Surely many have heard that jogging for weight loss is the best exercise that not only relieves you of extra pounds, but also heals, improves mood, and improves tone. However, mindless jogging from time to time, along with the daily fries and cake for dessert, will never get you the desired result. Running incorrectly - without a program or system, not following the technique, and not familiarizing yourself with the rules - on the contrary, you can harm your body.
In this article, we will take a closer look at the topic of running for weight loss, give recommendations, introduce you to techniques, types, training programs for men and women. Let's analyze the benefits, harms and contraindications to this physical activity. We will try to explain how to practice in such a way as to lose weight quickly and not to the detriment of ourselves.
Does running help you lose weight?
Answering the question "does running help to lose weight", for a start, we will explain the very essence of the process of losing weight. Any organism needs energy, which it receives from food. If a person consumes more food than he needs, the excess starts to accumulate in the form of fat. Accordingly, in order to lose weight, he must start the opposite process: make the body feel a lack of energy so that it has to turn to its reserves. Any physical activity requires an increased amount of strength - that is, by taking up a dispute, you force the body to break down fats.
In simple terms, losing weight requires spending more energy than you consume with food. Accordingly, running undoubtedly helps to lose weight, but it is important to take into account many nuances. For example, you can monitor the calorie content of your diet and build your workouts so that you spend more than you consume (you can read about how many calories you burn while running in a separate article on our website). This does not mean that you need to starve, because this way the body will experience severe stress, and subsequently it will surely “take revenge” on you with an unexpected failure. Sport is useful for losing weight because it does not deprive a person of vital elements (food), while at the same time, it strengthens and heals him.
You need to run correctly: take into account your level of training, choose the right places for jogging, correctly distribute the load. Let's see what people who have chosen running for weight loss are saying - we have reduced the reviews and results to a single denominator and have brought the most basic and informative for you.
What do the reviews say, is there a result?
- Absolutely all runners agree that before starting workouts, it is important to figure out how to run properly in order to lose weight. Learn the technique, learn to breathe correctly. By the way, endurance, efficiency, and general benefit to the body depend on the latter;
- Finding a suitable jogging spot is important - a green park is ideal. During physical exertion, the body consumes an increased amount of oxygen, so the air must be clean and healthy. So forget about dusty sleeping quarters or freeway sprints.
- Follow a diet - eliminate fatty and high carbohydrate foods from your diet. Focus on foods rich in protein, fruits, vegetables, and cereals. Forget fast food, fried food, sweets, soda, chips, sugar, flavor enhancers (sauces, ketchups, mayonnaise). Try to reduce your salt intake. Drink plenty of clean water.
Helpful advice from the reviews. You don't need to drive yourself into a strict framework and completely lose your usual pleasures - this way you will burn out very quickly. If life without a roll of butter or chocolate is not at all sweet for you, allow yourself a favorite treat at least once a week. Do not give up fried patties or pasta with cheese, but try to eat them rarely and preferably in the morning.
- You should constantly increase the load to prevent addiction. As soon as the body learns to easily overcome the given load, it will cease to turn to fat cells for dopping, and weight loss will stop.
- So that the process does not get bored, people are advised to alternate types of jogging - brisk walking, slow sprint, jogging, interval running, climbing uphill, overcoming obstacles.
- Buy a scale and keep track of its performance. You cannot imagine what a pleasure it is to notice how the weight goes away: even minus 100 g becomes a celebration for the heart and soul. And also, this is a powerful motivation for continuing to lose weight - after all, you will see that you are not doing it in vain!
For those who do not know how to properly start running from scratch for weight loss, avid runners are advised to familiarize themselves with the main points to pay attention to before starting classes.
How to properly run to lose weight
- If you are wondering if you can lose weight by running, we will answer yes, but only if the duration of one workout is more than 40 minutes. Only after this time interval do fats begin to break down, and before that the body will turn to glycogen accumulated in liver cells and muscles. It will be difficult for beginner athletes to endure such a long workout, therefore, experts recommend alternating running at a moderate pace with brisk walking;
- Eat right and be sure to eat after exercise (about an hour later);
- Exercise regularly, on a schedule. The best option is to run every day, while 2-3 sessions per week should be devoted to interval running. Novice runners can go jogging every other day so that the body has time to recover;
- Workout should be fun, try to go out in a good mood. Buy yourself some nice sports equipment, buy useful gadgets (heart rate monitor, wireless headphones, a convenient water bottle), download cool music to your player;
- Monitor your heart rate - in most cases, subtract your age from 220 to calculate the optimal value. Your heart rate while jogging should be 10-20% less than the resulting figure and in no case more than it. Be sure to keep your heart rate below 170 bpm during long runs.
- Buy quality and suitable running shoes - this will save you the risk of injury during exercise. Remember that for the cold and snowy seasons, you need special running shoes for running in winter. And the spring-summer option will have to be left for the fitness club or until the appropriate period.
- Breathe correctly - develop a rhythm (it is optimal to inhale and exhale every 2-3 steps), control the depth of inhalation (it should be average), try to inhale air through your nose and exhale through your mouth. If you are out of breath, stop and catch your breath, then continue your workout. Purchase a running mask if needed;
- Make sure your health condition allows you to do long runs. If you are in doubt about whether a woman or man with any chronic medical conditions can lose weight by running, be sure to consult your doctor.
Contraindications
If you are overweight, you should start jogging with brisk walking. Cardio loads are strictly prohibited for people with chronic diseases of the cardiovascular system, and especially for hypertensive patients or suffering from various heart defects. Also, running is contraindicated in bronchial asthma, peptic ulcer disease, varicose veins, pregnancy, after surgery.
If you have any other medical condition and are not sure whether to start exercising, see your doctor. Only a competent specialist is able to objectively assess your condition and give a final opinion.
If everything is in order with your health, then go ahead to the track! The main thing is to start running correctly, and we can teach you this!
The effectiveness of running for weight loss
If you do not know how to run in order to lose weight quickly, remember the main rule: exercise regularly, and also, develop the optimal pace and time for training. For the session to be as effective as possible, you must conduct it in a comfortable manner. This means that if you like to run slowly, you do not need to arrange speed tests. Love morning walks - exercise early in the day; if you prefer to sleep longer, run in the evening. You have already left your comfort zone, do not go too far, otherwise you will give up a useful endeavor halfway through. For jogging to become a favorite habit, it must be fun. So you will not only lose weight quickly, but also restore health.
Is it possible to lose weight by just jogging?
If you plan to lose weight comprehensively, jogging alone will not be enough. If you study the starter weight loss running programs in the tables, you will see that this sport does not affect all muscle groups, so it is important to do other exercises as well. If you do decide to just run, be prepared for the following results. First of all, fat will begin to leave the abdomen and hips, then the muscles will tighten, their volume will increase. The buttocks will begin to lose weight (you can speed up the process by walking on the pope), then the arms, neck and face. Weight loss occurs gradually, so you should not expect a rapid effect.
By the way, especially for you, we have prepared an article on how much you need to run to lose weight! We definitely recommend reading it if you are serious about fighting excess weight!
Many are interested in how to start running correctly in order to lose weight in a man's belly, because it is this area that is most often problematic for them. We recommend combining jogging with abdominal exercises and incorporating interval jogging workouts into the runs. It requires much more physical effort, which means it burns calories much better. Answering the question whether running helps to lose weight in the stomach, reviews will not allow you to cheat - the effect will be, but, again, only if all the nuances listed above are observed.
Running techniques
So, we looked at whether running contributes to weight loss, and now let's look at the most popular techniques with which this process will go faster:
- Jogging - the body should be lifted off the ground for a short period: if one leg is in the air, then the other must at this moment push off the ground. The speed during this exercise does not exceed 8 km / h;
- Light running (footing) - brisk walking, suitable for overweight people;
- Climbing is a routine workout that is complicated by uphill climbing. It is included in the schedule no more than 2 times a week;
- Interval run is a run in which periods of acceleration alternate with running in a calm rhythm;
- Long run - if you run more than 15 km every day, you will lose 2-2.5 thousand kcal, which is ideal for losing weight. However, not every beginner will be able to reach such a distance, therefore, first, assess your abilities;
- Indoors - walking on a treadmill. The correct running for weight loss at home is based on its regularity, the recommended duration of such a workout is 1-1.5 hours.
- In addition, there are special training programs (for example, "Walking with Leslie Sanson").
Benefit and harm
We looked at how running affects weight loss, and now let's look at how it is good for health:
- It promotes weight loss;
- Normalizes metabolism and speeds up metabolism;
- Strengthens and tones muscles;
- Improves the functioning of the digestive system;
- Saturates cells with oxygen;
- Improves mood and relieves depression;
- Reduces cholesterol levels;
- Strengthens the heart.
We have provided useful properties, but did not dwell on the possible harm. So, when can running be harmful to health?
- If you are doing the wrong thing, not taking into account the above recommendations;
- If you have not taken into account the contraindications;
- If you do not take into account the level of your physical fitness.
In all other cases, jogging will only benefit you.
How to choose a program?
In the last paragraph, we will analyze in detail how to run in order to lose weight, and how to choose the appropriate program, depending on the level of the athlete's training.
By the way, thanks to running, men and women, in addition to losing weight, can improve their health in the right areas. For example, men build muscle mass better, increase their endurance limit, and also, running has a positive effect on potency. And in women, thanks to the flow of oxygen, the condition of the skin improves - it becomes more elastic and radiant, as well as the hormonal background is normalized.
The effectiveness of running for weight loss depends on the correct choice of the program - recall, uncontrolled and chaotic workouts rarely lead to the desired result. The program is drawn up for a month or two at once and is based on the physical form of the trainee. Most often, schemes are divided into two groups:
- For beginner runners;
- For experienced sprinters.
There are also programs for athletes who train professionally, but we will not consider them here, since to start using such a scheme, you need to devote your whole life to athletics, and this is not our case.
Running rules for weight loss boil down to the following points:
- The workout always starts with a warm-up and ends with a hitch;
- Intense loads alternate with workouts at a calm pace;
- You need to drink plenty of water and eat right;
- If you can't make a schedule yourself, contact the specialists at any sports club or choose a program on the Internet.
- Please note that programs for men are different from schemes for women, but this restriction is not always required.
Here are some sample running programs that are great for losing weight. If you adhere to the loads given in the diagrams, you will be able to answer by your own example to beginners whether running will help you lose weight in your legs in 2 months.
A week | Running time, min | Walking duration, min | Number of repetitions | Total training time, minutes |
1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 21 |
2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 20 |
3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 20 |
4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 21 |
5 | 6 | 1,5 | 3 | 22,5 |
6 | 8 | 1,5 | 2 | 19 |
7 | 10 | 1,5 | 2 | 23 |
8 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 26 |
9 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 32 |
10 | 20 | — | 1 | 20 |
This program is well suited for beginner runners, it gives a clear idea of where to start running for a beginner to lose weight in order to avoid mistakes and achieve quick results.
If you decide to start jogging for weight loss, the training program for women and girls is guaranteed to help them get their legs and buttocks in perfect shape - after all, any action that is performed wisely always gives results.
Explore one more circuit that is more suitable for experienced runners, as we think it is quite difficult:
As you can see, the benefits of running for weight loss are undeniable - regular exercise not only cures diseases, but also removes depression, drives away the blues. Especially when your favorite jeans finally sat on your hips the way they should !! Running workouts are a great way to start changing your life for the better!