Running...help or hinder weight loss??
skinnygurl02
Posts: 176 Member
Hi,
I am still fairly new to running. I usually run/walk 4-5 times a week for about 2.5 miles. I have been doing this for about 6 weeks or so. I am not really seeing any weight loss. Just wondering if you think it helps or hinders you?? I know that I am building muscle, just wondering when I will be able to lose at least another 10 pounds to be in my healthy bmi. Sometimes when I am unusally stressed (like yesterday) I will do a couple of runs. Maybe I am overtraining??? What are the signs of that?? I have my calories set at 1700 but almost never eat over 1400. Just have such a curbed appetite since I started running... Thank you so much!!
I am still fairly new to running. I usually run/walk 4-5 times a week for about 2.5 miles. I have been doing this for about 6 weeks or so. I am not really seeing any weight loss. Just wondering if you think it helps or hinders you?? I know that I am building muscle, just wondering when I will be able to lose at least another 10 pounds to be in my healthy bmi. Sometimes when I am unusally stressed (like yesterday) I will do a couple of runs. Maybe I am overtraining??? What are the signs of that?? I have my calories set at 1700 but almost never eat over 1400. Just have such a curbed appetite since I started running... Thank you so much!!
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Replies
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It has certainly helped me. I do think your rest days are important. Do you do other exercises on days you're not running, or do you actually rest? I've found that I have my biggest losses if I take 2 days in a row off. Healing muscles retain water that masks weight loss.0
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No, actually I don't rest. I will often do something like Jillian Michaels 30DS dvd... maybe I will try a 2 day rest this week. Thanks alot:)0
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First off.. You are not gaining muscle.. not even a teeny tiny bit. Unless you doing heavy strength training, eating in a calorie surplus and taking steroids, there is no way muscle is being gained.
Second, what you are prob. seeing is water retention from the muscles healing... which means you are going to see the scale go up temporarily, but it won't last long.
Third, how are you measuring calorie burns from the runs? It could be possible that you are overestimating calories burned and eating too much.. and that will also hinder weight loss.
Fourth, please start strength training.. running is great and all, but strength training will help you preserve muscle and lose mainly fat instead of fat and muscle.0 -
First off.. You are not gaining muscle.. not even a teeny tiny bit. Unless you doing heavy strength training, eating in a calorie surplus and taking steroids, there is no way muscle is being gained.
Second, what you are prob. seeing is water retention from the muscles healing... which means you are going to see the scale go up temporarily, but it won't last long.
Third, how are you measuring calorie burns from the runs? It could be possible that you are overestimating calories burned and eating too much.. and that will also hinder weight loss.
Fourth, please start strength training.. running is great and all, but strength training will help you preserve muscle and lose mainly fat instead of fat and muscle.
^^^this^^^
I run but I also strength train 3 times a week..and not those barbie weights..but full on weights...0 -
First off.. You are not gaining muscle.. not even a teeny tiny bit. Unless you doing heavy strength training, eating in a calorie surplus and taking steroids, there is no way muscle is being gained.
Wow, there's some BS. Steroids??? You can't gain muscle without steroids? Runners DO get muscle gain in their legs (though not likely with a calorie deficit). They don't need steroids to do it. I'm not even convinced you can't gain a little muscle WITH a calorie deficit because my thigh muscles have certainly seemed to get larger. But the steroids comment is just ridiculous.0 -
My main excersise is running and Ive lost 80lbs by doing that I am starting to do some bodyweight excercises and I have some decent dumbells im using on and off. Also you said you run/walk 2.5 miles a few times a week I would guess that is probably burning maybe 300 calories. Maybe try increasing your distance over time that is when you will see the increase or hit some hills and increase distance. I am not a expert but im guessing it is not overtraining not at this stage.0
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First off.. You are not gaining muscle.. not even a teeny tiny bit. Unless you doing heavy strength training, eating in a calorie surplus and taking steroids, there is no way muscle is being gained.
Second, what you are prob. seeing is water retention from the muscles healing... which means you are going to see the scale go up temporarily, but it won't last long.
Third, how are you measuring calorie burns from the runs? It could be possible that you are overestimating calories burned and eating too much.. and that will also hinder weight loss.
Fourth, please start strength training.. running is great and all, but strength training will help you preserve muscle and lose mainly fat instead of fat and muscle.
Wrong, I notice the best leanest muscles in my calves from running and my butt muscles is really developing!0 -
Activity in general can cause muscle gain if your body needs it to keep doing the activity, my Dr ( several actually) told me this don't believe everything you see on here some people are just negative and fake no it alls lol0
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First off.. You are not gaining muscle.. not even a teeny tiny bit. Unless you doing heavy strength training, eating in a calorie surplus and taking steroids, there is no way muscle is being gained.
Wow, there's some BS. Steroids??? You can't gain muscle without steroids? Runners DO get muscle gain in their legs (though not likely with a calorie deficit). They don't need steroids to do it. I'm not even convinced you can't gain a little muscle WITH a calorie deficit because my thigh muscles have certainly seemed to get larger. But the steroids comment is just ridiculous.
Glad to see I wasn't the only one that had difficulty with this post.0 -
First off.. You are not gaining muscle.. not even a teeny tiny bit. Unless you doing heavy strength training, eating in a calorie surplus and taking steroids, there is no way muscle is being gained.
Wow, there's some BS. Steroids??? You can't gain muscle without steroids? Runners DO get muscle gain in their legs (though not likely with a calorie deficit). They don't need steroids to do it. I'm not even convinced you can't gain a little muscle WITH a calorie deficit because my thigh muscles have certainly seemed to get larger. But the steroids comment is just ridiculous.
Glad to see I wasn't the only one that had difficulty with this post.
Glad to see that you two are clearly special snowflakes.
Women have a hard time gaining muscle anyway due to lack of testoerone.. hence where the steroid comment comes into play.
I run for about 2.5 miles, 2 to 3 times a week plus I lift and I am not gaining muscle.. and I highly doubt OP is either.
What you two are most likely seeing is the muscle becoming more pronounced due to fat loss.. but it is highly unlikely that you are building muscle doing long distance running.0 -
Let's throw out the controversial whether you can build muscle in a calorie deficit or not for a minute. I don't know the answer to that either way.
Let's talk about muscle building from running while in maintenance mode, or a calorie surplus. You seriously think running doesn't build muscle? You seriously think that propelling my weight off the ground isn't a strength exercise? Really? So I guess pushups aren't a strength building exercise either. Good to know. I'll stop doing those since they're pointless.0 -
I've been running distance for over 15 years, competitively. If you are running distance you are not going to "gain" muscle to the point that you notice. You will gain some, but mostly you will define and tone the muscle you already have.
If you're "gaining muscle" to the point you can notice it, from running, only 2.5 miles, it's not muscle gain.
***Edit*** 12 miles per week for 6 weeks, for sure will not be "muscle gain". I don't know the full story here, but a person upping their cardiovascular exercise should be losing weight. Running will burn fat, and actually, when pushed hard enough....it will burn muscle.0 -
Let's throw out the controversial whether you can build muscle in a calorie deficit or not for a minute. I don't know the answer to that either way.
Let's talk about muscle building from running while in maintenance mode, or a calorie surplus. You seriously think running doesn't build muscle? You seriously think that propelling my weight off the ground isn't a strength exercise? Really? So I guess pushups aren't a strength building exercise either. Good to know. I'll stop doing those since they're pointless.
Building strength and building muscle are two separate things honey.
You can gain strength without getting bigger muscles.. a lot of people on this site are proof of that.
I lift weights and I run.. I'm getting stronger all the time, but my muscles aren't getting bigger.. why? Because I'm not eating enough calories to support that.. nor do I have the hormones to support muscle building.
Like I stated earlier, you are either seeing swelling from the muscles repairing themselves or the fat is being lost, thus showing what muscle you have.0 -
I've been running distance for over 15 years, competitively. If you are running distance you are not going to "gain" muscle to the point that you notice. You will gain some, but mostly you will define and tone the muscle you already have.
If you're "gaining muscle" to the point you can notice it, from running, only 2.5 miles, it's not muscle gain.
***Edit*** 12 miles per week for 6 weeks, for sure will not be "muscle gain". A person should be losing weight.
Thank you.0 -
First off.. You are not gaining muscle.. not even a teeny tiny bit. Unless you doing heavy strength training, eating in a calorie surplus and taking steroids, there is no way muscle is being gained.
Wow, there's some BS. Steroids??? You can't gain muscle without steroids? Runners DO get muscle gain in their legs (though not likely with a calorie deficit). They don't need steroids to do it. I'm not even convinced you can't gain a little muscle WITH a calorie deficit because my thigh muscles have certainly seemed to get larger. But the steroids comment is just ridiculous.
Glad to see I wasn't the only one that had difficulty with this post.
Glad to see that you two are clearly special snowflakes.
Women have a hard time gaining muscle anyway due to lack of testoerone.. hence where the steroid comment comes into play.
I run for about 2.5 miles, 2 to 3 times a week plus I lift and I am not gaining muscle.. and I highly doubt OP is either.
What you two are most likely seeing is the muscle becoming more pronounced due to fat loss.. but it is highly unlikely that you are building muscle doing long distance running.
Since I started running my hamstrings are bigger and well defined, as are my quads and calf muscles. I haven't lost much weight, but I know for sure those muscles were not noticeable before. I never had calf muscles before, I had stick legs. There is definitely muscle there where there wasn't before.
And I don't life heavy weights at the gym but I do body weight exercises like pushups, lunges and squats without weights, and I have clearly defined arm muscles and glutes. So I think what you are referring to is body-building type muscle - large muscle growth, not ANY muscle growth.0 -
Running is my main activity. I can tell you that when I'm really dedicated to running weight loss is hindered unless I'm meticulous with it and don't try to set up too big a caloric deficit. 3-400 cal/day max deficit to lose while training in my opinion.
And the lift weights or you'll lose muscle mass is BS. Absolutely not a universal truth. I have the same 120 lbs fat-free mass as I did 10 years ago. I run; I do body-weight exercises; I've done martial arts (about 7 of the last 10 years) and I've done yoga. That's about it.0 -
Let's throw out the controversial whether you can build muscle in a calorie deficit or not for a minute. I don't know the answer to that either way.
Let's talk about muscle building from running while in maintenance mode, or a calorie surplus. You seriously think running doesn't build muscle? You seriously think that propelling my weight off the ground isn't a strength exercise? Really? So I guess pushups aren't a strength building exercise either. Good to know. I'll stop doing those since they're pointless.
No, not a strength exercise. I can do 100 pushups easily, but that's about 1/50th of the strides taken in a run. That's endurance, not strength. Are we really debating if people get big and strong enough to gain weight by normal running?
To the OP, running burns calories, so I can only aid in your weight loss. If you aren't losing, it's most likely you aren't in a calorie deficit. You may be eating back too many of your exercise calories.0 -
Building strength and building muscle are two separate things honey.
Wow, condescending much "honey". SMH and done with this.0 -
Running is my main activity. I can tell you that when I'm really dedicated to running weight loss is hindered unless I'm meticulous with it and don't try to set up too big a caloric deficit. 3-400 cal/day max deficit to lose while training in my opinion.
And the lift weights or you'll lose muscle mass is BS. Absolutely not a universal truth. I have the same 120 lbs fat-free mass as I did 10 years ago. I run; I do body-weight exercises; I've done martial arts (about 7 of the last 10 years) and I've done yoga. That's about it.
Actually, it's a 100% truth. If you're not eating enough and you start a high intensity cardiovascular program, muscle mass will be lost. Running is a cardiovascualr aerobic exercise. You body will push to a point where it will eat muscle instead of fat for energy because it's easier for your body to do so. You most likey have found your happy medium. Kudos.0 -
Running helps me. When I add running to my workouts I lean out more.0
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Running is my main activity. I can tell you that when I'm really dedicated to running weight loss is hindered unless I'm meticulous with it and don't try to set up too big a caloric deficit. 3-400 cal/day max deficit to lose while training in my opinion.
And the lift weights or you'll lose muscle mass is BS. Absolutely not a universal truth. I have the same 120 lbs fat-free mass as I did 10 years ago. I run; I do body-weight exercises; I've done martial arts (about 7 of the last 10 years) and I've done yoga. That's about it.
Actually, it's a 100% truth. If you're not eating enough and you start a high intensity cardiovascular program, muscle mass will be lost. Running is a cardiovascualr aerobic exercise. You body will push to a point where it will eat muscle instead of fat for energy because it's easier for your body to do so. You most likey have found your happy medium. Kudos.
If there is a "happy medium" you're congratulating me on finding, then losing muscle mass when not weight lifting while dieting cannot be a universal truth.
I, for one, do NOT believe I'm a special snowflake. If I can maintain my lean mass, others can too.0 -
Sorry don't mean to hijack this thread, been reading the whole thing and would like come clarifacation. I started C25K on Friday and I haven't run in like 8 years, other then OMG A BUG IS CHASING ME kinda running. My muscles hurt like hell the day after and I noticed I had gained like 3 pounds on the scale (which I know I didn't eat enough for that...)
It was my muscles retaining water and such because it was making repairs?0 -
I have lost 34ls mainly through running I take protein shakes to prevent muscle loss, running can burn muscle, I was creating a cal deficit of 1100 sometimes.0
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It was my muscles retaining water and such because it was making repairs?
Yes. Swelling because it's a new activity and your muscles aren't used to it and extra water.0 -
It was my muscles retaining water and such because it was making repairs?
Yes. Swelling because it's a new activity and your muscles aren't used to it and extra water.
Thanks! Good to know
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Running is my main activity. I can tell you that when I'm really dedicated to running weight loss is hindered unless I'm meticulous with it and don't try to set up too big a caloric deficit. 3-400 cal/day max deficit to lose while training in my opinion.
And the lift weights or you'll lose muscle mass is BS. Absolutely not a universal truth. I have the same 120 lbs fat-free mass as I did 10 years ago. I run; I do body-weight exercises; I've done martial arts (about 7 of the last 10 years) and I've done yoga. That's about it.
Actually, it's a 100% truth. If you're not eating enough and you start a high intensity cardiovascular program, muscle mass will be lost. Running is a cardiovascualr aerobic exercise. You body will push to a point where it will eat muscle instead of fat for energy because it's easier for your body to do so. You most likey have found your happy medium. Kudos.
If there is a "happy medium" you're congratulating me on finding, then losing muscle mass when not weight lifting while dieting cannot be a universal truth.
I, for one, do NOT believe I'm a special snowflake. If I can maintain my lean mass, others can too.
Um, correct? Sorry, but it's a scientific fact that the body will eat muscle during extreme cardiovascular exercise (distance running), if you push too hard. I didn't say "everyone loses muscle by running" did I? It takes an absolute TON of exercise to add/lose enough muscle to notice it on the scale.0 -
Um, correct? Sorry, but it's a scientific fact that the body will eat muscle during extreme cardiovascular exercise (distance running), if you push too hard. I didn't say "everyone loses muscle by running" did I? It takes an absolute TON of exercise to add/lose enough muscle to notice it on the scale.
You define "extreme" as "distance running". What distance? How long? Not just your opinion, but show me some research that defines at what point the perfectly healthy body will turn on itself and start devouring muscle. Go ahead. I'll wait.0 -
First off.. You are not gaining muscle.. not even a teeny tiny bit. Unless you doing heavy strength training, eating in a calorie surplus and taking steroids, there is no way muscle is being gained.
Second, what you are prob. seeing is water retention from the muscles healing... which means you are going to see the scale go up temporarily, but it won't last long.
Third, how are you measuring calorie burns from the runs? It could be possible that you are overestimating calories burned and eating too much.. and that will also hinder weight loss.
Fourth, please start strength training.. running is great and all, but strength training will help you preserve muscle and lose mainly fat instead of fat and muscle.
Wrong, I notice the best leanest muscles in my calves from running and my butt muscles is really developing!
OMG @ Calves! (mine too) I love it!0 -
First off.. You are not gaining muscle.. not even a teeny tiny bit. Unless you doing heavy strength training, eating in a calorie surplus and taking steroids, there is no way muscle is being gained.
Second, what you are prob. seeing is water retention from the muscles healing... which means you are going to see the scale go up temporarily, but it won't last long.
Third, how are you measuring calorie burns from the runs? It could be possible that you are overestimating calories burned and eating too much.. and that will also hinder weight loss.
Fourth, please start strength training.. running is great and all, but strength training will help you preserve muscle and lose mainly fat instead of fat and muscle.
Says it all...0 -
There are two types of muscle fibres. Fast type 11 and slow twitch type 1. In general slow running will build slow twitch muscle which uses oxygen has good blood supply and generally is aerobic. Slow twitch contracts more weakly but can contract repeatedly. these are used in endurance exercise such as marathon running and are why such athletes have lean long muscles. Essentially slow twitch fibres contract slowly in the presence of glucose they are cross chained.
Fast twitch muscle fibres are used in explosive exercise such as sprinting and are anaerobic activity. They give 'shape' to muscles and will be more compact and dense.
So it depends on your running: are you long slow endurance or fast explosive sprint. Or are you mixing on a treadmill. You can be building either slow twitch or fast twitch muscle fibres. Is this preset? Apparently not, muscle composition can change as form follows function.
Yes you can build muscle of different types. Slow twitch will not give definition to the muscle shape but its there. Yes you will burn muscle if you exercise intensively without glucose available. Preferentially the body will burn glucose from the blood circulation, glycogen is converted to fuel and is stored in muscles and then will convert fat to burn, finally it will use muscle.
Muscles will retain water when damaged or inflamed otherwise it isn't trapped in a muscle. Other retention is due to lymphatic drainage being poor.
Women find it hard without the higher testosterone levels of men to build fast muscle fibre, but with weight training of the right kind and persistence form can be achieved. When losing weight without compensating exercise it appears that it is fast fibres that are lost first. Since fast fibres burn more calories even at rest this will cause problems after diet with weight gain. Fast fibres are also lost with age where there is little exercise undertaken.
I haven't see any studies which elucidate which type of fast twitch are built under which circumstances, if any one can point me in that direction please.
Please comment as I would love to chat this through a little more.
Jasmin0
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