What do you think of running as an exercise? You probably think it’s good cardiovascular, “whole body” exercise, right?
Well, hold the phone, though. Actually, it’s NOT a good idea, according to a weight loss clinic expert, to include running as part of your physical activity workouts. There are several reasons for this. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Running really makes you look bad
Take a look at people who run professionally, as their sport. Do you think these athletes really look sexy, buff, or healthy? In fact, most of them are pretty gaunt and don’t look all that healthy.
Running is bad for the hormones
Sprinting is okay as an exercise, but if you’re a long-distance runner, or you do other types of “long distance” exercise like cycling or swimming, your hormones do a major readjustment, such that they aren’t beneficial to you anymore. You end up with more stress hormones, which actually help you hold onto fat and NOT build or hold onto muscle (and they also make you prone to illness), and beneficial hormones that could help you build muscle and BURN fat take a nosedive.
Running makes your metabolism drop, and actually consumes muscle
Because running actually “eats” muscle, you’re actually ruining your metabolism when you run too much. You need muscle to burn fat and calories, and running certainly isn’t going to give you muscle. Lose muscle, and you need fewer calories — which can only make you fat.
In addition, you have two types of muscle fibers (slow and fast twitch); slow twitch muscle fibers are the ones that get used when you run, but they don’t increase your metabolic activity, so they’re not going to help you burn fat. What you want to focus on our your fast twitch muscle fibers; these fibers are the ones that help you do “short burst” but very intense activity like sprinting. These are the muscle fibers you want to focus on to have a fast metabolism and a great bod.
Unfortunately, these two fibers (slow twitch and fast twitch) are in direct competition with each other, so when you develop one, the other gets ignored.
Focus on fast twitch fibers
Forget endurance training, because it only develops slow twitch fibers, which again don’t do anything for your metabolism. Instead, focus on developing fast twitch fibers, which only help your metabolism, according to a Georgetown Weight-Loss Clinic expert.
Running is hard on your joints
Running is really, really hard on your joints, especially long-distance running. So it’s okay if you sprint, because you can rest in between sprints (10-second sprints, followed by about a minute and a half of rest) and give your joints a break. But if you are constantly pounding your joints as an endurance runner, you are necessarily going to have some wear and tear, which is going to cause pain and suffering.
Endurance running is boring
Do you hate to exercise? If you try long-distance running as a way to lose weight, you’re going to hate it even more. Doing sprints along with other types of exercise not only is going to get you metabolism up, but they’re quick and short and you don’t have time to get bored. You can change them out with other types of exercise so that you’re always moving on to something new. Besides that, your workout only has to last 15 or 20 minutes, and you’re done. Contrast that to running for 30, 45 minutes, and doing the same thing over and over and over again during that time, if you endurance run. Sound fun? Not, right?
So make sure you change things up and DON’T do endurance exercise like long-distance running. Instead, keep things short and sweet, do “quick burst” types of exercise that are short and intense, and watch that fat melt away while the muscle builds.
Do you want to know the RIGHT exercise to losing the fat? Real and measurable fat loss results are possible with your very own Georgetown weight loss trainer. Getting the body you want has never been this easy!
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