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You're running 3x a week but still can't lose fat. Here's why, and how to build a system to shed fat, improve your running, and speed up your metabolism:
You burn calories in three ways: 1) Resting metabolic rate (basic bodily functions to keep you alive) 2) Thermic effect of food (calories burned in digestion) 3) Exercise These all combine for your total calories burned each day.
So you may be thinking: "If exercise is contributing to calorie burn, shouldn't running help me lose weight?" But here's where it gets tricky.
Muscle, the most metabolically active tissue you have, requires a specific stimulus to build and maintain it. A constant stimulus from running alone WITHOUT strength training can decrease muscle mass and overall metabolism.
Running is only one piece of this puzzle. It's common for runners focused on weight loss to combine running with a low-calorie diet. This creates an extreme calorie deficit, putting your body in starvation mode, which begins to eat muscle mass.
The other mistake runners and most of the general population make is low protein intake. The body breaks down tissue during runs, and without the building blocks for muscle, it is unable to repair itself. So here's what to do:
1) Keep Running You run because you enjoy it, which is important for building a healthy lifestyle. Focus your runs on lower-intensity zone 2 training. This will build the cardio engine, reduce stress, and allow you to maximize recovery. Limit runs to 3x/week.
2) Increase your protein intake Most runners are guilty of low protein intake and heavy carb use. Aim for at least 30 grams/meal to improve: -Recovery -Tissue repair -Muscle mass -Injury prevention -Insulin sensitivity -Metabolic health
3) Strength train Your body needs a stimulus to build/maintain muscle. Add a minimum of 2 days of strength training to your routine. It will: -Increase lean muscle - Reduce the risk of injury -Improve insulin sensitivity -Make you a better runner -Increase calorie expenditure
4) Avoid extreme calorie deficit If you're trying to lose weight, you need a calorie deficit, but it needs to be sustainable. When you burn 500+ calories during a run and eat <1500 cal/day, you are now in an extreme deficit. You're losing muscle and destroying your metabolism.
5) Walk more Walking after meals is a great way to stabilize blood sugars and burn additional calories. It is lower stress on the body than running and will not trigger significant hunger afterwards versus running which can lead to binge eating and snacking.
6) Break up your strength and cardio Doing both strength and cardio confuses your systems. Circuit training gets a good sweat, but it's simply a way to do both half-ass. Break up your sessions on different days or give yourself at least 6 hours between if done on the same day.
Cardio plays a role in health, but using it exclusively for weight loss is unsustainable and destroys your metabolic health. Build it into your routine but with a balanced approach that keeps a focus on proper nutrition partnered with strength training.
Thanks for reading! If you learned something and want more on taking control of your health, follow me @chrisboettcher9. Comment below and RT if you found value in this thread so others can see it as well. <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/chrisboettcher9/status/1688866471378608128" color="blue">x.com/chrisboettcher…</a>