How to lose weight by running

Running is without a doubt one of the most effective ways to lose weight. It’s a great cardiovascular exercise which not only helps facilitate weight loss; it’s great for your heart, lungs and even slows down ageing. It aids digestion, reduces depression and even boosts your happiness levels! So now that you know how great running is, here’s how you get started.

Always warm up and cool down

Now this is the rule number 1 for beginners. Never, ever start running without a decent warm-up. It prepares the body physiologically and psychologically for exercise, increases circulation of blood to the various muscles that you’re going to work out and also improves flexibility which decreases the chance of being injured. It also prepares your heart for these activities and prevents your blood pressure from rising suddenly.

Celebrity fitness trainer and 3-2-1 exercise regime pioneer Ramona Braganza agrees, ‘Warming up is vital before a workout. It prepares the body physically, mentally and emotionally, raising the heart rate, working the muscles and waking up the nervous system.  Dangers of not warming up include a limited range of motion during an activity which can lead to injury. When muscles are cold they are not limber, pliable and they have a limited range of motion. If you jump right into an exercise that requires you to stretch and contract the muscle belly or tendons and you have not warmed them up then you risk pulling, tearing and straining them.’

Start off slow if you’re on the heavier side

Start with walking which can graduate to power walking which can in time graduate to light jogging. Start off slow and gradually increase the intensity of your workout. Gradually, you can start running sprints for 2 minutes, 3 minutes and gradually increase the time spent.

Running on the treadmill

In case you can’t run outside – for many, it’s simply not an option – then the treadmill at your local gym should suffice. The good thing about running on a treadmill is it comes with preset programs which can help you lose weight. You can also choose the inclination and speed. Beginners should start off slow, jogging at say anywhere between 6-8 km/hr and gradually increase the intensity.

Note: Don’t try to fly too high, too fast because that might result in an embarrassing fall, not to mention an injury.

Focus on your running form or posture

Everyone runs differently – some land on their heels while others land on their toes – but the best way just might be to land on your midsole. Landing on your toes puts too much pressure on the calves and can lead to shin pain as well, while landing on your heel means you’re putting unnecessary stress on your knees. Another important thing is to keep your toes pointed straight, neither inwards nor outwards. You’ll be able to master it in time.

Protect your joints

Your joints are especially susceptible to increased intensity that’s why you should work on your strength and flexibility. One good test is the wall squat.

• Stand facing a wall, with your feet just wider than hip-width and your hands on your temples.
• Try to squat down so your thighs are parallel to the floor, without your knees or any other part of your body touching the wall on the way up or down.
• Aim to complete five squats standing just an inch away from the wall. 

If you find yourself lacking the necessary flexibility, here are some stretching exercises to improve flexibility.

Choose the right surface

If you’re running outside, make sure you pick a surface which smooth and even. An uneven surface can be bad for your ankle or knee joint. Most cities and towns now have designated running areas (like parks) which you can use for this purpose. Also, if you get the option pick a surface which is softer (like grass, sand or a dirt track) than a hard which will reduce the stress on you knee joint.

Ditch LSD for HIIT once you’re accustomed

LSD or Low Slow Distance cardio refers to the regular cardio where a person doesn’t put too much intensity or effort in their cardio and instead spends more time doing it. HIIT on the other hand refers to High Interval Intensity Training, a type of cardio training which requires you to combine periods of activity at high intensity with periods at low intensity. HIIT has been a rage with gym-goers to lose fat and bulk up since they claim that while steady-state cardio burns both fat and muscle, HIIT only targets the stubborn fat. Fitness trainer Akshay Chopra told TheHealthSite.com. ‘Consider the difference between the bodies of a long-distance runner and a sprinter. A long-distance runner usually has more body fat than a sprinter. The reasons for this is long distance running doesn’t burn much fat and instead claws away at your precious muscles. If you really want to burn body fat and like running you should try sprints and HIIT (high interval intensity training).’ That’s why, if you really want to get rid of the last vestiges of fat, you should switch to HIIT. Here’s a sample program that you can try out on alternate days:

 a. Do a 20 sec sprint with 30-40 sec very slow jog or walk. Do this for 12 consecutive times.

b. Sprint for 60, 80, 100 and 120m on a flat ground. Rest period between each sprint is the time you take to walk back to the starting point. Continue for 3 sets with 2 min rest between each set.

c. Do 10×80/100m sprints on an elevated ground. Rest interval is the time you walk down to the starting point

Don’t ditch the weights

Whenever you see the people who want to lose weight in the gym, they will be crowding around the cardio machines, which is the biggest mistake they can make. Fitness icon Kris Gethin writes in his book The Bodybuilding.com Guide to Your Best Body, ‘When you start training regularly with weights, your muscles develop, become denser, and burn more calories all day and night. Though cardio is a great way to assist in fat loss, it burns fat only while you’re performing the exercise, not around the clock. Lifting weights and adding lean muscle, on the other hand, turns your body into a full-time calorie-burning machine. If you were to add just 5 pounds of muscle to your frame, you could burn an additional 250 to 300 calories per day—that’s a whole meal for some people!’ That’s why it’s vital you mix up weight training with your running regime, if you really want to keep that weight off forever.

Mix it up with other forms of cardio

Just running might get boring in the long run and that’s why you should mix it up with other cardio workouts like yoga, kick-boxing, zumba, jogging, swimming or more so that you don’t get bored in the long run. 

Follow a proper diet regime

Along with exercise, a proper diet is essential for weight loss. 

Check out our healthy foods section and healthy recipes section for more ideas. Also check out these articles.

• Weight loss diet by expert dietician
• Weight loss diet plan for different calorie needs
• Vegan weight loss diet plan
• 6 home remedies for weight loss
• 10 food items for weight loss
• 7 healthy snacks for weight loss
• 7-day diet for weight loss
• Ayurvedic diet plan for weight loss
• Pre-marriage weight loss diet plan

You could also try out these exercises for specific body parts: 

• Exercises for shoulders
• Exercises for abs
• Exercises for arms
• Exercises for legs

For more articles on bodybuilding, check out our bodybuilding section. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates! For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. And to join discussions on health topics of your choice, visit our forum. 

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