How to lose weight by running
January 15, 2021
Can you lose weight by running? The answer is a definitive, yes. Regular and consistent running, combined with a healthy and balanced diet is one of the best ways to lose weight. Not only is it a very cheap form of exercise (all you need is a pair of running shoes), it’s something you can do regardless of the time of day or the weather outside. The only barrier to making running a central part of your weight loss is your motivation.
In this guide, we’ll cover some of the most commonly asked questions by those who are new to running to help you understand exactly how it can help.
Can I lose weight by running?
Running is an excellent choice of exercise if your goal is to lose weight. Not only does it burn more calories than many of the alternatives but it also requires many different muscle groups to work together. A study by Harvard Medical School found that a 70kg person could burn 372 calories in 30 minutes by running at a moderate pace of just 6 miles per hour. That’s more calories than you can burn during a 30-minute game of basketball or even a vigorous swimming session.
Furthermore, running is proven to be one of the few forms of exercise that continues to burn calories even after your workout is over. This ‘afterburn effect’ is only associated with high-intensity running such as interval training or hill running. That means it’s not necessarily something you will benefit from at the start of your weight loss journey, but it can be hugely beneficial once you build a base level of fitness.
Can I lose weight by running a mile every day?
Even if running has never been something you’ve considered before, running a mile a day is a very realistic and achievable goal. As long as you warm up properly, you could safely run a mile a day with very little risk of injury, and taking walking breaks is perfectly acceptable, particularly when you’re just starting out.
Running a mile a day will give you all the benefits associated with a run of any length, such as an improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness and bone health. At a moderate pace, you will also burn around 120 calories per day. However, to reach your long-term weight loss goals, you will need to increase the distance of your runs as your fitness improves, simply because a one-mile run will not burn enough calories over the longer-term.
Can you lose weight by running on a treadmill?
The treadmill is an extremely popular aerobic exercise machine that can become an important part of your weight loss routine. As well as burning calories just like any other form of running, there are numerous other benefits associated with running on a treadmill, such as staying warm and dry all year round and depending on where you live it can be safer than running on roads with traffic.
To burn more calories during your treadmill routine, run or walk briskly at an incline. That will activate more muscles, burn more calories and build lean muscle mass. Read our guide to running on a treadmill for more expert advice.
How to use running for weight loss
If your goal is specifically to lose weight, there are some techniques and strategies you can employ to help you shed those pounds.
- Find your peak fat-burning zone
During a treadmill workout, you can increase the number of calories you burn per minute by exercising at your peak fat-burning rate. For most people, this is 70 percent of their maximum heart rate. You can calculate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220 beats per minute (bpm). For example, if you’re 30, your maximum heart rate is 190bpm. Your peak fat burning zone is 70 percent of that number, which is 133bpm. Keeping your heart rate around that level will help you to achieve your weight loss goals.
- Watch the liquid calories
Staying well hydrated is essential before, during and after your run, but you should be careful about what you drink. Sports drinks and fruit juice can contain unnecessary calories. That’s why water should become your drink of choice.
- Burning carbs vs. fat
Not sure how to lose weight by running? Running in itself will be hugely beneficial, but you can also tweak the intensity and duration of your workouts to burn more calories. Higher intensity running burns more carbs than steady-state running and it burns more calories overall. That makes interval training the perfect weight loss workout for you.