Running for fat-loss

Running for fat loss?

Most people who want to lose weight, either

- A: start a diet

- B: start running

- C: do both.

The C people are a lot closer to finding the holy grail of a lean body than the A and B people are, but are still light years away from finding it.

Long distance running (or any other form of steady state cardio performed for long durations) makes your body more efficient with energy expenditure. It teaches your body to use as little energy as possible for the task at hand, so you can keep going for longer periods of time. This phenomenon is great when you are training for a marathon or similar event, but makes it pretty much worthless as a fat loss tool.

While you might lose fat initially when you start out, and it’s definitely better than sitting on the couch, as you become a better runner it’s going to be harder and harder to keep dropping the pounds. Your testosterone and growth hormone (the muscle building, fat burning hormones) levels will drop, while cortisol (a muscle wasting stress hormone that promotes fat storage, especially in the belly region) levels go up. This is why a lot of marathon runners are skinny-fat: no muscle or shape to speak of, but still with a pot belly.

Compare this with a sprinter: the men usually have round shoulders, a nice V-shape torso and muscular legs, and abdominal development that can rival with the best to top that, they are just very lean. The women also have nice muscular legs and butt, which let me tell you, men like.  

Short, high intensity interval (sprint) training promotes high testosterone levels, keeps the Thyroid working properly and keeps cortisol in check. Before you lace up your shoes and head for the track though, I don’t recommend all-out sprinting if you aren’t used to it. The risk of injury is just to high for most people. Safer options are: hill sprinting (takes away speed), resisted sprinting (dragging or pushing a weighted sled) sprinting on a bike, or performing metabolic conditioning circuits.

Add this to a good strength training program and solid nutrition, and you’re well on your way to the lean body you deserve!

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