Running for weight loss is among the most effective and simplest techniques – instead of getting yourself all mixed up in complicated forms of exercise, you are simply putting your energy into putting your focus on weight loss through running. As you run, the number of calories that would get burned would depend on the body size, pace, and total duration of running. As a general guideline, a lot of runners of average body size anticipate burning around 100 calories per mile.

Running for Weight Loss and Planning

People who lose weight successfully and burn around 2800 calories each week with planned exercise, according to statistics given by the National Weight Control Registry. It takes about 28 miles each week to run an average of 100 calories per mile.

It is highly important to consider that it is more than what an average runner would complete in one week. It is also a lot for the new runners. You need to ease your mileage and gradually work on building up a new number that works for you to avoid the risk of injury.

If running for weight loss is the only beneficial physical activity that works, it is possible to reach the goal. Don’t get worried regarding your running intensity or pace. Only focus on getting consistent when it comes to following the weekly schedule.

Plan out your running in advance and get it scheduled like you would schedule any other event. Eventually, you would burn calories that you require to lose weight as you run.

Running for Weight Loss and Workouts

The types of workouts that you do actually play a role in the time needed to lose weight. While there is no such best running workout for losing weight, you can optimize your potential for weight loss by combining different training types.

When you do exercises, the ratio of fat and carbs your body utilizes for fuels can change considering the type of duration, speed, and workout intensity.

High-Intensity Running

The body relies a lot on carbs because they are going to be a quicker energy source. They give your body an amazing boost in energy, making you capable of doing demanding exercises like sprints. It is like a synergistic process – it burns a lot faster and hotter, but then it gets over shortly after.

HIIT Training and weight loss 

High intensity interval training is one of the best tools to use for weight loss. The reason for this is that you get an afterburn effect or EPOC that can burn extra calories up to 24 hours after you workout. When doing HIIT training the goal is to get the heart rate really high and to get almost out of breath during each interval. Workouts like these kick up the metabolism a lot faster than slow/easy running. 

Here’s an example of a HIIT workout 

8-10 intervals of hard intervals and 8-10 easy intervals. The workout may look like this 

5 minute warm up walk or jog

10-8x 1:00 minute sprint 

10-8x 2:00 minute rest 

5 minute cooldown 

This can be done on a treadmill, track or outside. 

You may also do a HIIT workout that has intervals that only last 20-30 seconds. The 

One of my favorite workouts is to do hill sprints on a treadmill or outside. This is because the hills allow the heart rate to jump up a lot faster than doing the workout on flat ground. The other benefit of hill intervals is that there’s a less risk of injury while doing them because running on hills promotes better running form. 

Lower Intensity Running

With such lower and longer intensity runs, your body shifts gradually from the carbs to fat. While fats might not serve as a quick fuel source, they are much sustainable. This is because burning fat is much like lightning a candle – it will burn for longer and be steadier.

If the ultimate goal is to burn some fat, it might be reasonable to workout at a steady and slow pace. However, it is not a necessary case. While exercising at a lower intensity would enable you to burn a greater value of calories coming from fat, working out at a higher intensity would mean that you are going to burn more calories overall.

Aerobic training or “easy running” can be helpful in a weight loss program because it is something you can do everyday. One of the major issues with high intensity running is that you need a couple of days off before you can do it again. Aerobic training allows you to do a lot more volume which will help you lose more weight from a running program. 

When doing aerobic training it’s important to keep the run easy. Once the run becomes a medium or hard intensity run you run the risk of over training. It’s best to focus on doing most of your running at an easy pace that you can comfortably hold a conversion at. A good way to keep yourself from running to fast during easy runs is to use a heart rate monitor. When doing an easy run your goal should be to stay between a heart rate of 140-150 beats per minute.

Workouts for Burning Calories

For burning more calories while running, you might need to run at a pace of higher intensity. It should be somewhere around 80 or 90 percent of the maximum heart rate. At such speed, you are not making a sprint, but you are working just enough to not be able to continue a conversation.

Initiate through a run of 20 minutes around 80 to 90 percent intensity. Alternatively, you can go for interval training, where you can easily alternate between high-level and low-level intensity workouts. As you make more progress through running for weight loss, you can increase the interval time and repetitions.

Of course, you do not need to run at the pace all the time. With such a strenuous activity, you will need to give your body some time to rebuild and recover itself. It is quite reasonable to complete a few high-intensity runs each week.

On some other days of the week, you need to take longer runs with less intensity. These runs would feel a lot sustainable so that you can get more miles to run and burn more calories. Finally, for busting boredom and building strength, you need to consider hill repeats or treadmill running.

Strength Training for Runners

A vital part of your running training would involve no running for some time. Running for weight loss also requires a set of activities of another sort, like strength training as a part of a regular routine. It will help you to burn some extra calories. It will also build your lean muscle mass and improve your performance for running. You will get able to run for a longer and faster time and burn more calories as you run.

Having some lean muscle mass would help you in burning more calories in one day, even if you are doing some rest. Strength training would help you stay safe from injuries, so you would maintain your commitment to the training by staying safe from injuries.

Try to do some resistance or some weight training each week of your schedule set. Have some time to fit in a few sessions of 20 to 30 minutes each, involving strength training per week. You would not have to lift any heavy weights to make a difference. Any kind of bodyweight exercises can be considered effective.

Final Word

These were some of the ways through which running for weight loss can be effective. The best part of following a weekly schedule for this purpose is to include additional activities that help you get the best of your running. This includes doing some kind of strength training and also giving your body the time to relax and recover, so it has the ability to perform better.

With simple additions in your routine and staying consistent, you can increase your chances of getting more lean body mass with time. We hope this article gave you a quick insight on how you can deploy running in your life to lose weight.