How fast should i run to lose weight

Changing your running speed can make a difference in the amount of calories burned and weight lost per week. Fitness Training Running. Aubrey Bailey is a Doctor of Physical Therapy with an additional degree in psychology and board certification in hand therapy.

Bailey is also an Anatomy and Physiology professor. Jay Donelson. COM in Find your fat-burning heart rate zone to lose weight. Video of the Day. Resting Heart Rate. Maximum Heart Rate. He lost 60 pounds over the course of three years when he took up running and began to change his lifestyle. It's a process and your body gets used to it, but there is no magic pill. Look for this banner for recommended activities.

Cancel Yes. Join Active or Sign In. All rights reserved. Go Premium. Need Help? Learn More Customer Login. Share this article. Consider the following example:. If you weigh pounds and run 6 miles per hour a minute mile pace , you can burn calories in one hour according to the MyFitnessPal exercise calculator. If you increase your pace to 8 miles per hour a 7. Now, if you were to run that 8 mile-per-hour pace for 30 minutes, you would burn calories.

Stop here, and it would be easy to give steady-state cardio the victory. First, shorter runs are easier to fit into busy days, so you might be more likely to do the shorter, more intense workout than the longer, less intense workout. But slower runs help you build endurance, burn fat and are better for recovery. While reality is slightly more complicated, running is still an effective way to lose weight , though how fast you shed those pounds depends on a number of factors.

Weight loss is a matter of simple math. You need to be in a calorie deficit, or consume fewer calories than you burn, in order to see results. The number of calories you burn in a day — also called total energy expenditure — is made up of resting energy expenditure the calories needed for basic body functions , energy used during digestion, and energy used during physical activity. Running can help increase the calories burned part of the equation, inching you closer to the roughly 3,calorie deficit you'd need to create in order to lose one pound of fat.

The rate at which that happens will vary, but it's generally considered safe to lose one to two pounds per week. Unfortunately, there's no linear relationship between running and weight loss, because energy expenditure is based on a number of individual factors like age, sex, genetics, activity level, and more.

But that doesn't mean running isn't effective for those looking to drop a few pounds. Here's why it's a great workout and how you can optimize your runs to get results. The best type of workouts are ones you like and that you can stick to on a regular basis.

Running is one exercise that requires very little equipment or money to get started. At a minimum, you need a good pair of running shoes , a stretch of road, and a little motivation.