4 Reasons Running is Best for Weight Loss
bonitacash08
Posts: 378 Member
Saw this article today on Yahoo (obviously not the most reputable site) but I thought it was interesting. Running may be good for weight loss, but it's best combined with strength training for general body composition. It'll be difficult to look like the woman picture in the article by running alone.
4 Reasons Running is Best for Weight Loss
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/4-reasons-running-best-weight-loss-163400799.html
Any exercise is good exercise, but when it comes to losing weight, it's hard to beat running. After all, running is one of the most efficient ways to burn calories and get fit without having to restrict your diet. If you're already a runner, keep on keepin' on. If you're not a runner yet but interested in losing weight, here are four reasons running can be the best exercise for weight loss.
1. Running works even when you're at rest. High-intensity exercise like running stimulates more "afterburn" than low-intensity exercise. That is, even when comparing running with walking the same distance, studies find that running will lead to greater weight loss, most likely because your resting energy expenditure stays elevated after you run. In a long-term comparison study of runners and walkers, calories burned through running led to 90% more weight loss than calories burned through walking.
2. Running is time-efficient. Even if the myth that running a mile and walking a mile burn the same number of calories were true, running is a considerably faster way to burn those calories. Most people can run two or three times as far as they can walk in a given amount of time. At the other end of the spectrum, super-intense but short workouts, such as the "Scientific 7-minute Workout" from the Human Performance Institute, may burn more calories per minute per running, but because they're so short, your total caloric burn isn't as great if you ran.
3. Running is convenient. Though many of us have accumulated a vast arsenal of GPS gadgets and tech tees over the years, little is actually required to go running. You can do it alone. You can do it almost anywhere. You don't need any equipment beyond a pair of running shoes. (And if you're careful about injury and build up slowly, you may not even need those.) For this reason alone, running is the best workout for weight loss because it's cheap, it's accessible, and there are fewer barriers to maintaining a routine, even while traveling.
4. Two words: runner's high. The first rule of exercising for weight loss is that if you don't enjoy it, you won't stick with it. Fortunately, studies support what many runners have experienced on an anecdotal level-running can actually get you high. Scientists have found links between moderate to intense exercise and morphine-like brain chemicals called endocannabinoids, which suggest endorphins alone aren't responsible for the occasional flood of euphoria that rushes over you during a hard run. That floaty, happy sensation you had after your last race-makes you want to go for another run, right?
4 Reasons Running is Best for Weight Loss
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/4-reasons-running-best-weight-loss-163400799.html
Any exercise is good exercise, but when it comes to losing weight, it's hard to beat running. After all, running is one of the most efficient ways to burn calories and get fit without having to restrict your diet. If you're already a runner, keep on keepin' on. If you're not a runner yet but interested in losing weight, here are four reasons running can be the best exercise for weight loss.
1. Running works even when you're at rest. High-intensity exercise like running stimulates more "afterburn" than low-intensity exercise. That is, even when comparing running with walking the same distance, studies find that running will lead to greater weight loss, most likely because your resting energy expenditure stays elevated after you run. In a long-term comparison study of runners and walkers, calories burned through running led to 90% more weight loss than calories burned through walking.
2. Running is time-efficient. Even if the myth that running a mile and walking a mile burn the same number of calories were true, running is a considerably faster way to burn those calories. Most people can run two or three times as far as they can walk in a given amount of time. At the other end of the spectrum, super-intense but short workouts, such as the "Scientific 7-minute Workout" from the Human Performance Institute, may burn more calories per minute per running, but because they're so short, your total caloric burn isn't as great if you ran.
3. Running is convenient. Though many of us have accumulated a vast arsenal of GPS gadgets and tech tees over the years, little is actually required to go running. You can do it alone. You can do it almost anywhere. You don't need any equipment beyond a pair of running shoes. (And if you're careful about injury and build up slowly, you may not even need those.) For this reason alone, running is the best workout for weight loss because it's cheap, it's accessible, and there are fewer barriers to maintaining a routine, even while traveling.
4. Two words: runner's high. The first rule of exercising for weight loss is that if you don't enjoy it, you won't stick with it. Fortunately, studies support what many runners have experienced on an anecdotal level-running can actually get you high. Scientists have found links between moderate to intense exercise and morphine-like brain chemicals called endocannabinoids, which suggest endorphins alone aren't responsible for the occasional flood of euphoria that rushes over you during a hard run. That floaty, happy sensation you had after your last race-makes you want to go for another run, right?
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Replies
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Thanks bonitacash08, this got me on the track today!!
Saw this article today on Yahoo (obviously not the most reputable site) but I thought it was interesting. Running may be good for weight loss, but it's best combined with strength training for general body composition. It'll be difficult to look like the woman picture in the article by running alone.
4 Reasons Running is Best for Weight Loss
http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/4-reasons-running-best-weight-loss-163400799.html
Any exercise is good exercise, but when it comes to losing weight, it's hard to beat running. After all, running is one of the most efficient ways to burn calories and get fit without having to restrict your diet. If you're already a runner, keep on keepin' on. If you're not a runner yet but interested in losing weight, here are four reasons running can be the best exercise for weight loss.
1. Running works even when you're at rest. High-intensity exercise like running stimulates more "afterburn" than low-intensity exercise. That is, even when comparing running with walking the same distance, studies find that running will lead to greater weight loss, most likely because your resting energy expenditure stays elevated after you run. In a long-term comparison study of runners and walkers, calories burned through running led to 90% more weight loss than calories burned through walking.
2. Running is time-efficient. Even if the myth that running a mile and walking a mile burn the same number of calories were true, running is a considerably faster way to burn those calories. Most people can run two or three times as far as they can walk in a given amount of time. At the other end of the spectrum, super-intense but short workouts, such as the "Scientific 7-minute Workout" from the Human Performance Institute, may burn more calories per minute per running, but because they're so short, your total caloric burn isn't as great if you ran.
3. Running is convenient. Though many of us have accumulated a vast arsenal of GPS gadgets and tech tees over the years, little is actually required to go running. You can do it alone. You can do it almost anywhere. You don't need any equipment beyond a pair of running shoes. (And if you're careful about injury and build up slowly, you may not even need those.) For this reason alone, running is the best workout for weight loss because it's cheap, it's accessible, and there are fewer barriers to maintaining a routine, even while traveling.
4. Two words: runner's high. The first rule of exercising for weight loss is that if you don't enjoy it, you won't stick with it. Fortunately, studies support what many runners have experienced on an anecdotal level-running can actually get you high. Scientists have found links between moderate to intense exercise and morphine-like brain chemicals called endocannabinoids, which suggest endorphins alone aren't responsible for the occasional flood of euphoria that rushes over you during a hard run. That floaty, happy sensation you had after your last race-makes you want to go for another run, right?0 -
Love it! Thank you!
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Everything you posted applies even moreso to jump rope. And jumping rope > running by far.0
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I went from nordic walking to running about 2.5 months ago. I would say, these points all seem true to me. I'm definitely enjoying my new found efficient training and am amazed at the progress I am making.
I'm already running up to 7-8 km, I can run for over an hour and I can run uphill for at least half of that. If someone had told me that 3 months ago, I would have said, he's crazy.0 -
I miss running. Back in my glory days I was running 8 miles a day. I am hoping to get back into it. My goal is to run at least a mile. I love love love runners high, there is nothing like it.0
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The only problem with this article is the generality of it (if that's a word) 1. Running works even when you're at rest...this is only true if you do it at a high intensity most "runners" do static runs meaning same pace for a certain distance. 2. Any workout can be "time efficient" I can go to the gym for 20 minutes just as easily as I can run for 20 minutes. 3. Running is convenient...so is Jillians 30 day shred in the comfort of your home. 4. Runner's high can only happen if you love running. I have been in the Army over 19 years and hate running with a passion but due to regulations I must keep in 2 mile running shape, no matter the run I am still hating it when it is over and have never acheived that "high"
I say all that just cause I despise running...the fact is burning calories will help you lose weight and if you love running by all means keep at it...doing what you love is the first step in establishing a healthy lifestyle.0 -
Great article. Thanks for sharing. This is all correct!0
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I am a dedicated runner so you're preaching to the choir but I tend to take exception to articles that link any exercise to weight loss. Weight loss comes from eating at a caloric deficit and one can successfully lose weight without ever tying up a pair of runners or stepping foot in a gym.
Running promotes fitness for sure and should be done by anyone who enjoys it but in terms of efficiency and convenience the same could be said for a lot of HIIT programs.
Me. I'll keep on running, rowing, swimming & riding (and if I'm careful about what I eat I may even lose a couple of pounds along the way) but I'll do it for fun and fitness.0 -
Okay I love running, love love love it. In the past when I've been at my fittest, it was when I was an avid running. And the best thing is that running is a healthy addiction. I got to the point where I would feel antsy if I didn't run. But I'm worried about my joints in the long run. Running, especially along pavement or gravel, can really impact your joints and I don't want to have to get knee replacement surgery later on in life. So that's the conundrum: enjoy all the benefits of running (better circulation, lower bodyweight, endorphin rush) now, and then have issues later? Anyone know how bad running actually can be for you later in life, and have any suggestions for how to counter these issues?0
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Yeah, and just two days before that Yahoo posted an article about how running was bad for weight loss and how you should hit the weights for the afterburn. LOL!!!0
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I love running, but generally get a better 'high' from lifting. Less aches too, if I don't count DOMS
As for losing weight, doesn't happen if you don't control what you eat.0 -
Running, especially along pavement or gravel, can really impact your joints and I don't want to have to get knee replacement surgery later on in life.
This is a myth that has been scientifically dispelled. Long term studies show that the knee joints of long term runners were equally as healthy as non runners of the same age, and it some instances the health of the subjects knee joints improved over time with running.0 -
My knee hurts when I run so I'd take swimming any day. Although I would love to be able to run for a length of time without pain.0
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Weight loss comes from eating at a caloric deficit and one can successfully lose weight without ever tying up a pair of runners or stepping foot in a gym.
The statement above is the truest ever. I was doing the gym 1hr every 2 to 3 days, Insanity on others and didn’t lose a pound over month long period. I was maintain or losing slight inches, because certain clothes felt lose. Then I started MFP and saw my mistake screaming at me. Thinking I was eating healthy by consuming fruits, veggies, grilled chicken, and some turkey was key. I haven’t eating red meat or pork in 12 yrs. so that wasn’t the problem. My problem was I was still eating way more than my body needed and that is why the weight stayed on. Now with MFP when I see myself getting close to my 1200 Cal limit I’m more aware of what I eat. I can tell you can reach your calorie limit pretty quickly throughout the day.0
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