"Is running good for weight loss?" is certainly a very common question at this time of year. Many of us are climbing on board the new year resolution train, and leaving behind the excesses of the festive period. Running, whether its on beautiful trails, plain old tarmac or on one of the best treadmills, is an accessible and highly effective way to improve your fitness. It’s time-efficient, can be done almost anywhere, and doesn’t require a huge financial outlay.
Whether you like to put on your headphones and get lost in your own thoughts, or find company by joining one of the huge and ever-growing number of run clubs, there is almost certainly a type of running that will work for you. And while weight loss may be just one of your goals, there are many more reasons to take up running, from the benefits of getting out into nature, de-stressing from a busy life or improving your mental health.
However, it’s certainly true that many people take up running, at least initially, for its physical health benefits and to aid them with weight loss. After all, there are very few forms of exercise that are so adaptable and affordable and easy to fit into your daily routine as running.
- Related: Best sports bras for running
Running and weight loss
When combined with a healthy diet, many different types of exercise can be good for weight loss. But aerobic exercise - that is, exercise that raises your heart rate and gets your heart and lungs working harder - is undoubtedly particularly effective. At the most simplest level, if we move more and use more energy than we consume, we will lose weight, and aerobic exercise can help achieve this. One of the best ways to track this is to use a device that measures how much you are moving and tracks your heart rate, such as one of the best running watches.
However, while it’s hugely beneficial to incorporate exercise and physical activity into your daily routine, it’s also true that in order to achieve calorific deficit, you must also pay attention to your diet. Regular aerobic exercise may help with modest weight loss, but there is some truth to the cliche that "you can’t outrun a bad diet".
A 2014 study from the journal Progress in Cardiovascular Disease examining the role of exercise and physical activity on weight loss found that "Patients wishing to lose weight should participate in physical activity and caloric restriction to improve the chances of weight loss." In other words, running should be part of a general health approach, rather than the only change you make.
- Related: What muscles are used for running?
How much should you run to lose weight?
The World Health Organization recommends that all adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, and ideally between 160 and 300 minutes. If you are starting from a low base that may seem high, but they do note that “any amount of physical activity is better than none; all physical activity counts”.
These guidelines reflect a level of activity that will benefit your health in many ways, which may include but certainly aren’t limited to weight management. But how much you should actually run if weight loss is your goal is very individual and will depend significantly on your current levels of fitness and desired goals. After all, it's better to start gently and build up to longer runs than to injure yourself with an over ambitious start.
In terms of how many calories you burn, the American Council on Exercise explains that this will vary significantly person to person, depending on both your speed and weight. For example, they estimate that a 120-pound (54 kilogram) person could burn 9.3 calories a minute jogging and 11.4 calories a minute running; while a 180-pound (82 kg) person could burn 417 calories jogging for 30 minutes and 510 calories running. After all, it takes more energy to move more mass - and even more to move it faster.
Varying the type of running you do, for example mixing slower ‘easy’ runs with faster ‘interval’ style sessions can also help to improve your fitness and work your body harder in order to burn more calories, if that’s your goal. If you have limited time, then high-intensity interval training (of which interval running is one type) can be a very efficient form of aerobic exercise. For more on that, see the effects of high-intensity interval training. If getting out of the house is difficult, then you could also consider a treadmill to run at home. We also have a feature on treadmills vs running outside, so you can see what the differences are.
Can just running help you lose weight?
While running regularly is a great start, if you rely solely on running to achieve a calorie deficit, you could put a lot of stress on your body and increase your chance of injury.
"Weight management is mainly about energy balance, so to lose weight we need to eat fewer calories than we expend through our resting metabolism and physical activity," Dr. Javier Gonzalez of Bath University in the U.K. So burning energy through running is helpful, but will need to be accompanied by a healthy diet.
Tracking your diet, adding in exercise, eating mindfully, cutting back on sugar and refined carbohydrates, balancing your gut bacteria, and sleeping well can all also help with weight loss. The NHS in the UK suggests that the best way to make healthy changes that actually stick is to start with just small changes. For instance, avoiding sugary drinks and snacks, swapping unhealthy snacks to healthy food choices, and trying to gently increase your movement by adding in a short walk each day.
Making huge changes to your lifestyle can be a daunting prospect, so making one or two small changes like this can be less overwhelming and more likely to lead to long term success. As they become routine and part of your lifestyle, you can add more. Many people do find that using apps or devices such as fitness trackers can help too - and of course we can help you find the best fitness tracker if you want to keep an eye on your stats, whether its step count or the number of runs.
What are the other benefits of running?
While perhaps you might be considering running purely as part of a weight loss goal, what might keep you running are the huge array of health benefits it can bring. And you don't have to run miles and miles to achieve them. A study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that even five to ten minutes a day of low-intensity running is enough to extend life by several years, compared with not running at all, while a study in the nternational Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health found that running for 75 minutes per week can add 12 years to your life.
Here are just some of the other health benefits of running, according to research from Better Health.
- Improves cardiovascular fitness
- Can lower cholesterol levels
- Lowers stress levels
- Can reduce anxiety and depression symptoms
- Improves mental health
- Improves sleep patterns and quality
- Can help build strong bones
- Strengthens muscles over time
- Burns calories and fat for weight loss
- Can help maintain a healthy weight
So, it's clearly good for you - but is running specifically good for weight loss? The simple answer is yes, it can be, if you combine it with other changes. Eating well and keeping a regular exercise routine can be key parts of your weight management, no matter what your experience or age. And whether you prefer a solitary treadmill run or to use it as a way of exploring your neighborhood or even making friends, it is possible to lose weight using running as part of a healthy lifestyle.
- Read more: Does running increase testosterone?
