Improve Endurance

A progressive fitness test that measures your aerobic endurance. You'll run back and forth over a 20m course, keeping pace with a series of audio bleeps that get faster as the test goes on. Each level is slightly harder than the last, and your score is the level you reach before you can no longer keep up.

An outdoor run that tests your stamina and mental resilience in real conditions. Outdoor running is different from treadmill or track work, so it helps to train on the kind of ground you'll face on the day.

Run with friends or a club to get used to keeping pace with others and running in a group. Practise at a steady, consistent tempo and stay comfortable running close to other people. Build your general running fitness with regular runs each week.

A series of continuous swimming exercises that test your endurance, technique and water confidence.

Stay afloat in deep water for without touching the side or bottom of the pool. This tests your ability to stay calm, conserve energy and keep your head above water, which is essential if you ever find yourself in the water unexpectedly. Use a steady kick and gentle sculling arm movements, and keep your breathing slow and controlled. Staying relaxed will help you far more than working hard.

Step off the 3-metre board into deep water, then surface and swim to the side. This exercise builds confidence with heights and tests your composure when entering the water from above, a skill that could be vital at sea.

Rowing is a good all rounder which can help build muscle and increase your level of fitness. Make sure that the setting on the machine is not so heavy that you are straining, remember it's something that you can increase over time.

Sit with your knees bent and arms fully extended holding the rowing bar firmly with both hands.

Pull the rowing bar whist extending the legs until the bar touches the lower part of the chest and the legs are fully extended and you are sitting slightly back. Return to start position and continue.