Why Running Sucks For Fat-loss

I know a guy who was a college track and cross country athlete.  Needless to say he never really had to worry much about his weight in college and highschool because of the sheer mileage of his practices and the routine of school keeping him in a routine (and mostly out of trouble).  Then he graduated and landed a great job in corporate America and things started to change. 

  The first thing that he noticed was that his belt was getting a bit tighter but nothing over the top alarming.  He shrugged it off and went on with his life until later that year he saw a picture of himself pop up on this FB feed.  “It was a bit of a shocker, I didn’t realize how much I had gained after college from looking at myself everyday in the mirror.  It wasn’t until seeing the contrast between myself a full year ago and now that it scared me.” he said.   

So, he decided to start running again. 

This time there was something different though.  His run times started improving rapidly after steady work and he saw a bit of initial weight loss but, after a couple of weeks the weight stopped coming off.  “No problem, just harder and further.” he told me.  Then, something interesting happened.  His run times kept improving but his weight stayed the same.   So, he ran harder and further again. Same result: good runs, poor weight loss.   

Eventually he came to me for help and we got him sorted out but, his story is not unlike a lot of guys I know especially, from my Marine Corps days because running was the primary form of exercise that me and my fellow Devil Dogs partook in on a daily basis. 

The vicious cycle begins with getting out of shape then deciding to get back in shape by taking up running again, see some weight loss. Get stuck. Run Harder. Stay Stuck. Run harder. Break.  Rinse and repeat until you need knee surgery.

The thing is that the body is extremely adaptable. The more you perform a given activity the better it becomes that the activity.

This is why your body is so amazing and it's precisely how we get stronger BUT, if you're aiming at fat-loss and you only have one activity that you plan on performing for fat-loss, your body will become more and more efficient at that activity. In the case of running, your body will get better at running to the point where it actually costs you less energy to cover the same distance at the same pace then when you first began.  

The take home message, if you want to burn body fat then find activities that you suck at and do those things. If you are an avid runner, try swimming. If you bicycle, try hopping on the rower. This is one of the few cases where you will here me say that variety is your friend. For pure fat-loss you want to be as inefficient with your exercise selection as possible.