Running for fat-loss. Is it a thing?
In my last two newsletters I have talked about marathon training. I have shared strategies going into the Marathon and I have shared tips to get you started if you’re thinking about taking up running.
This week I was asked a question about running and fat loss..
“Should I run for fat loss’’?
As with all answers….
It depends
That said “it depends’’ isn’t the answer you’re looking for, so i’m going to dive a little deeper and give you my best answer
When we talk about running we have to define what type of running we talking about
Are we talking about sprinting? Are we talking about 10ks, marathons, ultra-marathons?
For the sake of this post I’m going to talk about why ‘steady-state’ aerobics probably isn’t the best idea for fat loss.
1 – Running burns calories so does Sleeping
Well, that doesn’t sound like a bad thing!! Sure running does burn calories, this happens because the muscles are hard at work and demand extra oxygen to help them continue to work. That said there are a ton of other activities that also require calorie burn. Activities such as resistance training, sprinting, sleeping, talking, watching TV etc.
2 – The fat burning zone —- NOPE!!
Sorry the fat burning zone doesn’t really exist. The concept of the fat burning zone is that the body burns greater amounts of fat at lower intensity aerobic exercise than it does at higher intensities.
This is a misinterpretation. YES, it’s true that the body burns a greater percentage of fat at lower intensities than at higher intensities. BUT if we take this to its logical conclusion then lying on the couch watching Netflix would be a great fat burner right? I think we all know that sitting on our butts isn’t going to get us six-pack shredded.
The key word is percentage. At lower intensities that body may burn 50% of calories from fat, while at a higher intensity the body may only burn 35% of calories from fat. BUT at a higher intensity you will burn way more total calories, and more fat calories overall.
Think about a real world example sprinter vs marathon runner
Sprinters typically carry significantly less body-fat compared to marathon runners.
3 – Aerobics make you an efficient fat burning machine
Though this may sound cool, it’s actually not a desirable response if you want to burn fat. The only tissue that burns fat in the body is muscle. Aerobic training does demand work from the muscles, but not nearly as much as other activities like resistance training. Aerobic training makes muscles more efficient at using fat (just like if your car became more efficient at burning gas, you’d be using less of it) so if a muscle is the only tissue that burns fat and aerobic training makes it smaller and more efficient at burning fat, then essentially you are creating and smaller, more efficient fat burning machine. That’s not very effective if the goal is fat loss
4 – Aerobic training doesn’t raise your metabolism
Metabolism is largely a function of how much muscle you carry. As aerobic training does nothing to build or even maintain muscle mass it will do NOTHING to contribute to raising your metabolism at rest. Sure you will burn some calories while aerobically training but once you have finished your training you won’t burn any more at rest.
Essentially your body will do its best to adapt to everything you do to it. Stop drinking water and your body will hold on to your water stores. Get really good at running and your body will slow your metabolism down allowing you to store more fat for energy.
The biggest challenge with aerobic training is that you get better at it. With resistance training the better you get the more weight you add, the more reps you do etc BUT with aerobics such as running you have to keep doing more and more kms. With that comes time. 30, 40 , 50 minutes. And who has hours and hours everyday to go and run. Not me, that’s for sure.
I know this may sound like an anti-steady state aerobic post but it’s really not. In fact, I love running. Us humans are designed to run. It feels good to run and as I like to say ‘’it feels good to feel good’’ I would argue that going out on an adventure run feels better than having a six-pack.
If you love running, if it’s your meditation or your training to cross the finish line, then please don’t stop running.
If however you simply want to get into the best shape of your life then consider that there may be better strategies. Strength training, kettlebell work, intervals will all trump your steady-state run. That said running will still trump doing nothing.