Running is a good way of losing weight, especially because it suppresses hunger and appetite, helps you burn calories, and burns even more calories once you stop working out.
The quest for weight loss is more popular today, with many people being increasingly concerned about their health and being fit for the beauty industry. Studies also support that running is an effective way to lose weight and burn calories, even without making major changes in your diet. What’s more, there are many ways to make running more interesting, which is why it is sustainable in the long run and quite effective for burning body and belly fat. Have you ever wondered how running helps you lose weight? Keep reading this article to understand running and weight loss from a different but critical perspective.
Type of running
First things fast, let’s explore the types of runs there are before examining how the exercise helps you shake extra weight. There are many types of runs, basically including;
- Base runs: are also called normal runs and involve running for about 10 km at preferred speed and pace.
- Long runs: are more like base runs but are done over longer distances, typically 15- 20 km, to make you fitter and more enduring.
- Interval runs: involve running over short repeated distances with short breaks in between and are meant to boost your stamina and strengthen your running power and speed. For instance, you could do 5x 0.5 miles while taking 400 m breaks, during which your run slowly.
- Hill runs: are more like interval runs but involve hill repeats and are meant to work out your stamina and running speed and strength. For instance, 10×1- minute hill repeats defines typical hill runs.
- Recovery runs: follow harder runs (like hill repeats) and are meant to help you recover and build your running distance. For instance, you could do a 4-minute slow run (or of your preferred speed) after hill repeats.
- Progression runs: imitate athletic competitions and involve running slowly as you start and building your moment to finish with the fastest pace. For instance, you could run 8 miles slowly and 1 mile intensively to reduce fatigue and build on your running strength and endurance.
You burn more calories by running
Weight loss occurs when you burn more calories than you take, and exercises help one achieve that. However, running is a more effective exercise because it helps your burn more calories than other forms of exercise. As such, you need to focus more on high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that’s inclusive of running to make weight loss more effective, and studies support this.
For instance, one study showed that those who run for 1, 600m on a treadmill or tracks burn 33 or 35 calories, respectively, more than those walking the same distance on the same gym equipment. While this may seem negligible, running 10 miles (16,000m) on the equipment burns 330- 350 calories more than walking, which is significant in the weight loss quest. Other studies, including a Harvard University report, also back these findings and found that by running for 30 minutes at a speed of 10 km per hour, a 70 kg person could lose as much as 360- 372 calories. This is more than the same calories people on intensive martial arts or swimming exercises can lose, showing how effective running is in losing weight.
Running continues burning calories even after you quit the exercise
Exercises and workouts are essential for weight loss, but those that help you lose calories even after working out are more effective. Running is one such exercise that will burn calories even after quitting it. As such, it is said to have a high afterburn effect. In fact, studies show that running has a high afterburn effect and will continue burning calories 48 hours after quitting because it takes more calories to help the many muscles involved in running recover. Furthermore, the effects are more far-reaching when you do harder runs like interval or hill runs that allow you to lose as much as 190 calories after running.
Running suppresses hunger and appetite
The other reason why running is an effective exercise you need to lose weight is that it suppresses appetite and hunger after working out. This bypasses some eating patterns that involve reducing portions or changing foods that prove counterproductive when you feel hungrier and crave for more food, jeopardizing weight loss. Although the exact reason behind this observation remains mysterious, studies suggest that endurance exercise like running boosts satiety hormone peptide YY (PYY) while suppressing ghrelin, the hunger hormone. For instance, one study compared the ghrelin and PYY levels in those running for 60 minutes, doing HIIT for 90 minutes, and those doing no exercise at all. The first 2 groups suppressed ghrelin while only running increased PYY levels. Contrastingly, those doing no exercise experienced no change in their hormonal levels.
moderate-to-high intensity runs help cut belly fats
Belly fats are an indicator of poor health, especially because they are directly linked to increased risks of diabetes type 2, heart problems, and other chronic lifestyle conditions. As such, it is critical to work out to eliminate them the soonest. Studies show that taking part in moderate-to-high intensity running helps you shake off belly fats without necessarily changing your diet. Although cardio and related exercises can also help you lose body and belly fats, studies agree that high-intensity running has more far-reaching effects and will help you shake off more weight. In fact, high intensity running at least 3 times a week also helps healthy people to lose body fat.
Conclusion
Running is one of the most effective ways to lose weight and keep it just where you want it. There are many reasons behind this, including the fact that running burns more calories than other exercises, continues burning calories after working out because of the high afterburn effect, targets body and belly fats, and suppresses hunger and appetite. Running at least 3 times in intensive exercises helps you realize the effects faster. The article has explored the types of runs available, and you can check which one works best for you as you proceed to high-intensity runs to boost your running speed, power, endurance, and stamina.
In today's world, people's eating and exercise patterns have changed, and it is often lifestyle that is the cause of many diet-related illnesses. I believe that each of us is unique – what works for one does not help another. What is more, it can even be harmful. I am interested in food psychology, which studies a person's relationship with their body and food, explains our choices and desires for specific products, the difficulty of maintaining optimal body weight, as well as the influence of various internal and external factors on appetite. I'm also an avid vintage car collector, and currently, I'm working on my 1993 W124 Mercedes. You may have stumbled upon articles I have been featured in, for example, in Cosmopolitan, Elle, Grazia, Women's Health, The Guardian, and others.
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