Runners are more often than not trying to lose weight. We either run to lose weight, or start losing weight to run faster – the idea of the perfect racing weight. And there are so many diet methods out there these days – man it can get confusing!
As a general rule of thumb, healthy weight lost is at 0.5kg – 1kg a week or 10 per cent of your weight over the course of 6 months. Anything more than that is considered unhealthy weight loss.
#1 High Intensity Interval Workouts
Interval workouts involve short bursts of high intensity training followed by brief recovery periods. It torches maximum amounts of calories in a minimum amount of time. It makes your body work really hard, but of course with hard work comes great reward. Speed intervals is a great example of a HIIT workout. Run 800m repetitions 8 times at a 6 minute interval for instance. Run as fast as you can for 800m. Your recovery time will be the time remaining to 6 minutes after you have completed the 800m distance. 8 sets is a killer but is great for burning calories.
#2 Muscle Strengthening Exercises
Engaging in regular muscle strengthening exercises will increase your muscle mass and this helps your body burn more calories while at rest. Although resistance training does not burn as much as cardio training, increasing your muscle mass means you’re increasing your resting metabolism rate. Your body burns more calories while at rest. Examples of resistance training are like push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, burpees, squat jumps, and the plank. Do a combination of 8-20 different muscle strengthening exercises, working the different muscles in your body.
#3 Watch What You Eat But Don’t Go Overboard
You can’t expect to lose weight if your downing 5 pints and 10 hamburgers every time after you workout. It just won’t work. You need to watch what you eat. Fuel yourself well. Cut out the sugary drinks and deep fried food. Drink plain water instead of carbonated soda. Swap out the white bread for wholemeal. But you don’t have to go too extreme. Many people go out too extreme on their diet, to crash and burn and end up binging on all things they miss. Give yourself that cake as a reward for that extra hard workout session you put in. It’s all about balance!
