Endurance training at home – exercises & equipment

We can’t always exercise outdoors or go to the gym. Sometimes we just don’t have the time to train outside of the home. Endurance training at home is a sensible alternative.

But can cardio training in your own four walls be effective at all? I say: Yes, it definitely can!

There are numerous exercises and fitness equipment for at home or home gym, with which you can train your endurance.

You can find an overview and effective tips for training planning in this article.

Is endurance training at home effective at all?

Endurance training is about training your metabolism in such a way that a constant and as economical as possible energy supply can be ensured over a longer period of time.

In sports studies, we always described cardio training as strengthening the physiological fatigue resistance . Why easy when there is also a complicated way?

To cut a long story short: Yes, you can do effective endurance training at home . There are enough exercises that stress your body sufficiently, and enough forms of training with which you can adjust the duration of the training stimulus accordingly.

Training plan for endurance training at home

There are different forms of endurance performance. They are differentiated according to the type and duration of physical activity. From a physiological point of view, the body also uses different metabolic processes to supply energy (anaerobic: carbohydrate metabolism | aerobic: oxygen / fat metabolism).

You can find an overview here:

Endurance performance	Duration	Energy supply
Short-term endurance (KZA)	35 s to 2 min	anaerobic
Medium-term endurance (MZA)	2 to 10 min	aerobic / anaerobic
Long-term endurance 1 (LZA 1)	10 to 35 min	aerobic
Long-term endurance 2 (LZA 2)	35 to 90 min	aerobic
Long-term endurance 3 (LZA 3)	90 min to 6 h	aerobic
Long-term endurance 4 (LZA 4)	> 6 h	aerobic

Note: The shorter the training duration, the more intense the load should be.

Many of the above-mentioned endurance skills are more interesting for competitive sports or for very ambitious amateur athletes.

For endurance training at home, for practical reasons, training units between 10 and 90 minutes (LZA 1 or LZA 2) are recommended. Short, crisp endurance training, such as Tabata training, are also available.

The goal you are training towards matters. In order to achieve sustainable progress, you should do endurance training at home at least twice a week .

Endurance training at home – exercises with your own body weight

Doing cardio training at home is also possible without equipment. All you need is a little creativity, space, and an absorbent rug for sweat – don’t worry, just fun. A simple and robust fitness mat like this one from Gorillasports * is sufficient.

Lauf-ABC on the spot

The simplest form of endurance training remains running. You can just start running in place and vary your running style over time.

The various possibilities of the running ABC are available to you:

• Knee lever up,
• Heel,
• Small sprints,
• Change steps.

shadow boxes

If you don’t like monotonous endurance training at home, you can do creative shadow boxing. A few hooks on the left and right as well as a few simple kicks ensure great training fun.

With a little imagination à la Karate Kid, the home workout is really a lot of fun. And you will see: time flies by.

Burpees

A burpee works like this: From a standing position, move your hands down and jump into the push-up position. Then immediately jump back into a crouch and then forcefully upwards.

You shouldn’t train your long-term endurance with burpees, because you will quickly notice that you run out of breath. They are therefore suitable for short endurance training at home that lasts a few minutes.

You can also integrate burpees into longer training units to set stress peaks.

Jumping Jacks

Who doesn’t know him from school sports: the jumping jack. What used to feel like a punishment, you can now do completely voluntarily in your own four walls.

Jumping jacks are good because they strain arms and legs and stimulate lymphatic activity.

knee flexion variants

Squats are also well suited for endurance training at home. Most endurance exercises are leg-heavy. Our legs have large muscle groups that require a lot of energy. This is why endurance training using squats is so effective.

You can use different knee bends:

• Classic squat,
• Lunge squat,
• Side lunge squat.

Here, too, you should only train in the short or medium-term endurance range. Or you can integrate the exercise into an endurance circuit.

Jump rope

In principle, you can jump rope without a rope, but of course the fun is greater with a real and sporty jump rope *.

Use different jumps to add variety to your training. By the way, boxers, for example, use the skipping rope very often to train their agility and coordination.

Endurance training at home – exercises on equipment

Cardio machines have the advantage that they allow a better form of training control. You can optimally adapt your training via integrated training computers and heart rate sensors.

Heart rate training is particularly effective because you can do it in a very targeted manner (e.g. training in the “fat burning zone”).

I would like to introduce you to the best equipment for endurance training at home.

Don’t be put off by the high entry costs between € 800 and € 1,300. In Gorillasports, we have found a partner who delivers equipment of the best quality. This guarantees long-term training fun.

The treadmill costs only € 1 per day for three years of use and just 35 cents per day for ten years of use – a reasonable price for good endurance and a healthy cardiovascular system.

Ergometer

With bicycle ergometers you can comfortably organize your endurance training at home. If you feel like it, you can even watch a good documentary on the side.

For serious training control, you can use the integrated training computer to achieve various goals:

• Interval training,
• Cardio training,
• Leg strength,
• Burning fat,
• Cardiovascular training.

Cross trainer

In addition to the bicycle ergometer, cross trainers are also increasingly finding their way into your own four walls. The cardio machine is so popular because it allows movement that is gentle on the joints and the arms are included in the training.

Rowing ergometer

A really exciting endurance training at home is possible with the rowing ergometer. The training is fun and effective, as arms and legs are used and different training modes can be used.

The rowing machine can be used for very tough workouts. Incidentally, the back is also well trained by the strong tensile loads.

treadmill

The classic among endurance machines for at home is the treadmill. Many athletes dream of an alternative to training outdoors. The devices are particularly popular in winter or in large cities, where suitable running routes are often too far away.

Treadmills also have excellent setting options (speed, incline, heart rate zones).