During aerobic exercise, the body is working at such a level that the demands for oxygen and fuel are met from within the body's reserves.

Thankfully, you don’t have to be an elite athlete to benefit from endurance training.
Anyone can train in the same way with an aerobic workout that will burn kilojoules and fat while adding strength and endurance.

20-30 minutes of brisk walking daily, three or four days a week, will strengthen your heart muscle, increase the capacity of your lungs and improve your aerobic endurance. You’ll be able to perform better during other aerobic activities, and recover more quickly from physical exertion.

As your endurance improves, your body more effectively accesses and utilises fat as a fuel source. This helps you decrease body fat and lets you perform more work for a longer period of time until you become fatigued.

Since carbohydrates are our body's prime energy source, if we want to perform longer at a high level we need to give our body a store of ‘carbs’ to draw on while we’re expending energy. The ideal carbohydrate source for anyone wanting long-lasting energy are low glycaemic index (GI) carbohydrates.

The main sources of low GI carbohydrates are these grains, cereals, beans, and starchy vegetables:

• Grainy and sourdough breads and minimally processed cereals such as oats
• Rice such as Doongara or Basmati,  pasta, fresh rice noodles
• Fruit (bananas, apples)
• Starchy vegetables (potato, corn, green peas and sweet potato)
• Legumes (lentils, beans, soy-based products)

Carbohydrate loading is a technique used to store extra energy in the muscles in the form of a substance called glycogen before competition or heavy training. This assists endurance athletes to continue at their maximum aerobic pace for longer periods of time.

A high carb diet is followed to super-saturate the body's glycogen stores. At least 3-4 litres of water should be consumed on carbohydrate loading days as 2.7g of water is stored with every gram of glycogen.

To really load up with carbohydrates before a competition, athletes consume 200g of complex carbs (pasta, banana etc) immediately after exercise then an additional 50-100g every hour (up to 10 10g per kg of body weight) the day before the event.

Unless you’re planning on exercising non-stop for ninety minutes or more you don’t need to worry about carbohydrate loading. Endurance training, and eating the right foods including lots of complex carbohydrates, are a good idea for anyone wanting to enjoy a high level of fitness and a trim, healthy body.