Weight loss is not really my "topic" because of the tendency to lose weight and I, rather, constantly try to get in shape rather than lose extra pounds.
However, a large proportion of people run away with the desire to lose weight. Some are enough for a month, others run a marathon, while others have run all their lives, once wanting to lose weight. This is excellent because wellness also improves metabolism and cardiovascular function.
It became interesting for me:
- How effective is jogging in losing weight?
- Which workout burns the most calories?
- What physiological processes are behind this?
- What does the research say about this?
And since I have been training for several years and have noticed changes in weight and appearance, I share my experience.
Jogging as a means of weight loss is covered in many myths. The fact is that not everyone loses weight by jogging. Or lose weight, but not just by jogging. The issue of weight loss is more complicated than it seems at first glance.
Needless to say, the benefits of jogging?
In addition to the obvious benefits (involvement of large muscle groups, improved cardiovascular function, metabolism; is a separate article on the benefits of jogging), at least one study is noteworthy. More than 55 thousand people took part in it for 15 years.
What conclusion did the authors of the study come to?
- With regular jogging the risk of death for any reason is reduced by 30%
- The risk of death from cardiovascular disease is reduced by 45%
- Life expectancy increases by an average of 3 years
And the fact that jogging does not require additional equipment, expensive equipment and high costs make it one of the most popular sports in the world. If you can afford to buy even the cheapest pair of shoes, you are in business.
Weight loss factors
No matter what sport you play, there are factors that directly affect how quickly and intensely you lose weight.
Between them:
- Age. . . The older a person is, the less work is recommended and therefore the outcome will be less significant. In addition, muscles shrink and weaken with age;
- Body composition. . . If you have more muscle mass of fat, you will burn more calories while jogging;
- Exercise intensity. . . Literally everything matters: activity, frequency, pace, distance, etc . ;
- FloorMen burn calories faster than women. The University of Copenhagen, along with eight other institutes, conducted a study in which 2, 500 people with diabetes and obesity received a strict eight-week calorie-controlled diet. Men lost more weight than women under exactly the same conditions;
- General daily activities. . . Even a 10-minute fee is effective if you are immobile;
- Jonah. . . The more weight, the more calories will be burned from the beginning.
The main and unwavering formula for weight loss is to burn more calories than you consume.
How many reloads can you do in one race?
First of all, it is worth clarifying: is it about jogging on a treadmill or, for example, on the street or in a stadium?
It may seem like there are no differences, but it is not. Functionally, the load varies slightly, but the mechanics are completely different. When running on asphalt it is necessary to jump intensely from the surface, and the track, due to the continuously moving belt, puts your foot back and you spend less physical effort.
In addition, the treadmill significantly reduces the step and impedes movement.
Why not trust the lost calories displayed on the device screen? It takes into account the speed and duration of training, as well as average data on runners, which often have little to do with reality. In addition, the machine tends to overestimate the numbers to force them to continue training.
You can lose 550-750 calories in one hour on a treadmill running at 10-12 km / h. It all depends on the inclination, jogging, heart rate, body temperature and so on.
1 kilogram of fat = about 7, 500-8250 calories
There are many metrics to consider when going out. For example, a report from Harvard University states that 30 minutes of exercise gives different results for people of different intensities and different weights:
- The man weighs 70 kilograms. Can burn 370 calories in half an hour at a speed of 6, 12 / km. And a man weighing 56 kg. At the same time and at the same speed, it loses 300 calories.
- The man weighs 70 kilograms. Can burn 539 calories in half an hour by jogging at a speed of 4: 20 / km. And a man weighing 56 kg. At the same time and at the same speed, it loses 435 calories.
When you run slowly, calories are mostly expended from fats. At an intense rate, muscle and liver glycogen stores become a source of calories. By the way, after training they still "burn" (EPOC-effect, about it - below).
Compared to other sports, the average is as follows:
| Activity | Calories are burned in 30 minutes |
| Swimming (freestyle) at an active pace | 370 |
| Jogging at a speed of 8 km / h (6: 12 / km) | 300 |
| Beach volleyball | 297 |
| Cycling 20 km / h | 295 |
| Roller skating | 260 |
| Aerobics | 240 |
| Basketball | 220 |
| Plays badminton | 167 |
How many days a week do you need to jog to lose weight?
If you are just starting out on your running path, then you should not aim for jogging every day or jogging for an hour.
Your curriculum should be gradual. Start by alternating between brisk walking and jogging. A normal running pace is something you can talk about. It will be difficult at first, so you can take a step if necessary.
Start from the point that exercise should be at least 3 days in 7 days. There should be enough time for the body to have time to shed excess and recover.
Once you figure it out, you can do a variety of exercises to make your body more diverse and burn calories more efficiently. However, keep in mind that basic exercise will keep your body smooth and reduce your chances of injury.
High Intensity Jogging Exercises
One meta-study found that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) burns an average of 30% more fat than other types of exercise.
Thus, HIIT training is a more effective way to reduce body fat. High-intensity running exercises include interval running and fart.
Intense exercise creates an excess of oxygen consumption after exercise, the so-called oxygen debt effect.EPOC (Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption). . . This promotes the oxidation of fats in a shorter time and causes the so-called "further burn effect". In addition, the body produces adrenaline and growth hormone (up to 450%, according to one study) within 24 hours of completing HIIT.
In addition to weight loss, this type of cardio has many other benefits:
- Improved durability
- Blood sugar control
- Muscle strengthening
- Strengthen the immune system
- Relieve stress and anxiety, etc.
However, with all the advantages, interval training has many contraindications, since it is an active load on the cardiovascular system.(CCC). Before starting this type of jogging you should make sure that you do not have any contraindications from CCC.
Which part of the day is better for weight loss?
According to recent studies, people who exercise in the morning perform better than those who exercise in the evening. During the experiment, the scientists divided the 48 women into two groups: the first did aerobic exercise in the morning for six weeks, the second preferred the evening exercise. They recorded each meal at a specified time. As a result, they concluded that morning exercise helped reduce the amount of high-calorie foods during the day, which allowed them to lose more weight.
Other studies have shown that exercising on an empty stomach burns more fat before breakfast than exercising after eating.However, if you are running on an empty stomach, it is worth taking a shorter and simpler route as your body may not be ready for it.
There is a lot of debate about which time is most effective. It is believed that our physical activity increases when the body reaches its maximum temperature during the day. For most people, this is from 4: 00 pm to 5: 00 pm, although some experts extend this time until 7: 00 pm.
One Possible Monthly Exercise Plan
Before you can show results, especially if you have been sedentary before, you need to prepare your body and speed up your metabolism.
Please note thatOnly a personal trainer can choose the optimal training mode for you, Because choosing a plan will take into account your goals and body condition.
The plan is designed to get you involved in your workouts as smoothly as possible; This is achieved by alternating walking and jogging:
Week 1 |
Monday - Walk for 20 minutes Tuesday - Relax or do cardio for 20 minutes (swimming, cycling) Wednesday - Walk at a brisk pace for 20 minutes Thursday - Vacation Friday - quick step alternation (4 minutes) and jogging (1 minute) 4 times Saturday - Rest Sunday - Walk at a brisk pace for 20 minutes |
2 week |
Monday - alternate 5 times faster step (4 minutes) and jogging (1 minute) Tuesday - Vacation Wednesday - alternating fast pace (3 minutes) and intense jogging (1 minute) 6 times Thursday - Vacation Friday - Repeat 7 times in quick steps (3 minutes) and jogging (1 minute) Saturday - 20 minutes of brisk walking or cycling for up to 30 minutes Sunday - Rest |
3 weeks |
Monday - Repeat 7 times alternating brisk walk (3 minutes) and jogging (1 minute) Tuesday - Vacation Wednesday - Alternate 9 times faster step (1 minute) and jogging (2 minutes) Thursday - Relax or ride a bike for 30 minutes Friday - Repeat 7 times in quick steps (3 minutes) and jogging (1 minute) Saturday - Active walk for 25 minutes Sunday - Rest |
4 weeks |
Monday - alternating 6 times faster steps in 1 minute and jogging in 4 minutes Tuesday - Rest or Swim / Bike (30 minutes) Wednesday - Change to 5 minutes fast pace, jogging for 20 minutes and finish with another 5 minutes fast pace Thursday - Vacation Friday - continuous jogging for 25 minutes Saturday - Bike ride or 30 minute brisk walk Sunday - Rest |
A versatile plan of exercises for beginners. There are hundreds of similar plans on the internet
Gradually increase jogging time to the second month of the exercise plan, minimizing walking distance. When 30 minutes of jogging is normal for you, you can add 4 days to full load.
It is important to monitor your heart rate.
The fat burning heart rate zone is considered to be 50-70% of the maximum heart rate. It is calculated according to the age of the person.Very averageThat’s about 115-130 hits for 30 years or 110-125 hits for 40 years. You can measure accurate heart rate zones using special functional diagnostics. This will help you train more effectively.
When you escape the fat burning zone, your body learns to burn fat as efficiently as possible. However, you should not expect that jogging in this particular zone will lead to more weight loss: due to low intensity, fewer calories are burned than when jogging in high intensity zone.
What helps to maintain the result?
To track your progress and learn your heart rate during exercise, you can not do without assistive devices:
- Fitness bracelets.With your phone, they help you keep track of your steps, mileage and track your speed and time. In most fitness bracelets, the heart rate monitor works accurately only in quiet areas and low stress areas. I can not say that it is on absolutely every fitness bracelet, some do it well.
- Sports watch.Since most sports watches have a built-in GPS sensor, you also do not need to work with the phone. Sportswear brand watches (and the Apple Watch) have a relatively accurate heart rate monitor, but still not as accurate as chest bracelets. The accuracy of the heart rate monitor depends on the model and the technology used to implement it, so it is best to read the reviews of a particular gadget in advance.
- Chest heart rate monitors. The most accurate measurements of heart rate.
Why do I run but not lose weight?
There are many possible reasons:
- Wrong motivation.Very often you can learn from people who work with a burger that is eaten or cut circles in the stadium to get chocolate in the evening. This weight loss option is utopian; Food should not be a goal or a reward. Learn to correlate calories consumed and consumed and eat well. If you run for an hour a day but eat 500 calories a day, you should not expect to lose weight.
- Weight control.A safe and reasonable rate of weight loss is up to 1 kg per week. If you go out regularly and exercise at the same time as strength training, then keep in mind that muscles are built in parallel with weight loss. In this case, it is more advisable to look not at the scales arrows, but regularly measure your body (waist, hips, legs, arms, etc. ). This method of tracking progress will be more revealing.
- Get used to the load. . . In the first few weeks you see the result, but then it becomes less pronounced. Why? Because the body was initially tense and actively used proteins and carbohydrates to replenish energy supplies and build muscle building materials. Over time the body adapted to the stress and stopped perceiving them as irritating. In this case, it is enough to alternate different types of exercises: run on rough terrain, find other routes, connect the pace, add strength loads and so on.
- Strict diet.It seems that the less you eat, the more you lose weight. In fact, everything is a little different. Severe malnutrition puts the body under stress, it begins to accumulate reserves as much as possible, as well as retains water to repair damaged muscle fibers and glycogen-supplying muscles. As a result, it often leads to emotional breakdown and overeating.
5 Myths About Jogging
Expanded before launch
Of course, each of us has heard that before jogging you need to stretch and warm up your muscles. You may be surprised, but scientists do not have a consensus on this issue. Moreover, they agree that the benefits can only be from dynamic stretching (bends, bends, flexion of legs and arms, etc. ).
What is wrong with the static form of stretching?
- A 2013 study showed that it can reduce productivity rather than increase it.
- Another study by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons showed that stretching before mileage does not prevent injury.
And another recent study showed that static stretching can inhibit muscle action for up to 24 hours.
Static stretching refers to exercises such as folds or butterflies, when it is necessary to freeze in one position for 15-60 seconds during peak muscle lengthening.
But warming up the joints will not really hurt you.
The more exercise the better
There is a common mistake among beginner runners - the desire to increase the pace and volume of jogging as quickly as possible. Enthusiasm and motivation prevail in the early days and it seems that walking 2-3 kilometers is very little and a shame. Better only 10 and uphill. As a result, the body is exposed to stress, has no time for recovery, and sports performances fall short of its appearance.
This includes prolonged cessation of exercise, general loss of strength, and fatigue. Occasionally there may be swelling or weakness in the muscles, which in most cases is a symptom of excessive exercise. As a result, it leads to "emotional" overeating and sometimes injuries, which completely hinders the desire to re-run.
Be patient and think long-term, do not exhaust the body. Even with the most intense workouts, you will not lose weight in 2 weeks. The process should be approached systematically and the workload should be divided into stages.
Runners do not need strength training
There are many studies that reflect the impact of strength training on jogging performance. One of them is dedicated to sprints. It says that power, strength and speed are inherent in each other since they are all the result of the same functional system.
Strong training significantly improves endurance and jogging. For example, the gluteus maximus is considered to be the most important contributor to running at maximum speed. Is it superfluous to say that he must be pumped? Jogging alone will not do it.
In addition, the stronger the muscles, the more elastic and resilient the body will be when you run.
Wear it warm to lose more
A big misconception for novice runners looking to lose extra pounds. Some girls even wrap themselves under the clothes with a clasp to achieve the maximum result in their opinion.
Why is this method ineffective? Because sweating has nothing to do with weight loss. With the help of sweat the body cools down, removes fluids and toxins. Extra clothing prevents cooling, which can lead to overheating and even loss of consciousness.
Jogging with weights will definitely help you in losing weight
This is not the best method for beginners. Jogging in itself is a powerful load for the body if it was previously a seductive lifestyle. And excess weight is already a weighing agent.
Typically, this method is used by experienced athletes to develop speed strength capabilities. Overloading long distances can increase the risk of injury to an inexperienced runner.
Jogging and increased appetite
When your body learns to adapt to a new regime and exercise, you burn fewer calories. Also, when weight is lost, the body needs less energy to function. Thus, the basic metabolism (energy that the body burns during rest) actually begins to decline.
It is believed that jogging at a moderate pace increases appetite, especially for beginners. The body wants to return to its previous mass and more intensively produce hormones that make you feel hungry. But several studies have shown that high-intensity jogging has the opposite effect - suppressing ghrelin (hunger hormone) levels and reducing appetite.
I can say for myself that I never got as much as I was preparing for a marathon. My maximum monthly mileage was over 200 miles and I ate so much I couldn’t believe I could do it. The goal was not to lose weight, but the appetite was strong.
Can you lose weight just by jogging?
It is possible, but for this several conditions must be met: proper nutrition, alternating loads, their gradual increase. If you want to lose weight with regular but short workouts (for example, 20 minutes a day) at the same pace, then it is unlikely that you will get closer to your desired goal. A lot depends on the initial settings.
You can achieve the result by long or intense jogging. Ideally, for weight loss, you should replace interval training with slow and long jogging. This will prevent the body from adapting to stress levels. ᲠWhy is this important? Because you can meet a phenomenon that physiologists call the plateau state, when physical condition and weight stabilize and it becomes very difficult to move them off the ground. We need to "surprise" the body and try unusual loads that become irritating to it. New approaches also help prevent burns that may arise from a similar routine.
You can quickly achieve what you want by combining aerobic and anaerobic loads (cardio and strength). But do not forget about the side effects of running (and in fact - the main). With the loss of extra calories, you will bring tremendous benefits to your entire body.