No one can dispute that exercise helps with weight loss. Exercise causes the body to expend more energy, which burns additional calories. As you burn these calories, your body must draw on fat stores for fuel, promoting weight loss. Though running can help you lose weight, many variables besides how often you run can affect how much you lose.
Pounds
One of the first factors influencing how much weight you can lose running is your current body weight. It takes a certain amount of energy to move a body, so the number of calories burned vary from one person to the next. For example, someone weighing 125 lbs. will burn roughly 8 calories per minute running at a leisurely pace of 5 mph, where as someone at 185 lbs. burns almost 12 calories per minute.
Duration
The duration of your runs also affects the number of calories burned. Obviously, the longer you run, the more calories you burn and the more weight you can lose. No matter your size, it takes a deficit of 3,500 calories to drop 1 lb. of fat. Running for half an hour burns 355 calories if you weigh 185 lbs. Doing this six days a week equates to a weight loss of just less than 2 ½ lbs. in a month. Running for twice as long doubles results to almost 5 lbs.
Intensity
Increasing the intensity of your run forces your body to expend even more energy, causing you to burn a greater number of calories. If you increase your pace from 5 mph to 6 mph, you're now burning almost 15 calories per minute at a weight of 185 lbs. Over 30 minutes, you've burned 444 calories. Doing this six days a week equates to a weight loss of around 3 lbs. for the month. Increasing your pace even further to almost 7 mph burns roughly 16 calories per minute. Now, a 30-minute run expends close to 500 calories, providing a weight loss of almost 3 ½ pounds in a month.
Diet
Exercise has its limits, so reducing your caloric intake can help generate a more sizable deficit in calories. In fact, Dr. Donald Hensrud, a preventive medicine specialist writing for MayoClinic.com, recommends consuming fewer calories rather than increasing physical activity when you're looking to lose weight. Exercise appears to be more effective in managing weight than losing it.
References
- National Institutes of Health; Tips for Losing Weight; October 2009
- National Institutes of Health; Exercise and Weight Loss; October 2009
- Harvard Health Publications; Calories Burned in 30 Minutes for People of Three Different Weights; July 2004
- MayoClinic.com; Weight Loss: Better to Cut Calories or Exercise More; Donald Hensrud; June 2009
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