6 Endurance Training Tips You Need To Try!

September 7, 2022

Elite athletes aren’t the only ones who can make the most of their athletic abilities.

Whether you’re new to the world of endurance, or have been chasing personal bests for years, there are simple, actionable ways that you can maximize your potential.

What follows are 6 of the top endurance training tips from Bare Performance Nutrition CEO and Hybrid Athlete, Nick Bare, proven to help you PR your next race!

1. Consume More Sodium

If you consume a diet of primarily whole, natural, single ingredient food sources, chances are that your body is depleted in an essential nutrient: Sodium.

As a result, your training could be suffering.

When we train, our sweat increases, leading to a greater risk of dehydration in the body. This process then forces your blood volume to decrease.

Now, what is blood volume and why does it matter for performance?

Blood volume allows your blood to move more effectively to working muscles and the skin, especially, during bouts of intense training and sweat loss.

When we become dehydrated, this automated response is unable to occur, leading to decreased athletic performance.

The solution? Higher levels of salt and electrolyte intake, which will boost blood volume, prior to workouts or competition.

This can be achieved by seasoning your meals with a natural salt option, such as Himalayan Sea Salt or Redmond’s Real Salt; and through the use of an electrolyte supplement or salt solution, such as Bare Performance Nutrition’s flavored Electrolytes Hydration Drink Mix, which provides athletes with 500mg of sodium and a full electrolyte profile in every serving.

No longer should salt be given a bad name. It is a crucial component to health and performance optimization for all athletes.

*Learn more about the importance of sodium intake on Episode #111 of the Bare Performance Podcast, with Dr. James Dinicolantonio and Host Nick Bare.

2. Program Your Workouts in the Garmin App

A game changing hack to maximize your endurance training can be accessed using your phone and Garmin smartwatch!

This little-known feature allows you to program your workouts ahead of time, to provide automatic recall of the day’s training, as well as accountability to rest times and goal paces. This is Nick’s approach for Marathon training, and one that has drastically enhanced the quality of his big workouts.

Follow these steps to program your next workout within the Garmin Connect app!

a.) In the Garmin app, go to Training -- Workouts -- and then select Create a Workout (Delete any default data, such as Warm-up, Run, & Cool-down so that you have a blank slate for your workout)

b.) Add steps for your training session & categorize the step-type. Consider the appropriate distance, duration, and recovery times of each step

c.) Review each step to ensure that the workout is programmed properly and send the workout to your watch, by clicking the sync icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. With the training session now programmed into your Garmin Smartwatch, you are ready to perform at your highest-level, come workout time.

Note: Nick uses the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro for his training, but many of Garmin’s watches are compatible with this feature.

3. Prepare the Night Before

As our days become increasingly busy, and minutes matter more than ever, we must build a habit of preparedness, to ensure that we can achieve all that we set out to do. As Founder and CEO of Bare Performance Nutrition, Nick lives by the motto, if you fail to plan, plan to fail.

Preparation is unique to each individual, however, there are a few basic principles that you can apply…

Backwards Plan - When we work in reverse, from the end of the day to the beginning, we create a more detailed plan of action towards success. To plan appropriately, move backwards, considering each task that you want to complete, as well as the length of time that the task will require. This process will inform your day’s schedule, so that nothing gets left out!

Know What You Need - Consider the gear, outfit changes, meals, and supplies that you will need to be successful, and take inventory of each of these items the night before.
Supplement Your Needs - Understand which supplements best serve your goals. Consider Whey or Vegan sources of Protein Powder, the Strong Health line, or a Meal Replacement Powder, such as our Strong Food, crafted from real ingredients, ready at the speed of life!

Also, you can improve sleep quality and recovery by trying BPN’s high-quality nighttime sleep support supplement, Peak Sleep. Formulated with clinically studied ingredients for easy relaxation, improved cognition, and most importantly, a great night of sleep.

4. Run in the Morning

This endurance tip will allow you to embrace a clear mind, renewed energy, and the ability to eliminate distractions. Running is a staple in Nick’s morning routine; something that he believes readies him for success in the day ahead.

When we perform our training in the mornings, we choose the hard right over the easy wrong. Our day begins with intention, and we set the tone for all other actions to follow.

Another reason to train in the morning, as opposed to later in the day, is that our lives can be largely unpredictable. With various roles and responsibilities to fulfill, we must control the controllable factors of our lives.

For Nick and many high achievers like him, their greatest amount of control is found first thing in the morning. The ability to train early allows us to begin on the right foot, providing the solitude and focus needed to progress, brick-by-brick.

5. Plan Your Routes

There are few things worse than heading out on a run, only to get lost a few miles in. This problem is especially frustrating when performing important workouts towards a goal. To eliminate the possibility of this happening, plan your routes ahead of time!

Nick makes sure to always have his routes planned and memorized. He encourages you to take into consideration the mileage that you need to run and lay-out multiple route options to fit your specific needs. This will ensure that you can spend more time training, and less time wondering.

Don’t get lost in pursuit of your goals. Make your training so much easier, simply by having multiple routes available!

6. Take it Slow (In the Beginning)

The world of endurance training has come to emphasize the importance of slowing down. We now understand the value of running below our max-aerobic heart rate for a base-building, easy run.

In the pursuit of our goals, easy running is the first of 5 Pillars of Marathon Training that we can use to guide us towards a PR.

However, a lesser applied concept is that of building into the run, and focusing on starting slow, to finish fast.

This strategy is not limited to easy runs and can be successfully applied to speed and lactate threshold work (Pillar #2), along with other big marathon training workouts! When we start slow, we allow our bodies to find a rhythm, establish a pace, and settle into the run. Nick has seen massive success in practicing this approach, and he believes that you will too.

Test out this approach on your next run and see how strong you feel!