Running for fat (and weight) loss

annabfit86
annabfit86 Posts: 2 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone,
I've been working out since I was 14 (now I'm 26) and I've always loved going to the gym. I've recently switched from doing mostly weights and elliptical to running on the treadmill a few times per week. However, when I started I was doing lots of intense interval training (3 minutes jogging, 5.2 mph, 1 minute running 7.5-8.5mph). I have noted improvement in my cardiovascular abilities, and my legs are very muscular but the extra fat around my midsection is stubborn. I was wondering if there's a better way of working out to burn off the fat, perhaps a more steady, endurance jogging workout? What have your experiences been with using a treadmill to burn fat? Thanks in advance for any suggestions! :smile:

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Replies

  • RuthieCass
    RuthieCass Posts: 247 Member
    Best way to burn fat is by eating less. Your diet is going to matter a heck of a lot more than any exercise. Make sure you are counting calories correctly (use a food scale), eating enough protein (1-1.5 grams per lb of LBM), and are losing at a slower pace. Generally slower weight loss allows you to lose a higher percentage of fat and less muscle (of course, this depends on how much weight you have to lose). The leaner you are, the easier it is to burn muscle instead of fat.

    Different exercises have different benefits and drawbacks.

    Slow, steady-state (SS) cardio burns the the highest *percentage* of fat but the least amount of calories. But an hour of slow SS cardio won't burn the *most* fat, in comparison to an hour of higher intensity cardio or intervals. So it would take you a longer time to burn the same amount of fat doing slow, slow SS cardio than it would doing the other types of cardio. I wouldn't recommend much slow SS cardio for the purposes of fat loss since it is pretty inefficient.

    Weight lifting wont burn much fat, but it will help you to lose less muscle when you are eating at a deficit.

    Some people advocate hard for HIIT because it is relatively efficient and because of the "afterburn" effect. If you are pressed for time, HIIT can be good since it should be less than 20 minutes long and be done no more than 3X per week. They are intense and you need to give your body time to recover. Anyone who says you can do it longer/more frequently is not doing HIIT correctly. Regardless of whether or not most people do HIIT correctly, the afterburn effects are largely exaggerated. It's also not very enjoyable. Not saying they are a bad workout-I do HIIT once a week- but HIIT is a bit overblown, IMO.

    Medium intensity cardio might be the best option, IMO. You can do such cardio up to 5-6 times a week, for however long you are able to without overtraining. You don't need to worry much about recovery, as you do with HIIT. Unless you are on a very tight weekly schedule, I'd suggest more of this over HIIT.

    Typically, I do 4 cardio sessions per week: 1 longer slower (but still medium intensity) run, 1 medium length & medium intensity run, one short HIIT routine, and one circuit routine. But even on the slower run, I try to push myself to my limits. If it starts to feel easy, I know that I should run a bit faster next time (doesn't usually happen since I always plan an increase in pace weekly). I also do a short weight session 3X per week just to maintain muscle as I lose weight.
  • Jynus
    Jynus Posts: 519 Member
    Weight lifting wont burn much fat, but it will help you to lose less muscle when you are eating at a deficit.
    so if you're retaining muscle, whats being lost instead????
  • annabfit86
    annabfit86 Posts: 2 Member
    Thanks for all the helpful tips RuthieCass! I've been monitoring what I'm eating pretty carefully to control calorie intake and I actually eat more than the recommended daily amount of protein, so I'm good there :) \

    I have been doing mostly medium intensity cardio sessions lately on the treadmill, warming up at 3.5mph walk, and starting with a jog (5.2mph on 1.0 incline), alternating between that and more of a run-jog (5.8-6.2 mph on 2.0-3.0 incline). I can maintain this for 35-40 min before I start feeling really tired. I will try incorporating the SS cardio once per week and one cardio session per week as well. I go to the gym 4-5 times per week on average, so I should be able to fit it all in and maybe lift weights once per week to maintain muscle. I'm pretty well muscled already so I wouldn't mind leaning out a bit, but only AFTER I trim the fat more. I bought a scale that says I'm currently at 22% body fat and 39% muscle.

    Let's see how this goes! Thanks again.
  • Chuckempire
    Chuckempire Posts: 44
    This has worked great for me along with a healthy low cal diet.


    1. Can be anytime of the day, but 3 or more hours after a meal.
    2. Caffeine (100-200mg) or Yohimbe HCL (0.2mg/kg), Tryosine 1-3 grams 30 mins before exercise
    3. 5 min easy warmup
    4. 10-20 min intervalls ( run at %75-%85 max for 1 min then walk/jog %35 max for 1 min)
    5. Stop and take a 5 min rest This will allow the fatty acids (fat) to mobalize into the bloodstream so that the fat can be burned off in the steady state cardio. I usually do a stretch during this rest time.
    6. 20-40 mins of steady state cardio at %40 of max
    7. done and can eat something light afterwards.
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