How to Build Fatigue Resistance and Sustain Longer Runs

Picture this: You’re halfway through a marathon, confident that you've paced yourself perfectly, yet suddenly, a wave of fatigue hits you like a ton of bricks. It feels as if you've been sprinting the entire time. Or imagine this: You’re in the middle of a strength training session, planning just a quick 20-minute workout, but you’re already exhausted after the first set.

Fatigue of this nature is all too common and can seriously derail performance or even lead to injury. For instance, pushing through the second half of that marathon when you’re already wiped out can mess with your form and gait. While quick fixes like energy gels and drinks can provide a temporary boost (since carbs are essential for fighting fatigue!), there’s a more sustainable, science-backed strategy for prolonging your energy: building fatigue resistance.

Building fatigue resistance isn’t about pushing through the weariness when it hits; it’s about training in a way that keeps those waves from crashing in the first place. Here’s what you need to know.

Understanding Fatigue Resistance

Fatigue and tiredness are often used interchangeably, but there’s an important distinction, especially when it comes to building fatigue resistance.

Tiredness is a general, temporary condition, often resulting from a lack of sleep. There’s also fatigue as a symptom of medical conditions, like cancer or multiple sclerosis, which affects multiple parts of the body and brain.

When discussing running, we’re talking about exercise-induced fatigue. This typically resolves relatively quickly, depending on what’s happening at the muscular level, and is not a chronic, multi-day issue.

The Science Behind Exercise-Induced Fatigue

Exercise-induced fatigue manifests as a decrease in your muscles' ability to produce force or maintain powerful contractions. This type of fatigue is caused by the accumulation of lactate in the muscles, which inhibits their contraction capacity and diminishes exercise performance.

Fatigue resistance is partly genetic, tied to your muscle fiber type. Those with more slow-twitch fibers tend to experience delayed onset of fatigue compared to those with more fast-twitch fibers, who are better suited for sprinting.

But regardless of your genetic makeup, training strategically can help build both types of fibers, enhancing your overall fatigue resistance.

Key Strategies for Building Fatigue Resistance

1. Incorporate Long, Slow Runs (Zone 2): These runs enhance your aerobic capacity and improve the efficiency of your cardiovascular system. They train your body to use energy more efficiently, delay the onset of fatigue, and improve the endurance of slow-twitch muscle fibers.

2. Interval Training: Mixing slower runs with faster workouts helps train your muscles’ adaptability and delay the onset of fatigue. Additionally, by training at your lactate threshold during your faster workouts can help lengthen how long it takes for lactate to accumulate in your muscles, letting you go farther before feeling the burn.

3. Lower Body Strength Training: A 2020 study done on 36,000 participants found that leg strength is a key contributor to exercise capacity. With targeted strength training, you can isolate the muscles that get the most fatigued on race day, and tailor workouts to address your own weaknesses. For example, squats and lunges are a favorite to build your quadriceps and hamstrings, but working the core and hip extensors like the glutes can improve running efficiency and delay fatigue.

4. Proper Nutrition: Eating a balanced diet across carbs, protein and fats ensures your cardio system has the fuel they need. Studies have also found that supplementing your diet with beets and amino acids like beta-alanine can significantly delay the onset of muscle fatigue and improve aerobic power output. A convenient and comprehensive daily supplement is Stamina 13, which has a clinically formulated blend of amino acids and adaptogens that support cardio health and endurance.

5. Proper Fueling: Staying hydrated and managing your glycogen stores via energy gels during long runs can also help maintain energy levels.
6. Adequate Recovery: Ensuring you get enough rest and recovery between training sessions is crucial. Overtraining can lead to chronic fatigue which can negatively impact your performance on race day.

7. Mental Training: Building mental resilience through techniques like visualization and mindfulness can help you push through tough moments during races and training.

By incorporating these strategies into your training regimen, you can build fatigue resistance, ensuring you have the endurance to tackle those long races and challenging workouts without hitting the wall. It’s about training smarter, not just harder, to keep fatigue at bay and achieve your running goals.