Running - fat burn vs muscle burn

[woodywoodford]

So I've started running to try and shed my beer belly/love handles, and get into decent running condition so I can do 20-25 km/week come summer. To do this I'm doing C25K which definately deserves its reputation. But I only just realized that to burn fat we apparantly want to go at a slower, steaper pace. Currently I run at 7.5 and incline of 2, but if I understand it I should be doing more like 4.5 and 4 for twice as long.

So just wondering. How significant will the fat burn be in say three months if I stick to 5k runs versus fat burning hill climbs? I'm about halfway through the program so I'd hate to lose that progress, but goals are goals.

[KRyn]

Investigate HIT training to maximize fat lose and muscle retention.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by KRyn
Investigate HIT training to maximize fat lose and muscle retention.

:werd: I lost 25 lbs in 4 months last year by doing 20 min hiit sessions a day. (twice a day, when I could). Probably could have lost it faster, if I stopped eating fast food :rofl:

[woodywoodford]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


:werd: I lost 25 lbs in 4 months last year by doing 20 min hiit sessions a day. (twice a day, when I could). Probably could have lost it faster, if I stopped eating fast food :rofl:

Did you have a particular plan you followed? I've got the diet part down so far (2 weeks and counting... still craving pizza), if you can get those results I'm all ears. And was that every day? 25 pounds is pretty much exactly what I'm looking to lose, by summer would just be icing on the cake.

[Tik-Tok]

I averaged 5 days a week, and probably 3 of those days were twice a day. I never could do full on HIIT, but I did 30 seconds hard, 60 seconds slow. The first few months I was only doing cardio on the elliptical, but I got bored of it, so my second session of the day was on the treadmill.

Also, even though I was eating junk food, I was also counting calories, and kept it to 2200 kCal or less a day (except saturdays, when I was usually drinking). If I ate healthier and less fat content, as I said, I'm sure I would have lost it quicker. I also learned to love just drinking water, because anything else is just empty calories. Putting lemon slices in helps with the blandness after awhile.

[woodywoodford]

Thanks, I think I'll give that a try. C25K can wait until summer I guess

[nzwasp]

Im also doing C25K - currently up to week 3. I plan to enroll into the st pats day run in mid march to give me a goal to work towards. However Ive been running at speed 6 on incline 2 for the last 2 weeks.

[dansmith11]

ya i've been running a shit ton for a year or two now (roughly 50-70k per week). and if there's one thing i've learned, its that long distance running sucks balls for burning fat. if you want to be able to run for the cardio benefits (or for fun), go for it. but if fat loss is your goal, HIIT is your friend.

by a rough estimate i usually burn about 1000calories for every 10km i run. so if you could somehow burn 100% fat (which you cant), you'd still have to run roughly 35kms to burn a pound of fat (3500 calories). and good luck running 35km and not being extremely hungry after. so when you factor in the calories burned from sources besides fat, plus the extra food you'll eat after running that kind of distance, you end up losing very little fat for a huge amount of effort.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by dansmith11
but if fat loss is your goal, HIIT is your friend.
:werd:

/thread.

[bigbadboss101]

Interval training over distance training any day, just look at the people who regularly perform these in general. Add in some sports, boxing, or high intensity lifting.

[Darkane]

Simple really:

Look at sprinters/hurdlers Vs distance runners.

Who is leaner?

Follow the light my friends.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Darkane
Simple really:

Look at sprinters/hurdlers Vs distance runners.

Who is leaner?

Follow the light my friends.

I would say that they are both quite lean.

The difference is that the sprinters and hurdlers actually have muscle mass.

[davidI]

Check out Tabata or the Insanity workouts.

[austic]

Originally posted by bigbadboss101
Interval training over distance training any day, just look at the people who regularly perform these in general. Add in some sports, boxing, or high intensity lifting.

To further this
2012 olympic Marathon winner
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Stephen_Kiprotich_at_the_London_2012_Men's_Olympic_Marathon,_12_August_2012.jpg/250px-Stephen_Kiprotich_at_the_London_2012_Men's_Olympic_Marathon,_12_August_2012.jpg

2012 Crossfit games winner (basically competitive HIIT )
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W2vVU6_8EBw/UBSfASEVrLI/AAAAAAAAJ0s/FFiQP-nEoBQ/s1600/338557_381119368621833_1242929792_o.jpeg

Genetics aside HIIT will provide a different build.

[Khyron]

What are you trying to accomplish? Run until you get lean, or run to get faster? Or look like weight guy above (in which you shouldn't be running much)

If you only have 1 hour to run a week, then it should be hard/high intensity to maximize that hour - assuming you don't hurt yourself. But if you are trying to run as much as possible in a week, then slower z1-z2 pace will let you get many more miles in for a given period.

Even if you run elite volume, you're not likely to atrophy into a Kenyan physique - genetics sets the ballpark you get to play in.

[shakalaka]

What exactly is HIIT?

Run on a treadmill for 20 minutes and go slow speed for 60 seconds and fast for 30 and keep repeating that?

I would love to look like the muscle guy above, but first I need to get rid of the belly/fat that I have accumulated in the past year of not going to the gym and working all the time.

[1-Bar]

Cleaning up the nutrition will yield better results that you're after then just the same daily diet and your running IMO

As for fat metabolism vs muscle catabolism, all depends on the diet. Fats utilize a different pathway then carbos/protein (muscle) and you have to eat different to target this as the main source of calories for the body instead of the usual carbo/protein which the body usually utilizes first.

[Khyron]

Originally posted by 1-Bar
Cleaning up the nutrition will yield better results that you're after then just the same daily diet and your running IMO

As for fat metabolism vs muscle catabolism, all depends on the diet. Fats utilize a different pathway then carbos/protein (muscle) and you have to eat different to target this as the main source of calories for the body instead of the usual carbo/protein which the body usually utilizes first.

I have never head of this. If glycogen stores are depleted, they get filled up, if they are full then excess cals get stored as fat or expelled. But eating a slice of white bread doesn't determine where it's going to get stored - the current state of the body stores does.

That's why nutrient timing is important, eat the right ratio before/during/post workout.

So many guys want to look like weight guy in the previous post, but end up looking like this:

http://i.imgur.com/cLV7T.jpg

[austic]

Originally posted by Khyron


I have never head of this. If glycogen stores are depleted, they get filled up, if they are full then excess cals get stored as fat or expelled. But eating a slice of white bread doesn't determine where it's going to get stored - the current state of the body stores does.

That's why nutrient timing is important, eat the right ratio before/during/post workout.

So many guys want to look like weight guy in the previous post, but end up looking like this:

http://i.imgur.com/cLV7T.jpg
Thats been more my understanding as well. I know a few of our athletes are going on 21 day carb fasts to be able to use glycogen stores more effectively. dont really understand how it works though.

[sputnik]

:rofl:

http://quicklol.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/legs.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OKzr7LcmM1M/ULpaH5OAYUI/AAAAAAAACYI/V_WbSMSASZ0/s1600/Gym+Meme+-+Guy+with+Skinny+Legs.jpg