Weight Loss Running: How to Exercise and Eat to Get Results
Miscellaneous / / April 08, 2021
Calm fasting cardio is not the most effective strategy.
Does running really help you lose weight?
It helps, and it's a proven fact. For a year of quiet half-hour runs, four times a week can be resetMeta ‑ Analyzes of the Effects of Habitual Running on Indices of Health in Physically Inactive Adults about 3.3 kg without any diets.
Moreover, jogging helps to lose weight and maintain weight better than walkingGreater weight loss from running than walking during a 6.2 ‑ yr prospective follow ‑ up and exercise on a stationary bikeThe effects of high-intensity interval training vs. moderate ‑ intensity continuous training on body composition in overweight and obese adults: a systematic review and meta ‑ analysis (the latter is true for overweight and obese people).
But despite the proven effectiveness, even regular exercise can leave you without results if you do not take into account some important factors. Below we will discuss how to run to lose weight for sure.
If you have problems with the cardiovascular system or musculoskeletal system, or if you are very overweight or obese, consult your doctor before starting exercise.
How to jog for weight loss
Start gradually
If the last time you ran was several years ago, you should not rush off the bat. Your main tasks: to gradually accustom the body to physical activity, to maintain health and desire to run.
In the first workouts, alternate light running with brisk walking. For example, run for three minutes, then walk for the next two minutes and go back to running.
Repeat this five-minute series six times for a wonderful half-hour workout that will tire any beginner. As you get used to it, reduce your walking time until you can run without stopping for 30 minutes.
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After that, congratulate yourself on a small victory, but don't relax.
Increase the intensity
Running, no matter how hard it may seem at first, does not spend as many calories as we would like. For example, running 30 minutes at 8 km / h burnsCalories burned in 30 minutes for people of three different weights only about 290 kcal for a person weighing 70 kg.
Energy consumption increases with speed. The same person for half an hour of running at a speed of 10 km / h has already spent 360 kcal, and if he accelerates to 12 km / h - about 450 kcal.
In the Cochrane ReviewExercise for overweight or obesity - Shaw, KA - 2006 Scientific studies have mentioned that intense training increases weight loss results by 1.5 kg per year compared to more relaxed exercise. So it makes sense to strain a little more in your workouts.
Set a goal to close one kilometer out of your run a little faster and see how that affects your well-being. If all went well, try running a little more at your chosen speed next time.
You can also gradually increase your running time - this will also have a good effect on your energy consumption.
Alternate quiet running with HIIT and sprints
There are several methods of running training that are effective for weight loss:
- Long, quiet runs at the same pace. As a rule, they last 30-60 minutes, and all this time you work at a low heart rate of about 130-140 beats per minute.
- High intensity interval training (HIIT). This is a method in which short intervals of running at a high pace are alternated with more relaxed recovery periods. For example, when you run for one minute at a heart rate of 90% of the maximum (about 170 beats per minute), then 30 seconds - at 60% of the maximum (114 beats / minute), and repeat this for 15-20 minutes.
- Interval sprints (IS). This is when you give your best for a short time, and then rest. For example, run with all your strength for 30 seconds, then rest for 4 minutes and repeat this several times.
There is some evidence that interval training is better for losing weight than long, quiet training. cardio. In one studyRun sprint interval training improves aerobic performance but not maximal cardiac output Twenty men and women either ran quietly for 30-60 minutes three times a week, or did 4-6 sprints of 30 seconds each.
After six weeks, the sprint group had lost 12.6% body fat, while the quiet cardio group had lost only 5.8%.
The same thing was noticed in three other experiments. Can short-term high-intensity intermittent training reduce adiposity?, The effects of high-intensity intermittent exercise training on fat loss and fasting insulin levels of young women, Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training vs. Sprint Interval Training on Anthropometric Measures and Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Healthy Young Women with 23 and 49 young healthy women: In 6 and 15 weeks of training, intense interval training helped to lose significantly more fat than long calm cardio.
And here's a meta-analysisA systematic review and meta ‑ analysis of interval training versus moderate ‑ intensity continuous training on body adiposity 31 scientific papers have not confirmed the benefits of HIIT and sprints over calm cardio. Scientists concluded that both options are good, but the difference between them is negligible.
In another review, 13 studies foundThe effects of high-intensity interval training vs. moderate ‑ intensity continuous training on body composition in overweight and obese adults: a systematic review and meta ‑ analysisthat both quiet running and intensive intervals help overweight people lose about 0.8 kg of excess fat. True, it was noted that intervals spend 40% less time.
So doing absolutely all interval training runs is definitely not worth doing. Moreover, they are quite energy-consuming for the body and require a lot of time to recover.
But, given the good prospects for losing weight, you don't need to give them up either. Moreover, HIIT is excellently pumped endurance. And the longer you can run, the more calories you burn.
Get 1–2 interval running workouts per week combined with gentle, long-term cardio.
An example of an interval sprint for 60 minutes:
- Warm-up: 20 minutes of running at a calm pace.
- Sprints: 1 minute of running at maximum effort, 2 minutes of brisk walking for recovery. Repeat 8 times.
- Cool Down: 15 minutes of quiet jogging.
Example of HIIT for 20 minutes:
- Warm-up: 5 minutes of running at a calm pace
- Intervals: Run 9 out of 10, then run lightly for 90 seconds. Repeat 4-6 times.
- Cool down: light jogging for 5 minutes.
Adjust the time and intensity based on your physical capabilities and sensations. Monitor your condition - if you feel unwell, stop training.
Add strength exercises
With all the benefits, running will not increase muscle mass. And if, in addition to exercising, you reduce the number of calories in the diet, it is unlikely to help preserve muscle.
The best strategy for protecting against muscle loss is recognizedPreserving Healthy Muscle during Weight Loss power training. In experiment Changes in body composition with a hypocaloric diet combined with sedentary, moderate and high-intense physical activity: a randomized controlled trial with the participation of 60 women, they found that diet, combined with strength training, allows you to maintain and even slightly increase muscle mass. Quiet cardio, on the other hand, significantly reduces the amount of muscle.
In another experimentModerate ‑ Intensity Continuous Training or High ‑ Intensity Interval Training with or without Resistance Training for Altering Body Composition in Postmenopausal Women women doing strength training in addition to interval cardio lost an average of 1.3 kg of fat and increased muscle mass. But those who did long, calm cardio without strength, and did not lose fat, and did not build up muscles.
Maintaining muscle is important not only for appearance, but also for maintaining metabolism. The volume of muscle mass is directly relatedSkeletal muscle metabolism is a major determinant of resting energy expenditure. with a waste of energy at rest. Losing muscle will naturally lower your energy expenditure and slow down your weight loss.
Do strength training twice a week on rest days or quiet jogging.
At the same time, it is not necessary to visit the gym - exercises with your body weight will be enough. To build your legs, do squats, daisies, lunges, and jumps. To strengthen the top - push-ups from the floor and pull-ups on the horizontal bar, for the muscles of the body - a bar and twisting.
Make a full-body strength workout of 5-6 exercises and do them in 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps for the upper body, 20 reps for the bottom, and 20-25 for the abs.
Bookmark✅
- 30 bodyweight exercises to get you in shape
- 10 strength exercises for runners from the master of sports in athletics
How to eat for weight loss joggers
Food - this is the main factor that can help you lose weight or, conversely, cancel out all your efforts.
In the Cochrane ReviewExercise for overweight or obesity - Shaw, KA - 2006 noted that if you combine exercise with a diet, you can lose from 3.4 to 17.7 kg, while without attention to nutrition, this figure drops to 0.5-4 kg in the same time.
So if you are in the mood for significant weight loss, be sure to pay attention to this aspect.
1. Create a calorie deficit in your diet, but not too large. For weight loss without harm to health, it is recommendedCut down on your calories lose weight by 0.5-1 kg per week. To lose about this much, calculate the required calorie intake using calculator and subtract 300-500 kcal from the resulting value.
If you do not want to keep records, give up high-calorie and not particularly healthy foods: sugar and sugary drinks, fast food, processed flour products, alcoholic beverages.
2. Don't reward yourself for your efforts.. In one small studyNormal weight men and women overestimate exercise energy expenditure 16 men and women spent 200-300 kcal on the track. At the same time, they themselves considered that they burned 3-4 times more (about 800 kcal). And in the end, after jogging, they allowed themselves a meal, the calorie content of which was about 500 kcal.
It is especially easy to exceed the norm if you are used to rewarding yourself with sweets or fast food. One muffin contains about 370 kcal, a slice of pizza - about 400 kcal.
Pamper yourself after your run, and you will eliminate all half-hour efforts in five minutes.
3. Run on an empty stomach only if it suits you. You often hear that running on an empty stomach helps you burn more fat. Meta-analysisEffects of aerobic exercise performed in fasted v. fed state on fat and carbohydrate metabolism in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysisScientific work has shown that exercise on an empty stomach does increase fat oxidation, but only at mild to moderate intensity. When the pulse accelerates to 150–160 beats per minute, the difference disappears.
But even if you exercise at a low intensity, increased fat oxidation will not necessarily accelerate weight loss. In researchBody composition changes associated with fasted versus non-fasted aerobic exercise with the participation of 20 young women, they tested whether training on an empty stomach will help you lose more fat. After a month of training, all the women had significantly lost weight, and there was no difference between those who ran on an empty stomach and those who had a pre-breakfast.
Run on an empty stomach if you feel comfortable doing it. If not, do not torture yourself, believing that this will help you burn more fat.
Remember that the intensity and regularity of exercise, as well as the total number of calories consumed per day, matter much more than what time you eat.
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