If you’re looking to shed some pounds, you’ve likely considered how many miles you should run each week to reach your weight loss goals. But, as with most things in life, the answer depends on you and what you want out of your exercise program.
To start, you should learn about the basic principles of weight loss through running. Then, you can decide how many miles you should run based on your own personal goals. Finally, we’ll discuss some alternative methods for measuring your progress so you can see how far you’ve come and what’s left to reach your full potential. Let’s get started.
The Basics Of Weight Loss Through Running
To lose weight, you need to put in the time and effort to burn extra calories. There are several ways to do this, but arguably the most efficient and effective way is running. Running offers several advantages for weight loss because it’s low impact, high calorie-burn, and it forces you to engage with your body in a way that makes you feel stronger and more empowered.
The first step in losing weight through running is understanding how many calories you need to burn each day. This calculation is easy and can be found on many online calculators. All you need to do is determine how many calories you consume on a daily basis and how many calories you need to burn in order to lose weight. Start by looking at the calories you consume on a daily basis. You can find this info in your weekly grocery list, which you can keep track of on a weekly basis. For example, let’s say you consume 2500 calories per day. This means you need to burn 500 calories more per day in order to lose weight. (1 500 calories = 1 kg) You can use this equation to find out how many calories you need to burn per week:
- How many miles do you run each week?
- How many calories do you burn while running?
- (Total calories burned x 1.5) – (Total calories consumed)
- = How many miles you should run per week to lose weight?
Once you have this number, you can decide how frequently and how long you should be doing your workouts. For instance, if you need to run four miles per week to lose weight, but you only have time to do three, do the three. Alternatively, you could do five, but if you have the time you could do six or seven.
What Kind Of Running Should You Do?
The next step is to figure out what kind of running you should do. There are four basic types of running:
- Farming – Tilling the soil, planting seeds, and watching them grow. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon. However, the point of this type of running is not to lose weight but rather to improve your health by getting some vitamin D and regular exercise. (Also known as “Mowing the lawn” or “Gardening” depending on which part of the world you’re in.)
- Hiking – Moving from point A to point B while enjoying the beautiful scenery in between.
- Marathon – Running a race (whether competitively or not) until you drop.
- Cycling – Using your bike for transportation or sport. Riders spend a lot of time peddling but they also reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Consider getting a bike fit so you can achieve your full potential on two wheels.
Deciding which type of running to do can be a bit complicated because it’s not always easy to know how you’ll actually use it. For example, if you walk a lot, but enjoy the scenery while doing it, you might want to consider doing some hiking. Or, if you need the mental stimulation of a daily workout, but want to avoid the long walks that make up much of a hike, you could choose a marathon.
How Often Should You Do Your Runs?
The last step is figuring out how often you should do your runs. This depends on you and what you want out of your exercise program. Some runners do their workouts every day while others prefer to do them less frequently. If you’re looking for a general guideline, you could do some research and see how many miles you need to run per week to lose weight. However, this number will vary because it depends on you and what you want out of your program. If you want to shed some pounds, you might want to try and run as frequently as possible. Alternatively, if you want to do some longer hikes, you could do them less often to make sure you have enough recovery time in between sessions. If you’re trying to improve your overall health, you might want to run less frequently but make sure you do enough to stay healthy.
Now that you have an idea of how many calories you need to burn per day and how many miles you should run per week, you can get started on your journey to a healthier lifestyle. Remember to stay consistent and make sure you follow through on what you started. Being active is key to living a healthy and happy life and you’ll have a much better chance at reaching your goals if you keep this up. Happy trails!