How to Lose Weight Running, and Why You Should Give It a Second Chance

It is almost universal knowledge that running is one of the most effective exercises that can help people lose weight. Yet the irony remains that there aren’t enough people who run their way to a healthier number on the scale. Instead of embracing the idea of losing weight running, we see so many people try all sorts of crash diet and fad exercises. So, why is this?

A quick survey of weight loss enthusiasts who have shied away from running will easily reveal why people don’t run enough and instead prefer other ways of pursuing their health and wellness goals:

Running is too hard. If you haven’t run for a long time and you suddenly get out on the road for a slow jog, there’s a very high likelihood that you’ll feel all sorts of pain and discomfort during the run. Your knees will hurt, It is important to recognize that there’s a “right way” and there’s a “wrong way” to run.you feel like you’re being stabbed to your side, your shins scream endlessly, and if that’s not enough then the pain that you feel waking up the next day will remind you never to try running again. If this is what you get out of a short and easy run, why would you bother coming back for a second go?

Running takes too much time. We hear stories of how runners spend hours on the road training for a race or how weight loss enthusiasts need to run for extended periods to burn enough calories to meet their weight loss goals. Who in their right mind would want that kind of lifestyle? Sure, training hard is important for weight loss but if it takes all of the time in the world, then perhaps it’s not worth it to run. This is why people would much rather try their luck with fad exercises that cleverly market themselves as “the best way to lose weight in just 10 minutes per day” or “30 minute workouts that are guaranteed to burn fat.”

If you have the very same reasons for choosing not to run, then you’re sorely missing out on how to lose weight running. But more than that, it is also important to recognize that there’s a “right way” and there’s a “wrong way” to run. When you run the wrong way, that’s when you come across situations that support the conclusion that running is hard or that it takes too much time.

This post intends to address some basic running fundamentals so you can effectively use running as a tool for losing weight without having to feel bad while you’re doing it. In the succeeding section, we will talk about why running is one of the most effective workouts for burning fat and calories. After that, we’ll tackle the more practical question of how to run correctly. In combination, these sections are intended to show you that there’s no better way than running to help you meet your health and fitness goals.

Why is Running Great for Losing Weight?

The main foundation of weight loss is what is known as the calorie balance. Simply put, for you to lose weight, you need a negative calorie output per day. This means that you should be burning more calories than what you’re eating on a daily basis. On average, it takes about 3,500 calories burned to lose a pound of weight on the scale.

Running is a particularly effective exercise because it leads to a higher rate of calorie burn than most other exercises. As a rough comparison, a 200-pound man running at moderate pace will burn about 1,200 calories per hour. In a nutshell, running is a high-impact aerobic workout which engages multiple systems togetherThe same man will burn a significantly lower amount of calories if he is to walk, swim, ride the bike, participate in a dance class, or lift weights at the gym at the same intensity for the same duration. It’s hard to put specific numbers to each of the exercise because the actual number of calories burned is influenced by a number of factors, but all told running easily tops all of these common exercises in calories expenditure per unit time by a significant margin.

There are known mechanisms to justify this. In a nutshell, running is a high-impact aerobic workout which engages multiple systems together at the same time so the rate of energy consumption is higher. The respiratory system is on hyper-drive while running as it tries to take in oxygen and eliminate carbon dioxide. This is why you breathe harder when you run. The heart is hard at work as it tries to cope up with the increased demand for oxygen by multiple organs and systems. This is why your heart rate goes up during a workout. The leg muscles, core muscles, back muscles, and arm muscles are all engaged during the run. Your skin is also involved as it tries to regulate your internal temperature via sweating to prevent your body from overheating. To provide the energy necessary to keep these organ systems functioning properly, the body metabolizes glucose from the blood and easy-to-access fat deposits in the muscles. This is where the high calorie consumption leading to weight loss primarily happens.

Beyond that, the body continues to burn a large amount of calories after the run as it tries to heal, repair and recover from the workout. Your muscles will be repaired requiring energy; lactic acid build-up in the muscles and joints will need to be flushed out requiring energy. Running doesn’t only help you burn fat during the workout; it pushes your body to continue working hard after the run. The net effect is a highly effective and efficient mechanism for burning excess fat leading to weight loss.

Unfortunately, we are creatures of convenience who prefer to do things the easy way rather than subject ourselves to hard work even if that is what is necessary to help improve our health. A famous Mark Twain quote summarizes this inherent human tendency. “The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.” Still, many people would rather not do what they ought to do simply because it – running – is hard.

But there are tips that you can embrace to make it easier.

Helpful Tips on Being Successful at Running to Lose Weight

These are the very same tips that you will hear from people who have relied on running to help them leave their bad habits and extra baggage behind. See which ones work for you as you embark on a new phase of your journey to discovering a healthier, fitter, and faster you.

Start easy. We are hardwired to go too fast too soon and in most cases, that is why we feel bad after a run. If you have never ran before, start with easy walks slowly progressing to brisk walks, then jogs, prior to actually running. It will take time to build the stamina required to be able to run so don’t be too hard on yourself if you can’t go all out immediately. It may hurt your ego – especially if you are ultra-competitive – to start with easy walks but it will better you in the long run.

Adopt a regular schedule. It’s tempting to just run whenever you want to and not embrace a routine but this is often how many people fall out of the habit. Whenever you become busy, running is always the first thing that goes out of the window. Pretty soon, you haven’t run for two weeks straight and all your progress would have been erased and you find yourself back on square 1. Try finding running programs tailored to your specific running proficiency from the internet or ask a runner friend to develop a program for you. A program that calls for running workouts 4 to 5 times a week is ideal for weight loss in order to sustain your progress.

Still, even as you do this, always remember to take it easy early on. It would be advantageous to have a program that caters to your specific needs such as adopting a run-walk sequence so you can go easy on your knees and legs.

Invest in good running shoes. According to studies, up to 40% of newbie runners experience pain and discomfort early in their running programs because they are using the wrong type of shoe. Today, improved understanding of biomechanics has led to the design and production of shoes that specifically cater to different gaits. Visit a running specialty store at a city near you so you can determine what type of running shoe works best with your gait. This will significantly lower the likelihood of injuries and will allow you to stick to your program instead of dialing back to nurse an injury because you were using the wrong running footwear.

Gradually add interval training concepts to your workouts. Interval training is the ultimate secret to effective weight loss via running. In simple terms, it involves alternating high intensity and low intensity workouts. The high intensity workouts pushes your body to burn as much calories in as short a time as possible while the low intensity periods allow you to recover for the next interval. A great example is to sprint 100-meters on a track and then jog back to the starting line. Do this 8 to 12 times during your workouts and you will burn more fat than if you went at a steady pace for the same duration. Once-a-week interval workouts are ideal for weight loss and can significantly increase your net calorie and fat burn rate by as much as 30% per week.

Watch what you eat. One of the biggest pitfalls of running actually isn’t about running at all. There are plenty of runners who do all of the tips detailed above and yet find themselves maintaining the same weight – if not gaining – for weeks on end. The usual culprit is eating. Runners who go all out in training often feel like they have to reward themselves for a workout-well-done and so they go out and eat a whole pizza to celebrate. Your running workouts don’t mean much if you eat back all the calories that you just burned. The same is true of runners who chug down bottles of Gatorade or sugary sports drinks even when they are not working out. It’s good to drink electrolyte-infused drinks during training but it’s not advisable to treat it like water or your favorite fruit juice. Watch what you eat, maintain portion control, eat on time, and make healthy food choices so you can preserve and sustain your weight loss gains from running.

Running is a very effective workout for losing weight. It burns a lot of calories and is fairly easy to do when done correctly. Don’t be fooled by the idea that you cannot run because you are heavy. You can!

So what’s the very first step that you will do to begin your weight loss journey through running? We’d love to hear your thoughts on running as a tool for losing weight.