Comments on: Burning Question: Can You Lose Weight From Running?

By: admin

admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 22:14:17 +0000

Fitness Coach,
First off, congrats on losing the weight. And you’re right, the best exercise plan to lose weight is the one that fits your lifestyle. If you like running, then go running, but don’t think that running is the only way to lose weight.

By: Fitness Coach

Fitness Coach — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:33:32 +0000

Actually, there are some very compelling points made in both posts. It should be remembered that not all bodies are alike, and no one program is a “one size fits all tee-shirt.” As one who successfully lost over thirty pounds preparing for my first marathon, as a clydesdale, I am kind of partial to that program. I even trained solo, which is something that even the running gurus say you should never do. On the other hand, I lift weights so I don’t lose precious muscle mass. Perhaps the correct answer is to seek a balanced program that is right for you and practice moderation in all things.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:46:45 +0000

In reply to Kagemitsu.

Hey Kagemitsu,
If you want to lose weight, the best way to do is through your diet and making sure you’re eating in a calorie deficit.

If you’re 50 punds overweight, it’s really possible to get lean from 2-3 days of weight lifting. The key here is to let your diet take care of the fat loss and to let the weight lifting preserve or build muscle.

Running and hiit can both be used to assist in weight loss, but they aren’t 100% necessary. More than anying else, cardio is more of a bonus to help accelerate weight loss.

By: Kagemitsu

Kagemitsu — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:23:06 +0000

Ok, I’ll bite.
If it’s necessary to burn more calories than you take in every day to lose weight, then running still remains the best way to do so, along with many other high intensity aerobic exercises. Many researches prove it, like this one – http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/sm00109 -, that clearly shows how weight lifting burns pretty much the same calories as a walk in the park, or an heavy session of butt wiping. If you’re 50 pounds overweight, I seriously doubt you can get lean by lifting weights 2-3 times a week alone.
The reason why many people don’t wanna run and look for better alternatives is because, even though anyone can do it, running is hard. It’s hard for beginners and it can make you feel discouraged when you notice it takes a good amount to effort to start seeing results, that’s why people resort to diets, yoga, weird group aerobics and so on.
HIIT is actually good from what I hear: I never tried it but maybe sometimes I will, just for the heck of it.
The truth is that both activities should be done in sync, and not exclude each other. Weight lifting without some cardio won’t really work, and running without some weight lifting will give you legs of steel, but a flaccid upper body (not to mention you gain in stability, power and speed by training your upper body too).
It all comes down to the fitness model you have in mind: if you wanna bulk up, more weight lifting and less cardio; if you wanna get leaner, more cardio and less weight lifting. But by all means, do both.
And recommending just weight lifting and, if you really want, HIIT, is just wrong and misleading, imho.