People run for various reasons, including stress relief, endurance building for long-distance races, and weight loss. Running is indeed one of the best workouts to lose weight. But how long does it take to lose pounds with this exercise, and what do you need to keep in mind to achieve your goals?
Is Running Good for Weight Loss?
Yes, running is one of the best workouts to lose weight. Weight loss fundamentally requires burning more calories than you consume, creating a calorie deficit. Running burns significantly more calories than being stationary. Regular running helps the body burn calories stored in body fat for energy, leading to weight loss.
How Long Does It Take to Lose Weight While Running?
The speed at which you lose weight while running depends on several factors, including your current weight, diet, and running frequency. It's largely a numbers game. Generally, a pound per week can be lost by consuming 500 fewer calories daily than usual.
For example, the average woman needs about 2,000 calories per day to maintain her current weight. So, taking in only 1,500 calories per day will help her lose about a pound per week. Similarly, men need around 2,500 calories per day to maintain their weight, so cutting back to 2,000 daily calories will result in a loss of around a pound a week. The good news is that if you add running into the mix, you can keep eating roughly the same amount as before - since the exercise will burn additional calories and put you at a calorie deficit.
Key Considerations for Weight Loss
There is no magic formula for weight loss other than burning more calories than you consume, However, it can increase the risk of injuries and health issues if not done right. To maximize weight loss through running, consider the following:
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Diet and Nutrition
Whether you’re strength training to gain muscle or hitting the gym to establish healthy routines, the right diet is key to reaching your health and wellness goals. While calories are needed to fuel runs and workouts, it’s important to monitor your intake. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you can eat whatever you want when you’re running throughout the week. Plan pre- and post-workout meals ahead of time to avoid unhealthy, convenient choices. Focus on a balanced diet full of whole fruits and vegetables, complex carbs, lean proteins, whole grains, fatty acids, and low-fat or fat-free dairy.
Hydration
Contrary to popular belief, drinking water will not make you feel full or help you consume fewer calories, but it can aid digestion - and it’s critical to your overall health.
Regular Running
If results are slow, ensure you're running enough. To lose a pound of weight per week, a 500-calorie deficit from your maintenance number is needed daily. Aim to run at least three to four times per week and be as active as possible every day, even on non-running days.
Change Things Up
Doing the same routine week after week can lead to a plateau in weight loss and running performance. The trick is to change up your routine from time to time, and add in different types of runs. Include hill running, speed intervals, long runs and short, fast runs. Weight loss and running faster also go hand in hand - if you can fit in a few sprints, you’ll soon start to notice the effects on your waist.
Consistency and Enjoyment
Scientific research proves that running is a great way of losing weight. Consistency is key to building fitness and making progress. By focusing on your love of running - instead of simply losing weight - you will be much more likely to stick with your routine and enjoy the results.
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A Realistic 4-Week Running Plan for Weight Loss
Here’s a structured program for people who want to lose weight through running. It combines running workouts and interval training to increase your endurance and calorie burn gradually. This plan is designed with specific goals to make sure you’re making progress without overwhelming your body.
Week 1: Building a Base
- Begin with short and easy runs to get your body used to exercise.
- Alternate between running and walking if you’re new to running.
- Include rest days for recovery.
Week 2: Increasing Intensity
- Focus on your running form to avoid injury.
- Increase the duration of your fast intervals to 90 seconds, with 2 minutes of jogging recovery.
- Set small, achievable goals for each run.
Week 3: Pushing Your Limits
- Continue to increase the intensity and duration of your runs.
- Incorporate interval running to boost metabolism and fat burning.
- Ensure you eat enough protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats to fuel your workouts and aid muscle recovery.
Week 4: Peak Week
- This week has your longest runs and most intense intervals.
- Focus on nutrition to fuel your workouts and aid muscle recovery.
- Prioritize proper recovery to avoid injuries.
Additional Tips for Beginners
If you’re new to running and hope to lose a few pounds, tone up or even torch fat, you need a plan. Here are some additional tips for how to lose weight by running if you’re new to the sport:
- Put in place a training schedule: Running regularly is important for all kinds of goals. It’s particularly beneficial motivation-wise to get to the point where you actually enjoy running and want to do it more often. Use a Runkeeper app to track your running and see your improvement over time.
- Don’t run every day: Even experienced runners need to give their bodies time to adapt and recover from their workouts. As a beginner, choose to run every second day. Giving your body a day’s rest between runs helps you to become better conditioned, which enables more intense workouts in the future.
- Start slowly and build up: If you are just starting out, you may want to consider mixing in walking and running at first. This is a good way to prepare your joints and muscles to avoid over-taxing them. This will progress further into more running and less walking, until you are running the entire time.
Additional Workout Plans
Here is another 4 week workout plan for losing weight:
Week 1
- Day 1: Lower body strength
- Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbell and plates, leg curl and/or leg extension machines
- 3×12 dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
- 3×12 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
- 3×20 walking lunge with dumbbells (10 each side)
- Optional: 3×12 leg curl and extension in the gym
- Day 2: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Choose walking, light jogging, or your preferred method of cardio - even better if you can do it outside!
- Day 3: Upper body strength
- Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown machine, dumbbells
- 3×12 pullup or lat pulldown
- 3×12 dumbbell overhead press
- 3×12 dumbbell row
- 3×12 dumbbell bench press
- Optional: 3×12 biceps curl and triceps extension
- Day 4: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Day 5: Interval conditioning
- Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball
- Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise. I’ve included two options you can choose between, depending on your current level.
- Exercises focus on lower body movements performed at a moderate to high pace.
- The large muscle groups in this area help get your heart pumping much more effectively than exercises using smaller muscle groups.
- For Week 1, perform 3 rounds of the following as discussed above:
- Squat or jump squat
- Box stepup or power stepup
- Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
- Lateral box stepup or ice skater
- Burpee
Week 2
Week 2 involves the same exercises as Week 1. However, you should be performing 1 warmup set and then switching to the weight you finished with last week and, if possible, increasing the weight each set.
Bump up the intensity or duration of your cardio sessions by 5-10%. Be sure to keep it light enough that you can perform the minimum 20 minutes without stopping.
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For the conditioning, perform 4 total rounds instead of 3.
- Day 1: Lower body strength
- Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbell and plates, leg curl/extension machines
- 3×12 dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
- 3×12 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
- 3×20 walking lunge with dumbbells (10 each side)
- Optional: 3×12 leg curl and extension
- Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
- Day 2: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Bump up time or intensity by 5-10% from Week 1.
- Day 3: Upper body strength
- Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown, dumbbells
- 3×12 pullup or lat pulldown
- 3×12 dumbbell overhead press
- 3×12 dumbbell row
- 3×12 dumbbell bench press
- Optional: 3×12 biceps curl and triceps extension
- Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
- Day 4: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Day 5: Conditioning
- Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball
- Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise.
- For Week 2, perform 4 rounds of the following as discussed above:
- Squat or jump squat
- Box stepup or power stepup
- Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
- Lateral box stepup or ice skater
- Burpee
Week 3
In Week 3, I reduce the repetitions on the resistance training to 8 per set, which should allow you to increase the weight relative to your 12-rep sets.
If you can, begin performing barbell movements instead of using dumbbells, but either one is OK.
This takes the muscular endurance and movement proficiency from Weeks 1 and 2 and triggers more strength and muscle growth.
Bump up your cardio another 5-10% and perform 5 total cycles of your interval training.
- Day 1: Lower body strength
- Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbell and plates, leg curl/extension machines
- 3×8 barbell back squat or dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
- 3×8 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
- 3×16 walking lunge with barbell or dumbbells (8 each side)
- Optional: 3×10 leg curl and leg extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)
- Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
- Day 2: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Bump up time or intensity by 5-10% from Week 2.
- Day 3: Upper body strength
- Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown, dumbbells
- 3×8 pullup or lat pulldown
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell overhead press
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell row
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell bench press
- Optional: 3×10 biceps curl and triceps extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)
- Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
- Day 4: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Day 5: Interval training/conditioning
- Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball
- Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise.
- For Week 3, perform 5 rounds of the following:
- Squat or jump squat
- Box stepup or power stepup
- Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
- Lateral box stepup or ice skater
- Burpee
Week 4
There is nothing particularly special about Week 4.
You will continue increasing the weight on the strength exercises, bumping up your aerobic intensity, and performing a full 6 rounds of conditioning. If this is too intense, you can dial back as needed.
- Day 1: Lower body strength
- Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbell and plates, leg curl/extension machines
- 3×8 barbell back squat or dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
- 3×8 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
- 3×16 walking lunge with barbell or dumbbells (8 each side)
- Optional: 3×10 leg curl and extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)
- Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
- Day 2: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Bump up time or intensity by 5-10% from Week 3.
- Day 3: Upper body strength
- Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown, dumbbells
- 3×8 pullup or lat pulldown
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell overhead press
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell rows
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell bench press
- Optional: 3×10 biceps curl and triceps extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)
- Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
- Day 4: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Day 5: Interval training/conditioning
- Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball
- Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise.
- For Week 4, perform 6 rounds of the following:
- Squat or jump squat
- Box stepup or power stepup
- Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
- Lateral box stepup or ice skater
- Burpee
Additional Tips for Maximizing Your Running Plan
- Consider your diet: While you need calories to fuel your runs and workouts, it’s important to know what you’re putting into your body. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you can eat whatever you want when you’re running throughout the week. Instead, plan pre- and post-workout meals ahead of time. That way you are less likely to grab the nearest (and fastest) food available.
- Regular running: If you’re struggling to see results, you may not be running enough throughout the week. Remember, to lose a pound of weight per week, you need to cut 500 calories from your maintenance number every single day. If possible, you should pledge to run at least three to four times per week. As well as regular running, you should aim to be as active as possible every day, even on the days you don’t run. Walk more, take the stairs, and be conscious about what you eat.
- Slow jogging for weight loss: Slow jogging can burn fat, especially for beginners. Slow jogging helps improve your endurance without overloading your body. It’s a great starting point for beginners who can’t sustain a faster pace yet. Remember, the key to fat burning is consistency.
- Listen to your body: Don’t push yourself too hard, especially when starting. Rest and recovery are crucial for preventing injuries and ensuring progress.
- Track your progress: Keep a journal of your runs, and note how you feel before and after each workout.
How to Track Your Progress
When you’re working toward a fitness goal, tracking your workouts and your progress can:
- Keep you accountable and motivated
- Help you set realistic goals and adjust as needed
- Lead to better results in the long run
Stepping onto the scale can help you track your progress, but it doesn’t always give you a complete picture of your health. To look deeper than the number on the scale, try a body composition scan with a tool like the Evolt 360, which is available in many Anytime Fitness gyms (how convenient!). Body composition scanners can give you a holistic view of your body composition with detailed measurements, including:
- Fat mass
- Muscle mass
- Body fat percentage
- Visceral fat
- Biological age
As you navigate your weight-loss journey, metrics like fat mass may decrease while muscle mass increases - signs of better overall health. That’s worth more than what the number on the scale might tell you!
Setting Realistic Goals
When you set a weight-loss goal, make sure it’s a SMART one:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time-based
Instead of setting an unrealistic or uninformed goal, evaluate your current fitness level and experience, then set action-based goals rather than result-based goals. For example:
- Result-based goal: Lose 10 pounds by the end of the month.
- Action-based goal: Visit the gym 3 days a week for a month.
When you set action-based goals, you’ll be more likely to stick to your weight loss workout plan and see the results you want.
Expected Results
With a regular weight-loss workout plan, you should start to notice results in a few weeks. But if you step onto the scale and don’t see the number going down, don’t be discouraged. There are several reasons you might not be seeing the results you want in the gym.
After completing the 4-week weight-loss workout plan, take stock of how your body feels. Are you more energized? Do you feel stronger? Are you fatigued? Make adjustments to your workout routine or diet plan accordingly. For example:
- If you need more of a challenge, add more reps or sets to your strength workouts, or try to increase the speed or incline of your next treadmill workout.
- If you’re feeling exhausted, make active recovery a higher priority or assess your diet plan to ensure you’re fueling your body properly.