Stop Running To Lose Weight!

Yeah you read that right!  The guy who has run since elementary school, and is training to run a marathon at the end of an Ironman triathlon, just said stop running if your goal is to be thin.  Running is a terrible way to drop fat and reduce body weight.  Running is a high impact activity that is hard on the joints, not considered fun by most people, and an inefficient way to burn calories and fat which is why a lot of you are running in the first place.

I can already feel the runners and triathletes starting to unleash the fury in defense of their sports.  Hold on! Don't get your spandex in a bunch!

 

 



What I am trying to say is that the only people who should be running are those of us training for a sport that requires running or people who actually enjoy running (me.)  If you read my last post you know that running (or any steady state high intensity aerobic training)  falls pretty far down on the Hierarchy of Fat Loss.  If you want to actually lose body fat and you are already doing the recommended 3 hours a week of strength training, then stop running or plodding along on the elliptical machine or the spin bike, and just do high intensity intervals.

Seriously!  Stop sitting (or standing) on a cardio machine at the gym or at home, watching TV or reading a magazine, or doing your homework, or chatting on the phone, or whatever it is you are doing to distract yourself from the monotony of grinding out a workout just to say you worked out.

I know for a fact that most of you don't have tons of free time to waste working out 'doing your cardio.'  Why do 30 minutes, 45 minutes or even an hour of mindless cardio when you can burn more calories with just 20 minutes of high intensity interval training?

Is it a harder workout? Yes, of course.  You won't be able to watch TV or talk on the phone while you are doing it, all you will be able to do is concentrate on the exercise and breath.  But it will be over in 20 minutes and you will actually be getting fitter and thinner!

Here is proof if you don't believe me:

A landmark study in interval training was done by Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, and Bouchard C.

Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism.Metabolism.1994 Jul; 43(7):814-8

In this study the researchers compared 20 weeks of endurance training against 15 weeks of interval training and recorded the energy cost of the endurance training group at 28661 calories and the interval training group at 13614 calories.

The interval group showed a nine times greater loss in subcutaneous fat than the endurance group (when corrected for energy cost.)  So calorie for calorie, the interval training group lost nine times more fat overall.  And get this, if the interval group had lost the same fat as the endurance group, then we would still be getting the same results but in less time.

So tell me again why we are wasting our time on moderately intense cardio?

If you are not already doing high intensity interval training then it's time to start!  Here is a simple interval workout you can do from home in 10- 20 minutes that requires no workout equipment and will get you headed down the right path.

Intervals For Beginners

Warm up for 2 minutes by either marching in place (easiest), running in place (medium) or jumping jacks (harder.)

Then you will do one of the following:

 1) go from a seated position on a sturdy chair to a standing position (easy)
or
2) do body weight squats (medium)
or
3) do jump squats (harder)

Set a timer or look at the second hand on your clock and do the exercise for 30 seconds, then rest for 60 seconds, then repeat 4-10 times, starting with the easier exercise and less repetitions and work your way up to longer and harder intervals.

Then cool down by walking around your house for 2 minutes.

That's all there is to it.  So stop wasting your precious time on worthless cardio exercises, and stop running if you really don't like running.  I'm sure your body will thank you.


I thank you and if you have questions please leave me a comment and I will answer it.