Five Mistakes Women Make When Running and How to Fix Them

Many women all over the world falsely think running is the ideal way to stay in shape. They run thinking they will tone up, lose weight or just become a healthier person. However, what if, running does not make you fitter? What if running actually goes against your weight loss attempts? Running is a great cardio exercise, but sometimes it goes against your weight loss attempts. It can make it difficult to lose weight. For many women, that would be discouraging, even worse for many women it would cause them to quit running all together, going back to a sedentary lifestyle.

One of the main reasons running doesn’t help you lose weight is it is the same exercise every workout. Studies have shown that your body actually gets used to the exercising making it difficult to lose weight. To achieve optimal weight loss, you must change your workout routine often. When you jog, often it is not maximum intensity. The fat burning mode of exercising is limited to when you are sweating profusely and reaching maximum heart rate. On average, the typical person will burn 200 calories per 30 minute session. Experts insist, instead of doing that, just reduce your calorie intake 200 calories, and urge it may even be more effective to shed extra pounds.

Another reason running may not work for your weight loss, is many people run longer, but do not add intensity. This does not burn much more calories. Many people jog at a pace that others can walk. So, how will a jog benefit you if you only jog three miles an hour? It likely will not benefit you for the energy spent. It would be much more beneficial for you to add sprinting to your jog or actually run at a faster pace for a much shorter time.

Focusing too much on calories burned alone in running, well all workouts in general are one of the biggest pitfalls of the runner. The fact is the calories burned in exercise routines are much smaller than the calories burned in your daily activities. This doesn’t mean you should not exercise at all; however, you should pick activities in the GYM that help you burn calories after exercising. That is the best way to get the calories to work for you for weight loss.

It is vital for your fitness level you participate in other forms of cardio. Many runners believe that longer is better for their endurance. That is not true. According to research, longer slower runs result in impairs strength and muscle growth. The opposite is true of sprinting and other cardio exercises like swimming etc. They help build muscle growth.

Running to often is also a huge problem. Many people believe more exercise results in more weight loss. Often it is the opposite. Your body needs time to rest. It needs time to rebuild muscles after exercise. It is very hard to lose weight when you constantly put it under stress either with running to often or stress in your personal life. Stress will halt your weight loss attempts faster than eating junk food.

Running is not a bad exercise, if done smartly. The key is to run in addition to other cardio exercises. Running is great to clear your head. Remember to run intense and keep your heart rate up. Do you run to lose weight? Is it working for you? Do you weight lift, as well?