Why do you have to run to lose weight?

I remember the very first time I was introduced with peoples obsession to running. I was training a new mother who wanted to work off some of her baby weight and also to get stronger due to some previous injuries/surgeries. We were using FMS corrective exercise as well as kettlebell training under the Russian Kettlebell Challenge method. She loved the program and the benefits that it was giving her and she was progressing very nicely in strength, plus Turkish Getups and swings did not bother her knees. But at the end of one session she stated: “I just have to get back into running” when I asked why she said, “cause I want to lose some weight”. (hint to the sarcastic look on my face now. She had already dropped nine pounds in the past three weeks with no running whatsoever)

I explained to her that if she did not like running then there was no need to, she was getting all of the needed calorie burning benefits in our workouts and actually in half the time. She had some trouble believing me. I thought to myself, why are so many people hell bent on running to lose weight? And why do they feel that it is the best way to lose weight?

At some point and time our society is obsessed with running to lose weight. The funny thing is most people HATE RUNNING! I am not to say that I am above everyone else, I learned the hard way. I was talked into training for a half marathon, so off I went on a 16 week training program that started very slowly and gradually moved up my mileage. I went to a running store and bought a nice expensive pair of shoes that were made for my body type. Everything actually was going pretty well and I was starting to lose some weight along the way until one day my knee started snapping. I decided to ignore it and kept running, by the end of the workout my knee was in a lot of pain. I ended up having to take 3 weeks off of running and doing rehabilitation, getting ultrasounds, and taping my knee. I showed up to my 1/2 marathon at about the same weight I started at and was taped and braced to that knee. The race went fine until mile 10 when that unhappy snapping came back. I finished the race but was in alot of pain. I vowed never to train for that long of a run again. It got to the point that I hated running.

The problem with our culture that I am beginning to understand is how we exercise or in fact how we try to make exercise easier. Running has become a non-engaged exercise to us. We find ways to take our mind off of what we are doing (due to the fact that we feel we need to be on a treadmill for 60 minutes or need to run ten miles per day). Hence the TV’s in front of the treadmills, stairmasters, and ellipticals. We began not paying attention to what we are doing and how well we are doing it (with excellent form, or poor form thus the increased risk for injury).

So if you run because you love to let me give you some points to think about that may help you enjoy running and also stay out of the doctors office and physical therapy.

Science is pointing to the fact that our shoes and the way we run (heel strike) is doing alot of harm to our bodies and in all likelyhood our shoes may be one of the reasons Americans suffer from so many running related injuries.

Video on the effects of heelstrike running to forefoot running and barefoot running.

As you can see, a way to make running a more engaged activity is to run barefoot. This all came about by a gentleman named Chris McDougall, author of BORN TO RUN. The videos below explain the process of barefoot running and about the book itself and tells it way more than I can write.

Interview with Chris McDougall by the New York Times

Other ways to get better effects of running:

• performing sprints or intervals.
  • 2 minutes slow and steady pace (4 or 5 on exertion scale, concentrate on being light and springy like a coil), then 1 minute at a pace of 7 or 8 out of 10 on the exertion scale.
  • This can give you the same results as a 10k but in half the time.
• do something other than running.
  • Strength training is vital for the runner to stay healthy.
  • I am biased but I love Kettlebell training for the strength and cardio component that it provides at the same time.
• • the American Council on Exercise (ACE put the money where my mouth is) performed a study on the effects of kettlebell training towards fat loss. After all that was said and done, they determined that the kettlebell snatch can burn up to 20 CALORIES PER MINUTE!
  • Basically if you want to get the same type of calorie burn on a treadmill you would have to run for the same amount of time at a 6 minute mile pace! That is booking by the way! The next closest thing to the kettlebell snatch in terms of calorie burn was circuit training which came to 9 calories per minute.
• Participate in ENGAGED activity exercise
  • There are plenty of easy ways to perform ENGAGED activities that will help with your running
    • Jumping rope is a very self limiting exercise plus it works on the footwork needed to run correctly.  Personally I would take intervals of jumping rope instead of running on a treadmill on a rainy day
    • Trail running.  I had a patient in physical therapy that stated “I always have pain when I run on a treadmill or on concrete, but when I trail run I can run forever and am pain free”.  This is precisely my point!  She made trail running an ENGAGED activity because she was watching out for rocks, tree branches, working with hills and slopes and paying attention to her exercise.
    • 15 minutes of good Turkish Getups may be all you need for strength training to help keep you healthy and strong!
      • The get up with a kettlebell is an engaged activity with makes you use dynamic mobility and stability to perform an exercise that challenges all planes of movement, kind of like running don’t you think?
    • If you have any more ideas on types of engaged exercise, please post them in the comments below!
• attend a running clinic
  • learn how to run correctly!  Learn from the best!
• get a functional movement screen before starting a workout regimen
  • learn how well you move and if you have any imbalances that may lead you to an injury during your training

So if you run, do it because you LOVE it and how it makes you feel, not because you feel obligated to do it.  If you are too out of shape to run, recovering from a previous injury/surgery, or just flat out hate running then I suggest you get involved with an ENGAGED type of activity.  I have worked with individuals who have had total knee and hip replacements who are instructed NEVER to run again, but they can perform kettlebell swings and turkish get ups like no other and love the way it makes them feel.  I do suggest that you look into a Russian Kettlebell Certified instructor to learn how to perform the movement correctly since they are an engaged activity and technique is a must.