Running for weight loss: a simple guide

If you want to lose weight, exercise helps a lot in increasing the amount of calories you burn. One of the best choices for this is running. In this article, you can learn how, how many times and when to run to make fat burning go easier.

The connection between weight loss and exercise

By increasing the amount of movement and activity we do in a day, we can significantly support our weight loss goals and speed up the pace. With exercise, we burn energy, so if in addition to that we pay attention to our nutrition, we can easily get into an energy-deficient state, meaning that we will be burning more calories than the amount with consume with food.

As your body will still need those missing calories you aren’t ingesting, it will start breaking down the fat stored in order to use it as a source of energy.

This requires a proper diet because, if we don’t have the proper nutrition to protect our muscle mass, we can easily start breaking down our muscles as a source of energy instead of using the stored fat in the body. That is why fasting, for example, is not good either if not done responsibly.

The quality and quantity of exercise also affects the extent and type of weight loss. During aerobic movements over a long period of time, most of the energy used will be fat. While strengthening workouts, like weightlifting at the gym, make us toned and help us maintaining muscle mass, which is important because good quality muscle mass requires more energy and will improve our metabolism. In other words, more muscular people have an advantage when it comes to staying lean!

During the run, depending on its intensity, we can burn 400-800 kcal per hour. With a slower jog, 400 kcal is realistic, while with intervals, accelerations and sprints, we can burn up to 800 kcal in one hour. As consequence, losing weight by running is definitely a realistic goal, but only with a diet that has been put together properly, intense workouts and good endurance!

Maximize weight loss by combining different running workouts

High intensity running

Here, the heart rate is high; the body meets its energy needs mainly from carbohydrates, and from protein and fats to a lesser extent. It is the same with sprinting, although it depends on your stamina. This type of training cannot be done for too long, but it is extremely useful for increasing endurance.

Low intensity running

You can maintain this for a longer period of time, and your body mainly uses fat as energy. In terms of heart rate, it is lower here, working at approximately 60% intensity. Based on this, low-intensity training may seem like the best method, but it’s also important to know that you burn a lot more calories with a higher-intensity workout, so even though the percentage of fat consumed is lower, it can burn as much as a low-intensity workout.

For example, if you burn 800 kcal in one hour with high intensity and only 15% of it is fat, 120 kcal, and only 300 kcal in one hour with low intensity, 40% of which is fat, which is also 120 kcal.

It is worth alternating the two types of running during each workout in order to improve endurance, develop metabolic processes and adapt to the new rhythm of life. It is also worth incorporating 1-2 high intensity workouts a week with up to 2-3 lower intensity jogging. From this article, you can learn that constant lower heart rate or interval training is more effective for burning fat.

6 tips for an effective weight loss with running

1. Find the ideal heart rate during running

If you are a novice runner, it is a good idea to get a heart rate monitor so that you can monitor both your condition and your progress during regular exercise. At first, try to work at 60-70% intensity, which could simply be a paced walk rather than a run. To calculate the intensity, subtract your age from 220 and then multiply that by the intensity percentage. So, for example, if you want to work at 60% at age 40, then 220-40 = 180, of which 60% will be 108 and 70% will be 126. As you get used to exercising, you can maintain the same heart rate over time and with more intense exercise. If you are more trained, you can go for a higher heart rate.

2. Try interval running training

In essence, interval training means the variation of intensities according to different methods. For example, you could run 100m fast, then you walk 100m and repeat this 10x. So the intense phase and the rest phase alternate. On a treadmill, you can also train by walking uphill at a forced pace, with a two-step raised arm for 5 minutes, then walking on a plane for 2 minutes and repeating this several times. It is not completely recommended for beginners, however, but if you have been training for a while, you can even do it overweight or if you want to improve your stamina. It makes your workout much more varied.

3. Do strength trainings

Strengthening your muscles is important in many ways when you want to lose weight. On the one hand, in order to maintain your metabolism it is important to maintain your muscles, in which strength training is the biggest help; and on the other hand, you will only be toned and have a nice shape if you also do this type of training. In addition, it is important for maintaining and developing a proper posture, while also strengthening the joints.

4. Supplement to avoid muscle breakdown

A few lines before, you could read that the body easily reaches for muscle proteins in order to meet its energy needs. Thus, ideal body weight does not necessarily mean ideal body composition, although the latter is really important for health! The breakdown of muscle proteins can be prevented with proper nutrition, for which dietary supplements will be of great help to you. If you can’t get the amount of protein you need from solid foods, eat a protein shake, e.g. Iso Whey Zero, and amino acids (EAA Zero) in order to keep your muscle mass going! Iso Tonic can also help you with higher intensity workouts, replacing the minerals and trace elements that are lost during sports, and magnesium and zinc supplementation are especially important. When you crave sweets, you can also cleverly consume them with useful nutrients, with the Protein Bar for example!

5. Have a weekly training plan

When setting a goal for yourself, it is important to see the individual steps you need to follow to reach it. Carefully plan how you want to progress and develop while running. You can even write that the running should be 500m in the first week; while by the 8th week it should be 4km. But you can also compile the content of interval workouts, so you are less likely to get bored or quit, as the task and goal are given! Not having a plan is one of the most common mistakes beginner runners make, so make sure you won’t be one of them.

6. Recovery is important

Remember, not only proper training and nutrition, but also rest is a key element for development. It is important that you pay attention to your sleep, which should be of the right duration and quality. You may need to consciously get used to new sleeping habits and you can find a number of breathing exercises and relaxation materials online to help you. Try to avoid stress and the hormonal changes that come with it, as these can greatly affect your weight loss results.

Weekly running training plan for weight loss

Week 1:

• Monday: 20 minutes faster walk

• Tuesday: Rest day

• Wednesday: 30 minutes faster walk

• Thursday: Rest day

• Friday: 4 minutes walk and 1 minute jogging in 4 rounds (20 minutes altogether)

• Saturday: 30 minutes faster walk

• Sunday: rest day

• Monday: 5x (4 minutes walk + 1 minute jogging)

• Tuesday: Rest day

• Wednesday: 6x (3 minutes walk + 1 minute jogging)

• Thursday: Rest day

• Friday: 7x (2 minutes walk + 1 minute jogging)

• Saturday: 30 minutes faster walk

• Sunday: Rest day

• Monday: 7x (2 minutes walk, 2 minutes jogging)

• Tuesday: 20 minutes faster walk

• Wednesday: 9x (1 minutes walk, 2 minutes jogging)

• Thursday: Rest day

• Friday: 7x (3 minutes walk, 1 minute faster jogging/slow run)

• Saturday: 30 minutes faster walk

• Sunday: Rest day

• Monday: 6x (1 minute walk, 3 minutes jogging)

• Tuesday: 35 minutes faster walk

• Wednesday: 6x (1 minute walk, 4 minutes jogging)

• Thursday: Rest day

• Friday: 15-20 minutes slower jogging, then 15 minutes walk

• Saturday: 30 minutes faster walk

• Sunday: Rest day

Week 2:

• Monday: 5x (4 minutes walk + 1 minute jogging)

• Tuesday: Rest day

• Wednesday: 6x (3 minutes walk + 1 minute jogging)

• Thursday: Rest day

• Friday: 7x (2 minutes walk + 1 minute jogging)

• Saturday: 30 minutes faster walk

• Sunday: Rest day

Week 3:

• Monday: 7x (2 minutes walk, 2 minutes jogging)

• Tuesday: 20 minutes faster walk

• Wednesday: 9x (1 minutes walk, 2 minutes jogging)

• Thursday: Rest day

• Friday: 7x (3 minutes walk, 1 minute faster jogging/slow run)

• Saturday: 30 minutes faster walk

• Sunday: Rest day

Week 4:

• Monday: 6x (1 minute walk, 3 minutes jogging)

• Tuesday: 35 minutes faster walk

• Wednesday: 6x (1 minute walk, 4 minutes jogging)

• Thursday: Rest day

• Friday: 15-20 minutes slower jogging, then 15 minutes walk

• Saturday: 30 minutes faster walk

• Sunday: Rest day