Weight Loss Ditch the Junk Miles

Talking about running with other women often leads to the “I run so I can eat cake” discussion. This is followed by proud descriptions of punishing training schedules, detailing running to or from work, hours on the treadmill after work, a weekend run of monstrous proportions – and, of course, the fabulous food enjoyed as a ‘reward’. Aside from potentially contributing towards a damaging ‘treat/punishment’ mentality around food, if you really do want to lose some weight then adding more and more long slow miles to your schedule to help counteract bad food choices could be the wrong way to go. So what are those extra miles doing to you, if not ensuring a smooth downward trend toward a healthy BMI? It’s possible they are creating stress, fatigue, increased appetite and, yes, fat.

Stress test

The reason for this could well be cortisol. Running stresses your body, and this can have an effect on the hormones that control your ability to lose fat. Cortisol, an adrenal hormone that is not all bad when released in day-to-day life, is released in a sustained way on a long-distance run. This effect was cited in a study conducted by researchers from the Technical University of Dresden in 2011. The effect of raised levels of cortisol in elite endurance athletes – who cross-train, rest and eat as professional runners do – and the rest of us, who just can’t, is not the same. We less-than-elite women, pounding out the miles for an hour or more a day, nodding off in the office, then treating ourselves to a big pizza supper on the basis of a “calories in, calories out” reward system, are often on a hiding to nothing.

Ditch the reward system

Hard minutes, not soft miles

Karen Weir (runwithkaren.com), running coach, ultra runner and triathlete, is all too familiar with this conundrum, and explains how it can happen:
“There’s more and more science to show that we’re being led a merry dance about carb loading. If you’re running to lose fat, you need to limit the carbs so that you can teach your body to burn fat stores.
“You need to do some hard, fast training to achieve the metabolic burn needed to become leaner and stronger.”
But what about those all-important ‘miles on your feet’ that would-be marathon runners need to include in their schedules? Are they pointless?
“If you’re training for long distance, of course you need to do the occasional long slow run. Don’t keep eating gels and energy drinks, and make sure you keep the pace really slow – less than 60% of your maximum effort.”

Speed it up

Swap steady state for heavy weights

Another trainer who has seen the disillusionment of the long distance runner at first hand is personal trainer Suzie Lubuska (wonderwomanworkshops.co.uk), whose workshops do wonders for core strength, overall fitness and muffin-top banishment.
“In terms of strength, running long is not going to help. I’ve trained marathon runners who have little or no strength beyond the endurance that’s required for running long distances, and they struggle with really light weights.
“Steady-state cardio is all very well for endurance but, if that’s all you do, piling on the miles, the end result is going to be injury, not overall fitness.
“If I have a client who comes to me with a specific goal, say to run a sub four-hour marathon and lose fat and gain muscle tone while she does it, I’ll draw up a programme that addresses the whole package, combining running with a couple of sessions of strength work. Yes, they need to put in the miles for the distance, but not to the detriment of their body strength.”

Get strong

Hunger games

Both Weir and Lubuska impress on their clients the dangers of running to eat – it becomes easy to ignore bad nutritional choices and to overeat your favourite junk foods.“Runners must not overcompensate for the calories they reckon they’ve lost while exercising,” says Lubuska.

In brief

Shake up your running to keep your weight loss on track:

• Run structured sessions, ideally with a group, so you don’t just drift off and run endless slow miles, daydreaming of your foodie “reward” afterwards
• Know the value of HIIT. Weir recommends including some 90% effort levels for, say 30 seconds, with 30-second recoveries, which can be uncomfortable
• Throw your weight around. “When I train runners for strength, I have them swinging Bulgarian bags and kettlebells repeatedly, with short, sharp runs in between. That kind of intense session is the kick up the backside that many distance runners need,” says Lubuska
• Take a rest. Bear in mind that recovery, both in the form of sleep and of active recovery (walks and gentle swims) are as essential as fast training
• Change the record. Vary your workouts, try something new, find out about Tabata, Zumba, or body pump. It’s not only running than gets your heart pumping.

Great Article from Womens Running by Ronnie Haydon.  www.govirtualrunner.co.uk