This is a massive question with a massive answer..if youd like ill re-read my uni notes and condense it to provide an overview??

As a taster it involves physiological adaptations to stress (training) and the body adapts in the way of becoming more powerful, stronger and more efficient.

The main point is the efficiency of the body to perform required movements via incresed ability to utilise and transport oxygen throgh hemoglobin(blood) to the working tissues. Similarly, the phsyiological adations by way of incresed lung mass and capability, heart strength and function and how muscles react under incresed stress is an indicator of increased endurance.

Thats it, all i can remember, 6 years of study all condensed into a few lines!!

I will read up if youd like though.

Well, you wont..you will only ever adapt to stresses that you place on your body... horses for courses and all that? same in all aspects of training, youll never see arnie run a sub 3hr marathon and you wont find gabrisellasie lift 150k!

But with blood and oxygen utilisation, it comes through years of progressive training, at differing levels..i.e slow and steady base training, then higher intensity intervals and tempo sessions, all in the aid of making the energy and transport systems more able to work at a higher level, enabling t body to perform and not shut down due to increased lactate build up in the blood etc..

As yoda said (although he said it in less simple terms  ), like pretty much all forms of physical activity, the only way to get better at it is to do it.
Running sprints won't help your marathon time, and likewise running a marathon every day isn't going to make your 100m time all that crash hot...

Very true, but that's not really what I was referring to. Obviously eating cake on the couch isn't going to increase your sprinting or endurance

Sure, in the same way that walking up a staircase will improve your fitness.
I suppose I was assuming the OP already had a semi-decent base fitness level...

Quote from: samjohn on January 14, 2010, 03:27:53 AM

... in reference to the original question, exercises which are not endurance based such as sprinting will increase your ability to do endurance based exercises.

Not at the same level as practicing the actual endurance excersise you're trying to improve.

That was not part of the original question.