How Running Can Help You Lose Weight?

Have you ever wondered if running can help you lose weight? If so, you are in the right place to find out the answer.

Before you understand if running can help you lose weight, you need to understand how weight loss happens.

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What is the Process of Weight Loss?

The only way to lose weight is when you consume fewer calories than what you burn.

Therefore, when your body doesn’t receive the necessary calories required for maintenance, it begins burning the stored calories to generate the energy required. This is the only way to lose weight. The state of consuming less calories than needed is called being in a calorie deficit.

So, if you’re in a calorie deficit, you will be able to lose weight. However, diet isn’t always enough to lose considerable weight.

If your maintenance calories are 2000, you can reduce it by 500 to maintain a healthy deficit. Therefore, you will consume 1500 calories a day. That may not be enough to achieve accelerated weight loss, even if you lose weight.

Therefore, exercise is important to ensure you burn additional calories on top of the calorie deficit. Keeping that in mind, let’s understand how running can help you lose weight.

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How Running Can Help You Lose Weight?

When you’re running, the body uses extra energy to support the movement. It needs to provide energy to your entire body, as several muscle groups engage during running, such as the leg muscles, core muscles, and even the arms for momentum.

The body will burn the stored calories to generate the energy needed to fuel running. The number of calories you burn will depend on the type of running as well.

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Types of Running

There are various types of running that can help you burn varying levels of calories based on your physical effort.

A slow-state steady run can help you burn calories, but it will be lower than other forms. Ssprinting is another example of running that can help you lose weight. It's a form of testing your speed, and you will burn all the energy you have with 100% effort every time you sprint.

You can also do HIIT sessions where you put in 100% effort for short bursts before relaxing for a while. You will need to repeat the cycle at least 8-10 times for a successful session.

These sessions have an increased impact on metabolism and enable the body to burn calories even after the session ends.

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Bottom Line

Running can help you lose weight by being an accessory to burning calories. Therefore, it’s an assistance you need for your calorie-deficit diet to burn more calories and attain an accelerated weight loss.

You must couple running with proper rest and hydration to ensure you’re reaping the maximum benefits from your efforts. Finally, when you first begin running, you should ease yourself into it instead of beginning with HIIT sessions.

It’s absolutely crucial that your muscles get used to the movement before you exert extreme pressure on them.