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How To Stay Healthy and Strong as an Endurance Athlete

By Gaelle Abecassis | May 2, 2024

Injury prevention never ranks high on an athlete’s reasons for choosing a training program, but it should. Left to our own devices, we humans easily fall into the trap of jumping into an endurance sport by going too fast, too far, and too often, only to succumb to a tweaked shoulder, stress fracture, or preventable illness. At the same time, training plans aren’t without their problems. If they're too ambitious, they can lead to an overuse injury, burnout, and a weakened immune system, all of which will put an end to your training. Conversely, a good, progressive, periodized training program for running, cycling, triathlon, or swimming — any endurance sport, really — will have an injury and illness prevention program or aspect built into it. If a coach creates a program specific to your unique goals, current fitness level, and experience, you’re even further ahead.

A coach, whether human or Hugo (Humango’s digital coach), will design workouts that ask you to work as hard as your training data shows you can. Sure, these workouts will push you harder than you think you can go. However, the volume of work prescribed will be within your ability to do it. All you have to do is maintain good form, technique, and control — three elements that will help prevent injury — and you should see a positive fitness effect. Additionally, your recovery from these harder efforts will be customized to you. Taken together, a bespoke training plan and personalized recovery plan will mitigate the chances of burnout or overuse injuries.

That said, life never goes according to plan. A night of poor sleep or a stressful family or work situation can throw you off your game and training plan. So, how does a coach know when to dial back the intensity or volume to keep you off of injured reserve? They’ll monitor your feedback (“How do you feel?”) and look for signs of mental fatigue or frustration. They — or it, in the case of Humango — will also monitor your workout data, specifically the correlation between perceived exertion and heart rate while also assessing whether you could complete the workout goals for the day. If not, the coach will assign you an easy day or two to recover. They may even prescribe a cross-training day of yoga or strength training to give your body a break from doing your sport on consecutive days.

In the end, the best way to stay injury- and illness-free is to stick with your training plan and always share your workout data with your coach after each session so they can see how you’re doing in real time. Below, we’ve spelled out several ways a well-designed endurance training program can keep you on your feet, in the saddle, or in the water day in and day out.

6 Tips To Avoid Injury in Any Sport

1. Start every workout with a full-body, dynamic/range-of-motion warm-up to get blood flowing and lubricate your joints and muscles. Then, go easy for the first 10-20 minutes of any cardio workout. You want to feel comfortable, smooth, and in rhythm by the end of your warm-up. At the end of every workout, take equal time to cool down. A proper cool down will kickstart the recovery process and set your body up for the next workout.
2. Stick to your workout. When it tells you to take it easy, TAKE IT EASY. When it says run or ride at a moderate pace, stick to the pace. Don't sweat it if an easy or moderate workout feels too easy. It's supposed to. If a hard workout feels easy, your coach will adjust your next hard workout accordingly.
3. Incorporate strength training into your plan. Humango’s coaching app and good human coaches will include strength workouts in your program. They may strike you as a waste of time, but weight lifting and core-strength workouts are your body’s insurance policies against injury. They shore up joints and supporting muscles that your sport of choice fails to engage, which can reduce the chances of torn muscles or ligaments.
4. Switch up your goal events throughout the year. Training for a 15k mountain trail running race is different from training for a big-city marathon. The same is true for a 40k cycling time trial vs. a 100-mile gran fondo race. Different events tap different energy systems in the body; they also reduce boredom and the chances of burnout. Mixing it up is one of the keys to becoming a more resilient athlete.
5. Sleep longer. As an endurance athlete, you need more sleep than the average sedentary person. Make sleep a priority, and if you can swing it, embrace the power of an afternoon nap. 
6. Eat well and eat enough. You need fuel — a lot of it — to complete your training each day. Don’t skimp on it. A lack of energy will lead to fatigue, poor results, and a weakened immune system, which could leave you susceptible to a virus, cold, or other ailment. The same goes for hydration. Give your body the nourishment it needs, and it will adapt to accomplish whatever you ask of it.