Should we runners not run?

Exercising and a caloric deficit will not result in weight gain, ever whether you have a thyroid issue or not because that is not how the laws of thermodynamics work.

Um, this is false. Hypothyroidism doesn't care about exercise and caloric deficit. It cares about getting some Synthroid to get things right again. Also, I have nfi if running and similar cardio can mess up your thyroid. We didn't learn about that in medical school so I'm a bit suspicious. Oh, and running is so hard I can't stand it. Sometimes I think "I hate runners, they're so annoying" but then I realize I'm just jealous.

I'm curious about...

Training consistently at 65 percent or more of your max heart rate adapts your body to save as much body fat as possible.

In my mind, this is speaking to the heart rate training zones and I've been struggling with that concept lately. Working at 60-70% of my sex-adjusted maximum heart rate, which supposedly burns the most fat, just doesn't feel like I'm working hard enough.

And what does the author mean by "consistently"? I'm not a runner, but I do a stationary bike and a treadmill for 45-60 minutes (combined) 5-6 days a week. I know it's not the 20 hours a week that he's talking about so I'm just wondering if it relates.

I just love all these "women should not" articles.

Who let you out of the house?

Women should never leave...

I think all this article is saying is that far too much focus is placed on cardio in general and running specifically. I myself run...but I don't run steady state cardio for hours and hours every day...you do get to a point of diminishing returns and too much cardio also starts burning into your muscle. Look at marathon runners..are they lean and toned? Not really...they're fit, but they're also "skinny fat" just like pretty much every cardio bunny who neglects to do resistance training.

I've never seen a marathon runner that was skinny fat. They are generally just skinny (low weight and low BF) unless they also do other training.

But I have a cousin who is a marathon runner. She also teaches gymnastics, is a personal trainer and a certified Insanity instructor. She is not skinny fat. I have yet to see anyone on MFP with pics that would rival hers for fitness.

My SIL is a marathon runner...whenever she goes into full marathon training (pretty much all cardio and running miles and miles every week) her BF% goes up a bit and her LBM goes down. When she's done with the race she resumes normal training which involves a decent amount of cardio in combination with weight training...her BF% goes down and she builds LBM and just physically looks better.

Either way, she's fit...I'm not talking about fit...I'm talking about and this article is talking about people who just pound away for hours and hours doing cardio and little else...when they could get far more benefit from a more well rounded routine. You and just about everyone on this thread seem to be missing that point for some reason...and I'm also a runner, so I don't have any beef with cardio. People apparently just read the title of this thread and not the article.

Is running making women into muffin top blobs? Why can't I find any pictures of women marathon runners with huge spare tires that the author here is referring to?

Here's an article by fitness author/trainer Rachel Cosgrove on what running did to her previously lean body:

http://members.rachelcosgrove.com/public/The_Final_Nail_in_the_Cardio_Coffin.cfm

Of course she didn't get a "huge spare tire", but she says her body did indeed change whilst she was training for her first Ironman.

"My body was soft, with no definition, and had definitely changed due to spending the majority of my training in the steady-state aerobic zone — the same "fat burning zone" many books and magazine still talk about.

I was in great shape as far as my endurance and cardiovascular system were concerned, but I had less noticeable muscle tone and didn't have the definition I was used to having in my abs and arms.

Put it this way: I didn't even want to wear a crop top at my race because I didn't have abs, to show. In fact, I felt like I had rolls for the first time ever! My body had started to look like that of a flabby endurance athlete.

I'd lost some muscle and looked soft and flabby, but I was still happy with my performance and thrilled that I accomplished my goal."

Cosgrove gets into the whys and hows of it in the article and goes on to discuss how she regained her previously lean body by first dropping all the steady state cardio and instead doing HIIT or circuit training styled workouts. She dropped the fat and returned to her lean state within about 8 weeks.

Every time I read this, my reaction is: "Well, you must have been following a suck-*kitten* fitness and diet routine, to get those results. How is your failure proof of anything?" Her story is an n=1 anecdote that is interesting, but hardly groundbreaking.

I work with hundreds of people a year. You see all sorts of outcomes--I've had people do almost all steady-state and look firm and lean and I have seen (especially now) dozens of people following Cosgrove-type programs who still look like giant tubs of goo---actually like big bowls of quivering jello from all the jumping around they feel they have to do to be "just like Rachel".

I'm curious about...

Training consistently at 65 percent or more of your max heart rate adapts your body to save as much body fat as possible.

In my mind, this is speaking to the heart rate training zones and I've been struggling with that concept lately. Working at 60-70% of my sex-adjusted maximum heart rate, which supposedly burns the most fat, just doesn't feel like I'm working hard enough.

And what does the author mean by "consistently"? I'm not a runner, but I do a stationary bike and a treadmill for 45-60 minutes (combined) 5-6 days a week. I know it's not the 20 hours a week that he's talking about so I'm just wondering if it relates.

ok - big secret here, so lean in - "fat zone" = shenanigans. Yes, if you are truly in your "fat burning" heart rate zone, a higher percentage of your calories burned will come from fat instead of glycogen stored in your liver. But you know what, that glycogen stored in your liver has to be used or it will turn into fat. And that glycogen has to be replaced anyway, because that's the way we work. But if you exercise at a higher heart rate, you will burn more total calories (including calories from fat), and lose weight faster.

If you're looking to lose weight, do high intensity intervals and strength training, and fuel your workouts (don't under-eat). Strength training builds muscle, and HIIT burns more calories for the time commitment.

If you're looking to build cardiovascular health (and are not at all concerned with weight), cardio at lower intensities (lower aerobic range) builds capillaries better than cardio at higher intensities (anaerobic range). But you won't burn as many calories for the time involved.

Another note - any heart rate zone that you've figured out from a formula involving your age and sex is also likely so far off it's useless. Especially if you're extremely fit, have a heart condition, or are otherwise too far from whatever "average" the formula depends on. My max heart rate, according to my age and gender and the standard formula, should be 187. Meaning anything over that should be quite impossible unless I'm having a cardiac event... Except that I get it over 210 at least once a week, with no ill effects. True, not for very long, and I don't purposely do it, but it's 23 beats off the formula, so the rest of the formula also doesn't work for me.

Instead, use a heart rate monitor and do a pseudo VO2 max test, or a lactic threshold heart rate test, (googles will tell you how), and get your REAL max/anaerobic threshold heart rates. But even if you do that, that won't make sitting in the "Fat burning zone" the most efficient use of your time, it will just give you a better idea of your actual health.

Exercising and a caloric deficit will not result in weight gain, ever whether you have a thyroid issue or not because that is not how the laws of thermodynamics work.

Um, this is false. Hypothyroidism doesn't care about exercise and caloric deficit. It cares about getting some Synthroid to get things right again. Also, I have nfi if running and similar cardio can mess up your thyroid. We didn't learn about that in medical school so I'm a bit suspicious. Oh, and running is so hard I can't stand it. Sometimes I think "I hate runners, they're so annoying" but then I realize I'm just jealous.

No it is not-- my aunt has hypothyroidism and if she gets down to a low enough caloric deficit (it has to be very low so she doesn't do it anymore), she loses weight. There is nothing you can do to your metabolism that will prevent you from losing weight if you are not getting any sustenance. Your body can not create fat if it is not taking in enough material to do so.

That being said...

I enjoy running far more than I have ever enjoyed any other form of exercise. So much so that I really don't view it AS exercise. In my experience the activity you enjoy is the one you will do and do consistently. As I get older I am trying to be more disciplined with regard to resistance training.

My new routine (I will post how it goes) is to run to the local gym, do a focused and intense resistance routine, run home. I can add miles to the run as I adapt but for now it is challenging and fun. I am fortunate to have a decent gym with 24 hour access near my home. I have another gym about 4 miles away which I will run to when I build up my endurance. That will let me integrate 8 mile daily runs with resistance training and get it all done before most people get out of bed. On days when I need to take it easy I can run to the nearer gym.

Sound crazy?

No, that sounds awesome!!

That being said...

I enjoy running far more than I have ever enjoyed any other form of exercise. So much so that I really don't view it AS exercise. In my experience the activity you enjoy is the one you will do and do consistently. As I get older I am trying to be more disciplined with regard to resistance training.

My new routine (I will post how it goes) is to run to the local gym, do a focused and intense resistance routine, run home. I can add miles to the run as I adapt but for now it is challenging and fun. I am fortunate to have a decent gym with 24 hour access near my home. I have another gym about 4 miles away which I will run to when I build up my endurance. That will let me integrate 8 mile daily runs with resistance training and get it all done before most people get out of bed. On days when I need to take it easy I can run to the nearer gym.

Sound crazy?

No! Sounds fabulous! Especially the idea of running to and from the gym--very good use of time!
I love running so I run; I do find that I like my body composition better when I add resistance and strength training work. I was in the best shape of my life last spring when I was doing both half marathon training and focused resistance/strength training work, trying to get back there now.

I just love all these "women should not" articles.

I endorse the sentiment of this post.