When chatting to people and they hear that I’m a trail runner, one of the first things that I am nearly always asked is with a trail running can really cause weight loss or is it just all a fallacy. So I set about doing a personal experiment to see how my trail running impacted on my body weight and I made a couple of interesting discoveries along the way.
Trail running is an excellent form of exercise to speed up the metabolism and accelerate weight loss. However, trail running must be balanced by healthy nutrition in order to be able to lose weight.
Let’s take a closer look at exactly what causes us to lose weight as a runner and whether or not we can do anything to help us all lose weight without losing weight too quickly, as that could potentially be a bad idea.
Can Running Really Cause Weight Loss
Running can cause weight loss as we burn 100 calories for each mile that we run. The weight loss caused by running is a gradual weight loss over months but it is only effective when combined with healthy nutrition.
The truth, about trail running and weight loss, is that each mile we run burns approximately 100 calories. Therefore, the more we run the more calories we burn. However, that is only one side of the weight loss journey.
If we go out for a 2-mile run we would have burned about 200 calories. If we follow that up by shoving a whole lot of junk food down a throat and rack up 2000 Cal of intake we certainly wouldn’t be losing much weight at all.
So what I can say is yes, trail running can help us lose weight, but we have to make sure that we’ve got a good handle on our nutrition levels.
Can You Lose Weight Just By Running
Only doing running and not changing anything else in your life is not sufficient to lose weight. It requires 35 miles of running to burn the number of calories contained in 1 lb of fat. Running can accelerate a weight loss program but is insufficient on its own.
Following on from what we have just been talking about, there are 3,500 calories in just one pound of fat. Because we already know that we burn about 100 calories for every mile that we run, we can extrapolate that it will require 35 miles of running to burn 1 lb of fat.
Think about that for a moment. To burn off just one pound of fat from running will require running an ultra. What’s more, that calculation doesn’t take into account the number of calories that we consume each day.
Therefore if we are not too excessive with our food intake, then by regular trail running we can push our bodies into the calorie deficit needed to be able to lose weight.
How Much Should I Run Per Week To Lose Weight
When you combine running with a lifestyle of healthy nutrition, running for between 30 and 40 minutes, 4 to 5 times a week should be sufficient to put you on a path towards weight loss.
In most circumstances running for 30 to 40 minutes, 4 to 5 times a week will be sufficient to put you on the path toward weight loss.
What is equally important, however, is that you do not push your run mileage up too quickly otherwise you risk getting injured. Injuries mean taking time off and away from running for weeks on end and that will severely impact your ability to be able to use running as a means to lose weight.
How Long Does It Take To Start Losing Weight From Running
Under normal conditions and with good nutrition, a 180 lb person who runs 5 miles every day will lose about 5lbs of body fat per month. However, for the first 6 to 8 weeks the body is adding muscle mass so total body weight will likely remain static even though body fat levels are reducing.
The amount of time that it takes until you start losing weight from running is dependent upon your fitness level. As you get fitter, you are able to run further and more regularly. Fit muscles are able to burn calories even when recovering after a workout.
Generally speaking, however, a 180 lb person who runs 5 miles each and every single day of the week will lose approximately 5 lb of body weight per month. This is assuming that their nutrition is dialed in to fuel their recovery without overdoing things.
However, the rate at which you lose weight will become slower as you get lighter if the time you spend running stays the same. This is because part of your calorie burn rate is your body moving your current body weight over the distance that you’re running. Therefore, the lighter you are, the less energy it will take for you to move your body over the same distance out on the trails.
What I noticed when I was losing weight was that I hardly noticed any difference on the scales for the first 6 to 8 weeks. This is because I was building muscle in my legs at the same rate I was burning fat. After those first weeks, my weight loss reached a tipping point and my scale started showing lighter and lighter just about daily.
Does Trail Running Make Your Butt Bigger Or Smaller
Trail running, especially on hills, is a good workout for the glute muscles. As a result trail running will make the butt firm and toned. For most of us, trail running will make our butts a bit smaller as we burn off excess body fat.
For the vast majority of us, running on the trails will make our butts a bit smaller. However, running will make your butt firmer and more toned. If your goal is to build a larger butt then doing squats in the gym with heavy weights will need to be part of your training regime.
However, when it comes to running on the trails you’ll be able to burn some of the excess fat that you might be carrying on your body. Therefore, instead of having a floppy/saggy butt, it will be firm and tight.
I find that trail running up hills tends to work my glutes (my butt muscles) way more than when running on flatter trails.
For me, however, it is more important to be getting myself fitter and stronger to be able to run further on the trails without getting injured rather than how large or small my butt might be getting.