Is Running Really Ideal for Burning Fat?

Burn fat by running?

Running is a tough exercise. Don’t believe me? Go out and get ten kilometers under your belt. If you haven’t been running for a while, you realize how daunting this is even after the first few minutes. An exercise so difficult and so constant must really burn the fat, huh? Well, yes and no. In order to burn fat, you’ll have to keep your eye on a number of factors.

Under the supreme principle of weight loss (energy out minus energy in equals weight loss), you’ll lose weight when you run enough. It’s that simple. But the question here is whether or not running is the most efficient way to burn fat.

Recall that when you lose weight, you don’t only lose fat. You lose protein in your muscles and you lose water, in addition to some other substances in your body. Yes, you do lose fat as well, but for the healthiest and cleanest weight loss, you want a higher percentage of fat loss. For fat loss, many different exercises help tremendously and some don’t help quite is much. So where does running lie?

The truth is, the facts aren’t really all in yet. Some studies suggest that running does indeed burn fat at tremendous rates – a simple look at most long-distance runners should be able to tell you that. But long-distance runners are also frequently gaunt in general, lacking both upper body muscle and upper body fat. Isn’t there some way to run in which you don’t lose everything under your skin?

Cardiovascular exercise like running works well in conjunction with a more muscle-oriented exercise like weightlifting. Why is this? Weightlifting does add bulk if you consume plenty of calories and protein, but that muscle also needs more calories to feed itself than fat. Running can lower body protein because the body needs to consume more than fat in order to sustain itself on long runs. Having plenty of muscle around will be beneficial, no matter what kind of exercise you try to get.

A balanced approach to burning fat is probably the best. You can’t only run and expect to find those abs. And you can’t only lift weights and expect all of the fat to drop off, either. When you use both, however, you can have a winning exercise recipe that treats your body as a whole machine, not a single-duty piece of equipment in the gym.

What kind of approach will you take? Do you believe you need a balanced approach to burn fat? Make sure you get plenty of both types of exercise for the best physique.

Photo Credits: VinceHuang

Originally posted 2009-05-18 05:26:06.

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