Running for weight loss: how and how much you need to run to lose weight

7 rules of running for weight loss

1. Run for more than 40 minutes

The first 40 minutes of running, the body runs on carbohydrates (glycogen is a complex carbohydrate that is stored in liver and muscle cells). And only then there is a transition to the stage of fat burning. That is, to run to lose weight, you need at least 50 minutes at an average pace.

Perhaps this is the first thing you need to know on this topic. If you are a beginner, you are unlikely to be able to master 40 minutes at once. For beginners, we recommend alternating between slow running and fast walking.

For a trained runner, the ideal method of losing weight would be a long run lasting at least an hour, at a monotonous speed, on a pulse not higher than 150 beats / min, which corresponds to running with low intensity.

2. Eat right

You can often hear the phrase: “For you runners, even if you eat a whole cake, everything will burn out in training.” Unfortunately, it is not.

To reduce fat mass, you need to expend more energy than you consumed. This means that any amount of physical activity works for the benefit of fat burning only in combination with proper nutrition.

Download training programs for marathon and half marathon and start training today!

3. Be sure to eat after your workout

Another misconception is that if you starve after a workout, you can burn more calories. If you want to use running for weight loss, don’t starve yourself.

The word “diet” does not always mean fasting, a sports diet is the right set of foods, their combination and quantity, as well as the rejection of junk food: fast food, soda, chips, mayonnaise, flour, sugar, overcooked food, snacks on the go.

Include cereals, fresh vegetables and fruits in your diet. Drink more pure water.

Read more: How many calories do you burn while running?

4. Exercise Regularly

A light run once a week will be pleasant, but in terms of weight loss it will be useless. To get rid of extra pounds, run at least three times a week.

Winter, rain, wind – this is not a reason to cancel training. Now in the sporting goods market there is a huge amount of equipment that allows you to train in any weather.

5. Alternate different types of training

Long runs, high-intensity interval training for the advanced runner, cross-country running, strength exercises from the basic GPP complex – there are many ways to diversify your training. For example, 10 strength exercises for running with video.

6. Enjoy your workouts

Only by enjoying what you are doing, you can quickly achieve results. If every run for you is a psychological and physical torment, then the body will very soon begin to resist this stress, as a result, injuries, depression and invincible laziness are possible.

Favorite music in headphones and bright fashionable equipment usually help to cope with this. Why are you not motivated?

7. Be patient

Having decided to start running to lose weight, you must clearly understand that without harm to health, the process of getting rid of extra pounds takes at least three months.

For each, this period is individual and depends on many factors: the number of extra pounds, metabolic rate, the number of workouts per week, the absorption of nutrients in the body, metabolic disorders, the desire or unwillingness to stick to a diet.

And here are some recommendations on how to run properly in order to lose weight and see the effect of training.

Read on the topic: How to run correctly: long-distance running technique