Health Benefits of Running: Weight Loss
It’s a warm summer day. You look out your window, and you see a women running up a hill. The glow of perspiration soaks her body. You wonder, “Why does she do it?” There are many good reasons. The health benefits of running far outweigh the initial discomfort that you might feel when you first begin a running program.
Many women’s health and fitness experts suggest running as an ideal activity for weight control. Provided that you do not have any chronic muscular-skeletal injuries, this is perhaps the best fitness advice you can get! Depending on your speed, a 130 pound woman can burn between 114 and 200 calories in a 20-minute running workout. If you add hill training, this number can be even higher! Running will also boost your metabolism, thereby elevating your metabolic rate for up to two hours after your workout. This means that you will be burning more calories even if you are sitting at your desk!
According to the National Weight Control Registry, an organization that tracks the progress of people who have successfully maintained a 30 pound weight loss, running 25 to 30 miles a week is the optimal mileage required for weight loss. Depending on your speed, this will amount to about 30 to 45 minutes daily.
