Burning fat while running is more than a nice side effect. We explain how you lose weight by jogging and what role nutrition plays.
Burning fat is enough motivation for many to go running regularly! Rightly so, after all, jogging is an effective method of permanently increasing energy expenditure.
Anyone who uses more calories than they consume through exercise, i.e., who ensures a negative energy balance, can lose weight sustainably.
How Does The Body Burn Fat?
Our fat cells have the task of storing energy. The body, in turn, needs this for everything that the heart, lungs, muscles, and Co. do – whether during sport or at rest.
Any excess calorie is fed in so the organism can survive in the event of famine. Fat cells can expand up to 200 times their original size.
During burning fat, the body draws its energy from the fat cells.
For a long time, it was believed that the fat stores are only attacked during physical exertion when the glycogen stores – our second source of energy, the carbohydrate depots – are empty. In the meantime, however, it is known that both sources are tapped immediately.
However, since energy in sugar is available more quickly, fat-burning only runs at its highest level after about 30 minutes.
Burning Fat While Running
Regular jogging not only improves your essential endurance but also trains your fat metabolism. Your body learns to draw more and more energy from its fat stores faster.
Tip: The more muscles you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate – i.e., the primary energy consumption. Strength training as a supplement to running makes perfect sense!
Fat Metabolism Training – This Is How It Works
Our metabolism needs oxygen to burn fat. For runners, this means that they shouldn’t get out of breath and should train in the aerobic zone instead.
The more basic endurance you have, the more efficient you are when running and the more energy your body burns in fat.
According to specialist studies, in addition to the degree of athleticism, the intensity of the load also influences the fat metabolism:
Accordingly, we have the most significant percentage of fat burning when running in a range of approx—50 to 75 percent of the maximum heart rate. The best way to check your jogging frequency is with a heart rate monitor.
It is also true that the metabolism of fats becomes more critical the more prolonged the load lasts. “During ultra-endurance competitions, throughput rates in fat metabolism can be as high as 1 g/min,” according to research
Are You A Jogging Beginner?
For jogging beginners, the first thing is to increase the proportion of free fatty acids for energy production and improve your fat metabolism.
This is achieved through more extended, slow endurance runs, with which you train your endurance. This increases the activity of the fat-splitting enzymes, and your body can access the fats more easily and quickly – both during exercise and at rest.
Start with two to three 30 to 45 minutes each and gradually increase the duration and frequency.
Are You An Advanced Runner?
Trained runners can step on the gas once or twice a week. Because even if the percentage of fat burned while running is higher at a slow pace, running fast increases the total consumption.
Instead of frequent endurance runs, you can replace every second or third unit with driving games, tempo runs, and interval training.
Because: Intensive Training leads to more efficient fat utilization in the hours after Training. So you burn calories during exercise and when you are resting.
The Right Diet
Nutrition accounts for 70 percent of your training success. Burning fat while running is particularly effective if you also change your diet.
If you want to lose weight, you have to rely on a negative energy balance – i.e., consume less energy than the body uses. Our basal metabolic rate calculator provides information about your daily energy requirements.
Carbohydrates are essential for runners because endurance exercise uses up glycogen in the muscles and liver. But they have to be the right ones – for example, whole grain products, quinoa, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, and legumes.
In addition, healthy fats such as olive or linseed oil, nuts, avocado, as well as valuable proteins support your fat burning.
Go running early in the morning. You should try not to have breakfast. Training on an empty stomach has benefits if you want to burn fat effectively. Because the glycogen stores are almost entirely emptied overnight, your body learns when you exercise in the morning to use free fatty acids earlier and more often for energy production.
ALSO READ: NO MORE MORNING GROUCH! WITH THESE SIMPLE TIPS, EVERYONE WILL BECOME A MORNING EXERCISE