Running is a powerful tool for those looking to lose weight due to its high calorie-burning potential and cardiovascular benefits. It’s an accessible form of exercise that can be adapted to any fitness level, making it a popular choice for weight loss. By focusing on strategies to maximize your runs, you can enhance their effectiveness in shedding pounds. Techniques such as varying intensity, maintaining a consistent routine, and supporting your body with proper nutrition and hydration can significantly impact the results you achieve through running.
We checked in with Rose McNulty, NASM-certified personal trainer, NASM-certified nutrition coach, and expert contributor for Garage Gym Reviews, to learn about eight different ways to boost your runs so you can shed pounds faster. Some of the suggestions were focusing on form, taking different routes, and adding hills to the mix. Read on to discover all eight and why they can help with faster weight loss.
1. Focus on Form
Focusing on proper form during running can maximize weight loss by improving efficiency and reducing the risk of injury. When you run with correct posture—keeping your back straight, shoulders relaxed, and arms swinging naturally—you enhance your body's ability to move efficiently.
"Technique is incredibly important when it comes to running because it’s a repetitive movement that can be especially taxing on the body when done incorrectly for long periods of time. Proper form boosts efficiency and can help you get faster and stronger while minimizing the risk of injury," McNulty says.
2. Give Speed Work a Try
Speed work, or interval training, involves alternating between high-intensity sprints and lower-intensity recovery periods. This approach boosts your metabolism and increases the overall calorie burn during and after your workout, known as the afterburn effect.
McNulty says that to prevent your runs from getting boring, "simply alternate running at a moderate or hard pace for a set burst of time, then slowing down the pace substantially or resting altogether for a set period. This improves your speed and cardiovascular fitness. Intervals can range anywhere from a few seconds to minutes, and there are plenty of resources online with interval workouts to try."
3. Take Different Routes
Taking different routes while running can enhance weight loss by introducing variety and new challenges to your workout. Different terrains, such as hills, trails, or varying surfaces, engage different muscle groups and increase the intensity of your runs.
"Switching up the routes you run can both prevent boredom and change the intensity of your workouts depending on the terrain. Taking in new sights and sounds can make the same workout on paper completely different in practice, and changing things like the number of uphill versus downhill sections can work your muscles differently," she notes.
4. Add Hills to the Mix
Running uphill engages more muscle groups, particularly in the legs and core, compared to running on flat terrain. This heightened muscle activation results in greater energy expenditure.
"Deliberately incorporating hills into your workouts either on the treadmill or outdoors is a great way to switch up your routine and build up the muscles in your lower body, including the glutes and quads. Plus, running back down hills can help with speed and technique," she says. "Building muscle helps with weight loss as time goes on, because muscle mass can help increase your metabolism over time. And since running up hills is more demanding, it can help burn calories throughout your workout and afterward."
5. Warm Up and Cool Down Properly
A thorough warm-up increases your heart rate and blood flow to the muscles, preparing your body for the demands of running. This not only enhances your running efficiency but also allows you to exercise at a higher intensity, which can lead to greater calorie burn. A proper cool-down helps gradually lower your heart rate and promotes muscle recovery, reducing soreness and stiffness.
"Warming up with dynamic stretches and light activity gets your heart rate up gradually to get your body ready for a workout. Meanwhile, cooling down with light activity and static stretches helps reduce your heart rate gradually and get lactic acid and other metabolic waste moving from the muscles, which can help reduce muscle soreness and stiffness," she reveals. "Warming up and cooling down are key to keeping your muscles and joints healthy, which can help ensure you’re able to stick to your workout plan and work toward your weight loss goals."
6. Go the Distance
McNulty says that increasing your running distance can enhance cardiovascular health and support weight loss goals, provided you do so gradually and safely. Ensure proper recovery by incorporating rest days, staying hydrated, and maintaining a healthy diet.
"As you get into a good routine and have some runs under your belt, gradually increase your mileage to build endurance and burn more calories. This should be a slow process, with increases in total distance of around 10% at most each week to avoid overtraining. During longer runs, mental toughness and overall endurance come into play, which can translate to all of your workouts and help you get into better shape as time goes on," she states.
7. Incorporate Tempo Runs
Tempo runs involve maintaining a challenging but sustainable pace for an extended period, typically at or slightly below your lactate threshold. This type of workout increases your cardiovascular fitness, improves running efficiency, and enhances calorie burn.
"Tempo runs, or threshold runs, are done at a pace that is often described as “comfortably hard,” meaning about 80% to 90% of your maximum effort for a set duration. This can vary from runner to runner and might be around 15 minutes for beginners or up to about 40 depending on your fitness level and overall running goals. Again, this depends on the runner, but there are plenty of resources online that can help with planning an appropriate tempo run," she explains. "Tempo runs help increase your lactate threshold, which can help you run faster for longer periods of time and boost your overall fitness as well as calorie expenditure as your workouts get longer and more difficult."
8. Don’t Neglect Strength Training
While running primarily targets cardiovascular fitness and calorie burn, strength training complements these efforts by building lean muscle mass. More muscle tissue increases your resting metabolic rate, meaning you burn more calories even at rest.
"It goes without saying that strength training can help you work toward weight loss and increased muscle tone, but it can also play an important role in strengthening your running abilities. Exercises targeting the core, legs, and glutes can help you build the muscles needed to run more efficiently in addition to helping you sculpt a defined physique," McNulty says.
