Is running really all it's cracked up to be?
 

I still have about 20 lbs to lose. I walk 3 miles 4x/week. Will running speed up my weight loss?

i think it depends. will you run for the same, longer or shorter period of time than you walk? walking/running tend to be about the same calorie-wise for the same distance - running is just faster. for cv health, running better - gets your pulse rate up.

comparing walk for 60 mins or run for 30 and cover the same 3 miles - not much difference in calories if you do the math. walk for 60 mins vs. run for 60 mins - big difference (you go so much farther).

When walking the majority of your energy is coming from fat burning. When running some of your energy is coming from carb burning. If you're doing low-carb you don't have much carb available for running.

But if you have good conditioning and can run hard, you'll lose weight faster because of increased metabolism and the increased growth hormone secretion that running hard stimulates.

So if you can run, running will get the fat off faster. If you can't run, then walk longer and you'll burn more fat.

I hate running because of the stress it puts on my body.. not that it does the same thing to EVERY body, I just don't like it. I find the most effective, least "stressful" cardio for me is to do sprints on stairs, there is impact but not as much as jogging on flat ground, it's very intense, it builds every muscle in my lower body and I get it all done in 20-45 minutes without machines.

You don't need carbs for energy to workout. Your body adapts to using fat as fuel, and yes it is harder at first to work out on low carb but like I said, you adapt.

Intense exercise uses a lower percentage of fat as fuel WHILE you're exercising compared to lower intensity cardio, but overall you burn many times the amount of calories.. and continue to do so after you are working out, making it more effective not only for fatloss, but fitness in general. Don't forget that even on low carb, in the end, calories ingested versus calories expended counts.

I can share my own experience. Last January I started a "running" program - with 35 lb excess weight. Because of lack of previous running experience during the first month I only could walk (WATP 3 miles video) - nevertheless I lost 8 lbs. Second month I started to jog (1 mile jog 2 mile walk) I lost 7 more lbs. Third month I slowly increased my jog up to 30 min/3 mile - I lost only 5 lbs.
From the fourth month, when I really started to run my weightloss slowed down to 3 lbs/month. (I had the same carb/cal intake during all the time.)

The problem with running: your LEGS need long weeks (usually recommended 8-10 weeks) to build up the strenght to run the same 4x3 mile/week you walk now. During the same long weeks your body adapts to the running, running with more and more efficiency, burning less and less fat. (It is not only the running. To change exercise routine every 6-8 weeks is recommended to everybody.)

No, I am the last one to talk against running - it has many great advantages, but because of the problems I mentioned above, you might not see the expected sudden increase in the speed of weightloss.

It is only my 2 c.

That is an excellent point. I had never really thought about it before... that your body adapts more slowly than your cadiovascular sys ESPECIALLY when you are no longer a teenager-young twentieser and it is easy to push yourself beyond what your joints/muscles can handle and become injured.
THanks!!

If you want to lose FAT versus weight, start strength training (lifting weights). No, it will not make you bulky like a professional bodybuilder unless you take steroids, but it will increase your lean body mass which is what burns extra calories all day and all night. Are you in your target heart zone with your walking? If so, I'd just keep walking. However, most people do not walk fast enough. Check your heart rate and see. You can always alternate walking and jogging.

Jen

here is some information for you.

http://walking.about.com/cs/howtolo...lkoffweight.htm