Should we runners not run?

scottb81

More information on the effects of aerobic fitness on fat burning.

source: http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/fatfacts.html

Does Aerobic Exercise Actually Make You a Better ‘Fat Burner’?
Horowitz and Klein (2000) indicate that a number of physiological and metabolic adaptations occur with cardiovascular exercise that distinctively enhance fat metabolism, including the following:
1) An increased oxygen delivery (via blood flow) and extraction system (via capilarization) helps the cell oxidize (burn) fat more efficiently.
2) An enhanced sensitivity of muscle and fat cells to epinephrine leads to an improved release of fatty acids (disassembled triglycerides from their glycerol backbone structure) into the blood and within the muscle (where fat is in its triglyceride storage form).
3) An augmented circulatory blood flow system aids in the delivery of fatty acids to the muscle to be used as fuel.
4) An improvement in the specialized protein transporters that move the fatty acids into the muscle cell, thus making the fat more readily available for fuel.
5) An increase in the amount of fatty acids allowed to enter the muscle, which thus makes more fat available for fuel.
6) A meaningful increase in the number and size of the mitochondrion. The mitochondrion is the only place in a cell where fat is oxidized. It is the cell’s ‘fat burning furnace.’
7) Finally, an increase in the oxidative enzymes that ‘speed up’ the break down of fatty acids molecules to be used during aerobic exercise.
Thus, an important take home message to regularly tell all students and clients is that consistent, progressively challenging aerobic exercise will truly develop their body’s to be much better ‘fat burners’.

squirrelzzrule22

I've lost a boatload of fat from running. Go watch a marathon and tell me those runners are fat. The tone of this article really irritated me- this person sounded so holier than thou. Maybe I'm reading into but it really rubbed me the wrong way.

I believe strength training is very important for getting a fit body. But running is wonderful for you and runners are not fat because of running. I feel stupid even typing that.

Anecdotal evidence, sure, but training for two half marathons has significantly leaned me out, decreased my fat, eliminated cellulite on my butt. And that was with extremely little strength training because I haven't be diligent enough to get into a good program. I have more energy than ever, have lost about 15lbs during training, have been able to eat and drink heartily, and have much more toned looking legs.

I love running and I dislike this article.

Edit to add: maybe his Jessica character used her diligent running as an excuse to eat like crap? I do know many "cardio bunnies" (I hate that term but it seems to be what the article is describing) make that mistake.

meerkat70

When I read this article at first I thought it was just for those women who do a ton of cardio/running becasue of the 20 hour a week comment. But I read some of the comments below and it seems like the author is saying running is bad . Here is the comment:


Poster:


You refer to hours of running per day. What about someone who runs 30 min a day a few times a week, or even 30-40 min every day? Some of your language suggests running is out completely for women, but then you describe what most women would consider extreme workout schedules. Is your point more that women shouldn't over-do it with cardio? Can you be more specific about how much running is too much and could cause these kinds of negative results?


Author:
From the research, a few times per week at less than 30 minutes should not have as heavy of an impact, but you're riding a fine line here and there are gaps in the research. So I can't answer this fully. If you find you can run 2 times per week at this intensity and it has no effect on you whatsoever and you're happy with how you look, keep doing it. If, however, you're using this activity to achieve a body that you desire or to increase your health, then ditch it. It's not helping your cause.


So basically if you run a few (2-3) times a week less than 30 mins you are fine (maybe), but anymore it will be negative. So it is not just someone who is running 20 hours a week. I have been running for 7 months. I have lost a lot of weight and my butt is smaller and is looking a lot better. I just started to incorporate weight lifting (4 weeks now). I am going to keep running, because I love it. It makes me happy:)

Could you provide evidence that running doesn't help with health - specifically evidence on cardio and bowel health, and on arthritis....?

I am sorry but I dont understand what you are asking me. I do think that running or cardio helps with a lot of health problems. I was just providing an example of a comment on the article and what the author of the article replied to that person. I think the article is BS personally.

Apologies, I wasn't writing clearly. I meant a generic 'you', not you personally. And my question was triggered by this point:
" If, however, you're using this activity to achieve a body that you desire or to increase your health, then ditch it. It's not helping your cause." (I.e the claim that running does not improve health)

Azdak

More information on the effects of aerobic fitness on fat burning.

source: http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/fatfacts.html

Does Aerobic Exercise Actually Make You a Better ‘Fat Burner’?
Horowitz and Klein (2000) indicate that a number of physiological and metabolic adaptations occur with cardiovascular exercise that distinctively enhance fat metabolism, including the following:
1) An increased oxygen delivery (via blood flow) and extraction system (via capilarization) helps the cell oxidize (burn) fat more efficiently.
2) An enhanced sensitivity of muscle and fat cells to epinephrine leads to an improved release of fatty acids (disassembled triglycerides from their glycerol backbone structure) into the blood and within the muscle (where fat is in its triglyceride storage form).
3) An augmented circulatory blood flow system aids in the delivery of fatty acids to the muscle to be used as fuel.
4) An improvement in the specialized protein transporters that move the fatty acids into the muscle cell, thus making the fat more readily available for fuel.
5) An increase in the amount of fatty acids allowed to enter the muscle, which thus makes more fat available for fuel.
6) A meaningful increase in the number and size of the mitochondrion. The mitochondrion is the only place in a cell where fat is oxidized. It is the cell’s ‘fat burning furnace.’
7) Finally, an increase in the oxidative enzymes that ‘speed up’ the break down of fatty acids molecules to be used during aerobic exercise.
Thus, an important take home message to regularly tell all students and clients is that consistent, progressively challenging aerobic exercise will truly develop their body’s to be much better ‘fat burners’.

I may be jumping in at the wrong point in this back-and-forth. That is the classic rationale behind the "fat burning zone" theory. It's important to remember that those "fat burning" adaptations apply mainly to doing aerobic exercise. Meaning that they are an adaptation that allows for CHO sparing and thus improves performance. Those adaptations do not enhance the permanent loss of stored body fat.

DaniH826

I choose to not run because I simply don't like it, and I'm not going to force myself to run in the name of "fitness". There's other ways. Such as walking, which I actually enjoy. And kickboxing. And riding my bike.

However, if you enjoy running, then run. But you should also, in balance, incorporate strength training and not make running the be-all, is-all of what you're doing to gain fitness. Because running only teaches you to run and makes you better at running and nothing else. Overall fitness consists of speed, strength, endurance, and flexibility among other things, and a well-designed exercise program will incorporate and train all of those in some way (maybe not at the Crossfit level, but certainly at some level). A strength training program will enhance your running, and vice versa. Whatever you do to challenge your body, will positively show itself in other areas also. That's why I do strength training and yoga, for example, with some light cardio on the side. It's win-win. Choose things that complement each other, but try and pick something that you actually enjoy doing or you won't stick with it.

I think you runners should run if you enjoy it. But don't let it be the only thing you do. Common sense should tell you that, really, if you're approaching things from an actual fitness angle.

milzu

The issue I have with this cardio vs weights thing is this:

Running for the same amount of time, at the same pace month after month will not produce results, any more than lifting weights for the same number of reps at the same weight month after month will not produce results. There's no challenge! Neither debunks cardio or weights as legitmate exercise.

Now running further, faster, produces results. Lifting heavier, produces results. If that's what you're after.

If you love moving your body and giving your dog some exercise (which is why I run), there's nothing wrong with that. If you love a strong healthy lean body, which is I why I lift heavy, ain't nothing wrong with that either (even though I don't enjoy it).

scottb81

More information on the effects of aerobic fitness on fat burning.

source: http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article folder/fatfacts.html

Does Aerobic Exercise Actually Make You a Better ‘Fat Burner’?
Horowitz and Klein (2000) indicate that a number of physiological and metabolic adaptations occur with cardiovascular exercise that distinctively enhance fat metabolism, including the following:
1) An increased oxygen delivery (via blood flow) and extraction system (via capilarization) helps the cell oxidize (burn) fat more efficiently.
2) An enhanced sensitivity of muscle and fat cells to epinephrine leads to an improved release of fatty acids (disassembled triglycerides from their glycerol backbone structure) into the blood and within the muscle (where fat is in its triglyceride storage form).
3) An augmented circulatory blood flow system aids in the delivery of fatty acids to the muscle to be used as fuel.
4) An improvement in the specialized protein transporters that move the fatty acids into the muscle cell, thus making the fat more readily available for fuel.
5) An increase in the amount of fatty acids allowed to enter the muscle, which thus makes more fat available for fuel.
6) A meaningful increase in the number and size of the mitochondrion. The mitochondrion is the only place in a cell where fat is oxidized. It is the cell’s ‘fat burning furnace.’
7) Finally, an increase in the oxidative enzymes that ‘speed up’ the break down of fatty acids molecules to be used during aerobic exercise.
Thus, an important take home message to regularly tell all students and clients is that consistent, progressively challenging aerobic exercise will truly develop their body’s to be much better ‘fat burners’.

I may be jumping in at the wrong point in this back-and-forth. That is the classic rationale behind the "fat burning zone" theory. It's important to remember that those "fat burning" adaptations apply mainly to doing aerobic exercise. Meaning that they are an adaptation that allows for CHO sparing and thus improves performance. Those adaptations do not enhance the permanent loss of stored body fat.

I do it primarily for marathon training for the reason you listed. However, it seems to me that in the long term it would be easier to maintain weight if the body is primarily processing energy this way. It probably isn't a good weight loss strategy since the adaptations take a long time and a lot of work that most people aren't capable of if they need to lose a lot of weight.

nicarey19

When I read this article at first I thought it was just for those women who do a ton of cardio/running becasue of the 20 hour a week comment. But I read some of the comments below and it seems like the author is saying running is bad . Here is the comment:


Poster:


You refer to hours of running per day. What about someone who runs 30 min a day a few times a week, or even 30-40 min every day? Some of your language suggests running is out completely for women, but then you describe what most women would consider extreme workout schedules. Is your point more that women shouldn't over-do it with cardio? Can you be more specific about how much running is too much and could cause these kinds of negative results?


Author:
From the research, a few times per week at less than 30 minutes should not have as heavy of an impact, but you're riding a fine line here and there are gaps in the research. So I can't answer this fully. If you find you can run 2 times per week at this intensity and it has no effect on you whatsoever and you're happy with how you look, keep doing it. If, however, you're using this activity to achieve a body that you desire or to increase your health, then ditch it. It's not helping your cause.


So basically if you run a few (2-3) times a week less than 30 mins you are fine (maybe), but anymore it will be negative. So it is not just someone who is running 20 hours a week. I have been running for 7 months. I have lost a lot of weight and my butt is smaller and is looking a lot better. I just started to incorporate weight lifting (4 weeks now). I am going to keep running, because I love it. It makes me happy:)

Could you provide evidence that running doesn't help with health - specifically evidence on cardio and bowel health, and on arthritis....?

I am sorry but I dont understand what you are asking me. I do think that running or cardio helps with a lot of health problems. I was just providing an example of a comment on the article and what the author of the article replied to that person. I think the article is BS personally.

Apologies, I wasn't writing clearly. I meant a generic 'you', not you personally. And my question was triggered by this point:
" If, however, you're using this activity to achieve a body that you desire or to increase your health, then ditch it. It's not helping your cause." (I.e the claim that running does not improve health)

Oh no worries! we are on the same page on this one. Anyone can go around claiming anything they want, but they need to have proof to back it up. And just because some article says I should stop running I am not going to. It has benefited me a lot. Why would I stop? Have a great day!

justrun52

Oh please, running is fantastic exercise. You should do it if you are able to and also enjoy it. Strength training is also important. I am a big runner, and run up mountain trails, on the sidewalk, and occasionally on the treadmill. I always feel on top of the world when I finish a run. It builds your lungs, strengthens your heart, and is good exercise to help prevent osteoporosis. If you don't believe me, then Google it.

Personally, I feel that someone who is looking for confirmation that running, biking, lifting weights, or any other type of exercise is bad for you, is just tying to get out of that guilty feeling for not wanting to do it. (OP, this is not you, I'm just saying).

dedicated2014

I used to run several miles a day. I'm actually trying to get back into this habit, because I liked how my body looked and felt. I WAS toned and fit. I dropped several pants sizes just from running. But I did other workouts, too, and I walked everywhere when I wasn't running.

I also have hypothyroidism, but these two things are not related. My doctor told me that I had probably been hypothyroid for years prior to diagnosis. In fact, once I started taking thyroid hormone replacement, I dropped EVEN MORE weight while I was running. And, for once, I could actually build muscle (something that I couldn't do with low thyroid levels). I had more energy, which meant I could work out more.

The idea that running can cause thyroid issues is nonsense. Are you going to find some unhappy runners at the gym that just can't burn off the fat because they have thyroid issues? Sure. But there's plenty of runners at the gym that don't have thyroid issues, too.

bearkisses

i read this article previously and it totally bummed me out. we have to always remember that we are SMART, smart enough to know that running really can be helpful, that coconut water is good for us, that taking the stairs does add up.

every little bit helps, and i think abandonning the idea of running is so silly. thank you so much for bringing it up in here!!