Moderate endurance training. Get better without breaking yourself - that's how the best do it!

Many people still believe that if you want to get fitter, faster or slimmer, you have to push every workout to the limit. But the best athletes do exactly the opposite. Top athletes invest a large part of their training in moderate endurance sessions - not out of laziness, but because it is the most sustainable way to build up performance, avoid injuries and stay healthy in the long term.

Especially now, when the days are getting shorter and the immune system needs more protection, it is worth strengthening your own endurance base. Moderate training acts as a foundation for body and mind: it strengthens the heart and circulation, improves the metabolism, protects against overexertion and helps to keep stress and the winter blues at bay. If you train wisely, you will have more energy in spring, be able to cope better with harder workouts - and stay healthy at the same time.

Tip from hotelsINshape - best fitness hotels: Many of our partner hotels offer perfectly equipped cardio areas, personal trainers and tests to help you find your individual training zone. Ideal for laying the foundations for a strong new training year while on holiday.

Hard sweat, burning muscles and maximum speed seem like the fastest way to progress. However, sports medicine agrees that the body adapts best in the long term if it is frequently trained in an area in which the heart and muscles are challenged but not overloaded. This zone is usually 60-75% of the maximum heart rate - the so-called aerobic zone.

This is where the body learns to utilise oxygen more efficiently, increase the mitochondria (the cells' "power plants") and improve fat burning. The result: you become more enduring, more resilient and recover faster - without the typical overload that comes with constant high-intensity training.

hotelsINshape tip: Many of our fitness hotels offer performance diagnostics - from lactate tests to spiroergometry - to find out exactly where your ideal base training lies. If you know these values, you train smarter, not harder.

It sounds paradoxical, but professional cyclists like Tadej Pogačar and triathlon legend Jan Frodeno spend over 70% of their year at moderate intensity. Why is that? Because they know that a strong base is crucial for being able to cope with harder intervals and competitions later on.

Winter athletes also focus on long, steady sessions in the off-season: Cross-country skiing, steady runs, indoor cycling or mountain biking at a moderate pace. This training keeps the heart and muscles fit without weakening the immune system. In the winter season, you can build on this and increase the intensity in a targeted manner.

Moderate endurance training is more than just performance training - it is health prevention in motion:

When outdoor sports become more challenging, it's worth looking at indoor options. Modern fitness studios and fitness hotels offer treadmills with shock absorption, watt-controlled bikes, rowing machines or even altitude chambers. At the same time, there are many outdoor winter options: Nordic walking, cross-country skiing, quiet runs, winter biking or ski tours work best at a moderate pace.

hotelsINshape - best fitness hotels tip: Use the dark season for a fitness holiday. Many of our hotelsINshape partner hotels offer guided endurance sessions, from heart rate-supported running coaching to indoor cycling courses in the Watt area. Combined with a spa, healthy nutrition and regeneration, this creates the perfect basis for a strong training year.

The body builds endurance like a solid foundation: slowly, but sustainably. The first improvements can be felt after a few weeks, real physiological changes take months. If you stick with it, you will benefit in the long term - and will be able to cope better with harder workouts in spring.