Your thoughts on this?!?!

Bloodie

""For many years, running has seemed the ideal form of exercise. It improves your fitness levels and the health of your heart. It boosts your metabolism and can help you lose weight.

It costs nothing - after the initial outlay on a decent pair of trainers - and can be done anywhere. Since jogging became popular in the late Seventies, running has often been promoted as a panacea for a range of health issues.

But is running really all it's cracked up to be? Greg Brookes, a London-based personal trainer with a clientele that ranges from celebrities and City high-fliers to housewives, has come up with a list of seven deadly sins as far as running is concerned.

Lots of people start running to lose weight and it doesn't always work - and this is why,' says Brookes.

His first assertion is that running actually decreases the size of your heart.

'Small muscles use less energy and are more efficient,' he says. 'The heart is a muscle and if you force it to keep working for long periods of time it will naturally shrink to use less energy and become more efficient.

'If you want to increase the size of your heart then you must strength-train your heart, not endurance- train it.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1297579/Running-risk-It-cause-cellulite-heart-attacks-joint-strain--time-stop-jogging.html#ixzz0uryNJhFV

Bloodie

I didn't want to paste the whole article, but there's plenty more there, about running & cellulite etc etc.
I personally never really liked running, but i did try it for a period of time... dunno, doing exercises & gym just does it better for me...

robin52077

My personal opinion:

That article is a pile of crap. I have been running for 3 months now and have never felt better in my whole life. If anyone is considering running please don't let that turn you off, instead read the the thousands of articles out there that sing the praises of running!

Bloodie

Of course i hope that people won't get discouraged to run just because of that article ... there's always pro's and con's. My personal opinion is that there are some better options then plain running for someone who is overweight and just wants to lose weight, especially regarding that persons joints...

lucifa73

Its about balance. Runners need to do resistance work too to improve performance and maintain body mass etc. A trainer recommended I do at least 2 days of resistance and one of something like yoga or pilates to start seeing improvements in stamina and speed when running.

shaneferguson

As lucifa73 says, it all about balance.

If you simply do one form of training then your body will condition itself to that and your won't make as much progress.

Running is one of the best forms of training out there, you do need to mis it around though by doing hill runs, HIT etc.

Article is nothing more than scare mongering and there is enough of that on the internet which usually leads to recommendations to buy a product and see 'how you can lose 20 stone in 1 week thanks to readin my new book'

akaDumbo

I haven't read the article but most people who are obese have enlarged hearts surrounded by fat. I would have thought that shrinking the heart and making it work more efficiently would be a good thing regardless of whether you lose weight running or not. You can lose weight just by watching what you eat, and there are plenty of other exercises for building your strength. Variety is the spice of life or so they say

lulabellewoowoo

From my personal experience, I'm not losing any weight with running. But as was mentioned by someone else post, it is amazing the endurance and fitness I have felt since starting to run. It's a nice way to challenge yourself, either with speed or distance. And a lot of times, it is your own personal thing, does not have to be a competition with anyone else. My husband and I will run on the treadmills together at the gym and we each do our own thing, our own speeds, and both get a great workout with our own personal goals. Just my personal experience with it.

Norbert2010

The fact that the link was to an article in The Daily Mail would automatically stop me from clicking it. Usual crap that I would expect to see in such a sensationalist rag.

amg_89

I think running is a turn-off for a lot of people, so when they decide to run to lose weight, they don't give it 100%. It's all about heart rate: Get your heart rate up to 80% of your max heart rate and you are burning more calories. That's the whole point. But many people don't run hard enough to do this, or they don't run long enough to maintain it. My dad started running and didn't even change his diet (now he's not a binge-eater or anything, just slightly overweight and tends to eat a few hundred extra cals a day rather than a few thousand) and dropped 15 lbs in roughly a month because he pushed himself. Many people go about exercise too lightly. Don't get me wrong, if you never exercise, you should start light, but after a week, start to really push.

If you exercise HARD it WILL help you lose weight.

lessertess

I'm not a fan of running either. For me, it's incredibly hard on my feet, ankles and shins. I don't like any repetitive high impact exercise. And I agree that high interval training is much more efficient in improving heart and in burning calories......

However, the remainder of the article is questionable. Running is not the only cardio exercise. If the article is correct than it would be true for ALL cardio. And, I'm sure that your doctor will tell you that cardio exercise is good for your heart. Cardio exercise alone will not help you lose weight unless it is accompanied by a calorie deficit. And, I can't comment on the cellulite as I have no knowledge of what really causes it....or makes it go away.

I have to agree with other comments that the article is largely sensationalism.

godblessourhome

From my personal experience, I'm not losing any weight with running. But as was mentioned by someone else post, it is amazing the endurance and fitness I have felt since starting to run. It's a nice way to challenge yourself, either with speed or distance. And a lot of times, it is your own personal thing, does not have to be a competition with anyone else. My husband and I will run on the treadmills together at the gym and we each do our own thing, our own speeds, and both get a great workout with our own personal goals. Just my personal experience with it.

same here. i didn't lose weight with running but i felt great!