Why Running Doesn’t Work

I often read about how ‘running doesn’t work’ or give people what it promised (assumingly abs). And it always gives me the pause especially if the given alternative is a stationary bike or something. Well, there are quite a few reasons why running may not work for you.

Your Diet Is Bad

More cardio or overall training time may be giving you the munchies because you haven’t adjusted your calorie intake to suit your training regimen. You eat too little and train too hard or long. You end up eating more calorie-rich foods when you hungry or snack a lot between the meals. It could be a whole other thing like not counting calories or worse, rewards (I ran today, I deserved it) and you end up putting weight on instead of burning it. False conclusion: running didn’t work for me.

You Run Too Little/Too Slow

Our bodies adapt to low and medium-impact cardio like walking and running pretty well, so in time we need to do more of it in order to nudge those last pounds. But if you are doing strength training and a couple of HIIT or circuit training sessions per week, you’ll be fine. It has to be noted that you need to balance both high and low impact cardio if you don’t want to overtrain and lower your immunity. Running a lot (marathon distances) can also take toll on your muscles. Here you will have to choose between endurance and competitiveness and appearance.

You’re A Fairweather Runner

If you’re not consistent with your cardio the effect will only last so long. While it’s not very pleasant or healthy to run in extreme temperatures, there’s always a good old treadmill that can help you keep your oxygen consumption at most efficient level and help you burn fat faster.