote]

Anybody know where this routine is posted?

(Moderator Note**)
I had it handy=
Tabata Method By: Dan John
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=490160

If you grapple(wrestle) flat out for a half hour as you say then you should be tired. If the others are not tired after this they are not grappling.

Keep wrestling - this is the best endurance training you can do.

You got that right. Nothing touches grappling/wrestling when it comes to endurance and intensity.

But I know for a fact the guy im grappling with is really grappling, after all he is fighting ME :slight_smile:

Ive done some in class experiments to prove to myself they really are in better shape.

For example, I will fight a guy who is not as good as me and keep him in a bad position where he has to expend twice the energy I have to just to stay alive.

By the end of the match, im still more gassed out than he is and he used a lot more force and energy than I did, and even freely admits to this when I ask him about it. “Do you think you used a lot more energy than me during that match”??? Reply: Oh hell yes, I was in trouble the whole time.

:frowning:

Im just going to keep pushing, eat well, take my multi vitamins and suck down my Low Carb Grow! :slight_smile:

This article is hilarious, if not helpful.

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=459887

Sleep and diet. Make sure you are getting plenty of sleep and are eating the right foods in an appropriate quantity. If you are perfectly healthy and you’ve been at it for 6 months, the only thing I can think of is that. Or your breathing is not optimal, which you can work on when endurance training. When running, concentrate on fully expanding your abdomen when inhaling. I know this is probably natural for some people, but until I was about 27 years old, I didn’t understand this and I couldn’t keep up with others in endurance. Once I started focusing on the breathing, it became second nature and I didn’t have to think about it.

DB

I would closely examine what you are consuming in the hours before.

Are you consuming low GI carbs with too little protein? Are you taking supplements? Are you eating too much/too little before hand?

I’ve got the same problem, but I found out my problem on a fluke. I was being tested for a respirator (painting trucks), and they found I had a underdeveloped throat. Get on the internet and look up VO2, lactate threshold, and HR training/running. Except, maybe, iron, no sups are going to help. No matter, I still could manage a best two mile run of 14:30 while in the Army at age 29, but it did suck that fat guys whom smoked and drank like fish would outrun me. Also, get strong so you can crush these guys out of the box then whease later. It may seem retarted but it sounds like your doing the VO2 max training with the wrestling, so I would suggest boring, slow (9 min at most) miles.

Sounds like symptoms I’ve seen in people who have or have had mono at some point. Something about the body being unable to process the oxygen required for the activity, if I recall what I read correctly.

If you have everything else (sleep, diet, etc) under control then try citrulline malate.

I had the same problem for years. Tried many things without success. The solution turned out to be embarrasingly simple: diet.
My advice: experiment with your diet. If that’s the problem, you’ll know it immediately when you find the right solution.

[quote]MikeKubo wrote:
Sounds like symptoms I’ve seen in people who have or have had mono at some point. Something about the body being unable to process the oxygen required for the activity, if I recall what I read correctly. [/quote]

Please say that isn’t you in your Avatar.

DB

[quote]Magister Ludi wrote:
I had the same problem for years. Tried many things without success. The solution turned out to be embarrasingly simple: diet.
My advice: experiment with your diet. If that’s the problem, you’ll know it immediately when you find the right solution.

[/quote]

I’m curious to know what the problem was exactly with your diet? Gluten allergy, some reaction to dairy?

I’ve heard of people’s asthma disappearing after they stopped eating peanut butter. Is there certain types of foods you stay away from now?