Tips for anyone trying to exercise to lose weight

The activity of running and exercise has been beneficial to health on many levels. Being active has advantages, from relieving stress, strengthening muscles, and losing weight. While all health benefits are important it seems that the activity of running is used for losing weight for many people. Depending on how fast and how far a person runs determines how many calories they burn. The important thing is to open up the door to the home and go for a walk or run.

There are a few points to make for exercise and running to lose weight. The impact of running on the feet and legs is approximately five times greater than standing still. If you are overweight the impact is even greater. While there are numerous reports and articles about the calories burned and benefits of running I had to experience this myself to really appreciate what it takes to run as an exercise to lose weight. When I ran marathons I weighed 155 pounds. I started the sport of power lifting and my weight increased to 185 pounds. While it was 30 extra pounds of mostly muscle, it was still an extra 30 pounds. I decided to go for a “quick” three-mile run one day. Since I am not a twinkle toes, light-footed runner, and more of a heavy-foot pounder, the change in how I felt was very evident. After that I told myself, “I will never tell an overweight person to run to lose weight.”  To this day I thought that three-mile run was the second hardest three miles I had ever done. The hardest three miles was the very first time I tried to run three miles after working out with weights one day. Fortunately my running partner decided he needed to tie his shoe better at the half way point. That slow untying the shoe, tie and tighten the laces of the shoe again, then the other shoe, gave us a good five minute recovery period. How we managed to finish that last half of the run was the hardest three mile run I ever did.

For an overweight person to run is a stress on the legs and joints. The force on the arches of the feet and the stress on the knees and hips is very significant. For many individuals running while overweight results in foot or knee pain. The heavier, or more overweight, a person is, the higher the risk of injuries. I recommend walking as a starting point. The stress on the legs is much less and the calories burned are almost the same as running. The calories burned are determined by the distance and time of exercise. A run of three miles may take 24 minutes. Walking three miles may take 45 minutes. Running burns more calories for a short time. Walking burns more calories by exercising a longer time. The distance was three miles for both and the calories burned are very close to the same.

As the person continues walking and gradually losing weight the walking may be increased to a faster paced walk, or striding. A gradual build up to a slow jog may be the next step. The leg muscle strength will increase and either the pace or the distance covered can be increased to burn more calories. The important factor is to be regular in your efforts to exercise. This is more important than trying to increase your pace before the body is ready to handle the extra stress from running.

The role of entering a local 5K race may find a bit of hesitation by the person. The thought of walking or doing a slow jog in a race may seem out of the question. The fact that roughly 30% or more of the entries are slow joggers and walkers. Many of them are overweight as well. When the person sees other overweight walkers and slow joggers they realize that they are just part of a varied race community. The encouragement talking with the other overweight walkers after the race is a motivation to continue with your exercise commitment. And the race tee shirt is a reward for entering a challenge that at one point in time you never thought was possible.

Other forms of exercise are also beneficial.  Bike riding is a great source of exercise for an overweight person as there is no stress on the feet or knees but the aerobic and calorie burning benefits are still there. If you are new to bike riding I suggest going to a bike specialty store for advice on the type of bike that best suits your exercise program.

One other option is the treadmill or stationary bike for exercise. These are good alternatives, but for me personally, the benefits of being outside in fresh air is not as boring as exercising in place.