Use running to lose weight.
Running provides a simple, low-cost way for a beginning exerciser to lose weight. No matter what your fitness level is, you can gradually ease into running by starting slow and advancing at a pace that fits your body. Before beginning any running program to lose weight, check with your doctor. You can use a running program for any amount of weight loss as long as you follow the basic principles of get started.
Instructions
1. Set a consistent schedule for running. Even if your running regimen is light to start out with, the consistent schedule will get you into the habit of exercising regularly. Regular exercise helps weight loss more than a few random, intense running sessions. Try for 20 minutes three times per week to start, and increase to 30 minutes three to five times each week. Don't overdo it when starting out --- the resulting exhaustion can throw you off your schedule.
2. Run for a set number of minutes as opposed to a certain distance. At the early stages, the time that your heart rate is elevated matters more than the number of miles you run, especially for weight loss. Take breaks as needed. If you set the bar too high in the beginning, you won't have any room to improve.
3. Find a speed and pace of running that challenges you but does not exhaust you. Budget your energy so that you can exercise for your complete allotted time. Walk if needed in case the running becomes too much for that session --- keep moving. Incorporate regular walking breaks, such as 4 minutes of walking for each minute of running, and continue at that level until you feel that you can increase. Decrease the amount and length of walking breaks until you can run at a regular speed for your entire workout.
4. Stretch and warm up before every running session, especially as you advance to the point where you do not have any walking breaks in your running. This is important to avoid injuries. Don't stop your workout for a typical muscle strain --- this is expected at first --- but switch to walking until it subsides. If you pull a muscle or otherwise injure yourself, however, do not push it.
5. Increase the intensity of your running workout periodically to account for your increased fitness level. To lose weight, you must exercise at progressively harder levels to keep track with your body's increasing calorie-burning rate. If you always run the same distance in the same time, you will reach a weight loss "plateau" where your effort does not challenge your body enough. Add interval training techniques to your running, such as short sprints during your normal run, to aid weight loss.
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