I am running faster BUT...

sometimes i play what i call the "HRM game". I'll sprint to get my heart rate up as high as i can for as long as i can stand it, then drop to a fast walk, then a slow walk and let my heart rate get down. The whole "game" is not to let my heart rate get under a certain # (for me it's 130). The bursts of energy you use during the sprint intervals will burn some calories!

At the gym I go to they have a weighted vest type thing that I've seen people running in, it doesn't look comfy, but they look like they are working hard. LOL.

Run up hills. Presto!!! Higher cal burn.

Congrats on the running!

You're getting stronger, lungs and heart are getting better at passing oxygen, etc., etc. so your hard work is paying off.

Ways to burn more cals?

Run further - I'm getting back to where 6 miles is my short run (I damaged my Achilles so I had to rest for three weeks).

Run with more weight - we tromped around with 50+ pounds in our rucksack when I was in the Army. That is "good training" (especially when you carry an M60 machine gun!) but a little heavy for civilians. Now, I have a civilian backpack and I put a big can of tomatoes (from CostCo) in it.

Another alternative is to run with a water pack. I bought a "fuel belt" and a "water belt" manufactured by Nathan. Got them on Amazon and they're worth every penny. I bought a Camelbak 70 oz bladder in place of the Nathan bladder. 70 oz of H2O = 70 oz that you're adding but you're also bringing your water along with you. Here in Southern California, I need the water on runs > 6 miles.

Run hills - going up is builds muscle though coming down can be hard on your knees.

I have been running for a few months now and I have gotten a lot faster these last few weeks... today I ran my personal 5k best of 28:58. Now The real question here is...I am going faster..but burning LESS calories!

When I was running 10 min miles I was burning around 345 calories.

Now that I am running 8-9 min miles, I am averaging around 330 calories.

I use a Polar FT4 HRM and I even adjusted the user settings to meet my lbs lost thinking that May have been it...buuuut...

So advanced fitness gurus.. What Do I have to do (besides running further lol) to burn more calories?!?! I am not completely upset about it since I run for hobby now instead of strictly fitness, but I would still like to know whats going on here.

The fitter you are, the more efficiently your body uses energy.

To burn more calories, you will either have to train for longer or fasten up the pace.

I have been running for a few months now and I have gotten a lot faster these last few weeks... today I ran my personal 5k best of 28:58. Now The real question here is...I am going faster..but burning LESS calories!

When I was running 10 min miles I was burning around 345 calories.

Now that I am running 8-9 min miles, I am averaging around 330 calories.

I use a Polar FT4 HRM and I even adjusted the user settings to meet my lbs lost thinking that May have been it...buuuut...

So advanced fitness gurus.. What Do I have to do (besides running further lol) to burn more calories?!?! I am not completely upset about it since I run for hobby now instead of strictly fitness, but I would still like to know whats going on here.

I am approximating this based on your ticker and your reported running times.

The decrease in calories is due to your decreased body weight. You have increased your speed, but not enough to account for the decrease in body wt.

Again, based on your numbers:

Running 10 min mile: 5K time 31:08, Intensity: 10.2 METs; Weight (est) 75 Kg (165 lb) --total burn 395 calories.

Running 28.58 5K : Pace ~9:20 per mile. Intensity 10.8 METs; Weight (est) 65 kg (143 lb) -- total burn 337 calories

It often happens that weight loss occurs faster than increases in fitness level. If you continued to train and improve, eventually you should speed up to the point where you will equal your previous burn.

Hi Azdak,

Does it mean that its a baseless argument when some people say that if you continue to do the same exercise, body gets used to it and burn less and less calories (given the same weight, and same intensity of exercises e.g. run). Just asking out of curiosity

Thanks.

I have been running for a few months now and I have gotten a lot faster these last few weeks... today I ran my personal 5k best of 28:58. Now The real question here is...I am going faster..but burning LESS calories!

When I was running 10 min miles I was burning around 345 calories.

Now that I am running 8-9 min miles, I am averaging around 330 calories.

I use a Polar FT4 HRM and I even adjusted the user settings to meet my lbs lost thinking that May have been it...buuuut...

So advanced fitness gurus.. What Do I have to do (besides running further lol) to burn more calories?!?! I am not completely upset about it since I run for hobby now instead of strictly fitness, but I would still like to know whats going on here.

I am approximating this based on your ticker and your reported running times.

The decrease in calories is due to your decreased body weight. You have increased your speed, but not enough to account for the decrease in body wt.

Again, based on your numbers:

Running 10 min mile: 5K time 31:08, Intensity: 10.2 METs; Weight (est) 75 Kg (165 lb) --total burn 395 calories.

Running 28.58 5K : Pace ~9:20 per mile. Intensity 10.8 METs; Weight (est) 65 kg (143 lb) -- total burn 337 calories

It often happens that weight loss occurs faster than increases in fitness level. If you continued to train and improve, eventually you should speed up to the point where you will equal your previous burn.

Hi Azdak,

Does it mean that its a baseless argument when some people say that if you continue to do the same exercise, body gets used to it and burn less and less calories (given the same weight, and same intensity of exercises e.g. run). Just asking out of curiosity

Thanks.

Yeah, pretty much. It's an argument that fails on two levels: One, we do not become that much more efficient mechanically--even professionals who train hours a day only achieve 5% or less improvements in efficiency over years of training. There might be more substantial changes over, say, 10 years of running, but that's not what people are usually referrning to.

Two, the assumption is that, even though you are training and exercising and improving, you will never increase you workload. From a practical standpoint, that's kind of absurd. I mean if you were running at 6 mph 4 times a week for 3-4 months, would you never increase to, say 6.2 mph? Of course you would--that's the whole reason you are exercising.

So the small increses in mechanical efficiency are easily offset (and more) by just increasing your workload.

What actually happens is that, over time, people gradually restore a balance in their lifestyle. They start eating more, doing less casual activity, etc. But they keep hearing Tony Horton and other goofs yelling 'muscle confusion" every 5 min and start to believe it.

Now you WILL see a calorie decrease if you lose weight, and if you lose a lot of weight relatively quickly, then you might not be able to increase your fitness level fast enough to compensate.

I lost 60 lbs in 5 months. Within the first month, I had gotten my endurance and fitness up to where I could run for 60 min on the treadmill. I was just starting to lose the weight. I set a "record" of burning 1000 in 51:45 running on the treadmill. After I lost a lot of weight, I found it a struggle to get 1000 calories in under 53 minutre, even though I was running a lot faster. It took almost a year to get my fitness level up to where I was running fast enough to break the 51 minute barrier--by then my running speed was at least 1.5 mph faster than when I had set the previous record.