Does Running work?! I run all the time but can't lose weight! Understanding science to achieve weight loss.

Nothing can be more demotivating than starting an exercise plan, sticking with it and not seeing results. This may happen if you do not understand the body and how it reacts to movements. The body is amazing but also complex. Our bodies were built for the year 10,000 B.C. and understanding our different systems will help you create an appropriate plan and get results.

The human body has three different energy systems. These energy systems are designed to give us the fuel needed to maintain an action or movement. The different systems oversee different intervals of activity and burn different “fuel”. The “fuel” is the food we eat and store in preparation for exercise. The three main energy systems the human body use is phosphagen, glycolysis (anaerobic), and aerobic. These energy systems are utilized by the body to optimize our output during action. The systems are fueled by different groups and not to bore you with science, the easiest way to think of it is in protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Each system uses these “fuels” during output.

When we eat food, the body uses the nutrients to replenish what we have used and store what we may need. Anything extra it turns into fat as our “just in case fund.” This is why understanding this concept will lead to weight loss. It is more than just counting calories and reducing intake. Reducing intake will lead to weight loss but only if we used our calories for the day and have no need to store more fat for a “rainy day.”

A good way to outline our body energy needs is to understand the dinosaur age. When we were adapting to our environment, the body wanted to survive. When dinosaurs roamed the earth, we were not at the top of the food chain and plenty of threats were around every corner. If a caveman was going on a nice walk through the prehistoric meadow and a Velociraptor jumped out the grass, the caveman needed to go from 0-60 as fast as possible. This is the phosphagen energy system that gets us from stagnant to movement. If the predator continued to chase, then we needed to maintain our pace and continue running away. Our body was not ready and did not have a warmup session to prepare but we still need to perform. This is the anaerobic (glycolysis) energy system at work. If this was to happen, the caveman would probably want to change location to get far away from the Velociraptor, so he just kept running. The continuous, slow run is an example of the aerobic system. These are all three systems at work and how we adapted to our surroundings.

Our predators during 10,000 B.C.

We dug into what “fuel” the body uses during each stage and now understand what foods the body needs to produce energy. This also allows us to understand how to burn the “fuel” more effectively which is how we can optimize our workouts. Depending on what your goal is, you can generate a customized plan to work the appropriate system. This is how we lose weight.

Remember, an object at rest stays at rest until acted upon by an outside source. If we are sitting on the couch and we want to go run, we need the energy boost to start moving forward. This energy boost is the phosphagen system. This system primarily uses creatine as the “fuel.” Creatine comes to the body through proteins ingested (i.e. dairy, red meat, poultry, and fish). This boost of creatine triggers the muscles for movement and allows us the physical energy to begin movement. This energy system lasts between 0 and 30 seconds. This is dependent on your specific body, but this time is a good base. This is why most people can sprint fast for short distances or do a lot of push-ups very quickly before getting tired. After about 30 seconds their body switches into the anaerobic system and fatigue sets in.

The anaerobic system lasts from 30 seconds to about 3 minutes. This is based on your fitness level and heart rate. The anaerobic system is also known as glycolysis because this system uses glucose as the primary “fuel” source. Glucose is a sugar that derives from carbohydrates. The process of the carbohydrate being used to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is known as glycolysis. This entire energy system is called anaerobic because it is without oxygen. If you started to sprint, your body uses the creatine (phosphagen) to start moving, then your muscles need energy to keep going after the creatine is depleted (30 seconds), this is when it begins to break down carbohydrates to produce glucose to use as the energy molecule (ATP). I know it is getting a little confusing but basically, 0 to 30 seconds the body uses creatine and 30 seconds to 3 minutes, the body uses carbohydrates. This cycle is a moderate to high intensity, short duration activity.

The final and long-term system is the aerobic energy system. Aerobic means with oxygen, and this is when your body starts to send oxygen throughout the muscles groups to sustain long term action. This energy system is the most important for weight loss because no other system burns fats. This system “fuel” is carbohydrates and fats. During glycolysis, the body breakdowns glucose and a byproduct of this is pyruvate. When oxygen is present, pyruvate turns into a fat burning acid. This acid moves through the body and breaks down stored fats and turns then back into carbohydrates to continue the Kreb cycle. This is when we start utilizing our stored energy during activity. This cycle lasts from 3 minutes till complete. This is a low intensity constant movement for an extended period.

Long, slow run burning fat in the aerobic energy system

As you can see, to lose weight or burn fat, we must be working out inside the aerobic energy system. This is why if you run you may not be going long enough to begin burning fat. Your diet also affects your energy systems because if you have a high carbohydrate diet, then your body has more readily available energy and does not need to burn fat as early. If you begin running and go one mile and it takes you 9 minutes, this is not enough time to initiate the need to burn our stored fats. Your body will burn through your carbohydrates and use your next meal to replenish your losses and maintain your stored fats for the “rainy day.”

Now that we understand the energy systems, how do we use this information? The easiest way to track which system you are working out in is through monitoring your heart rate. There are five heart rate zones and certain zones train certain systems. Each zone is calculated as a percentage of your maximum heart rate. I will cover this topic in depth in a different blog but heart rate zone 3 is optimal for aerobic training (fat burning), and heart rate zone 4 and 5 is optimal for anaerobic systems.  So, to lose weight from running alone, you should get to heart rate zone 3 and stay in this zone for 10 to 40 minutes depending on fitness level.

Using the one mile run as an example, it is amazing that you are running one mile but if you are starting off too fast and raising your heart rate above zone 3, then you will finish only training your anaerobic system. This will not result in burning fat. If you go too slow and your heart rate stays in zone 2, then you also will not burn fat. This is where understanding the energy systems can help you maximize your time and get better results. Running is real and can help you lose weight if done properly.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will answer any concerns or clarify any misunderstandings. There are a lot of myths in the fitness world, and I am here just to give real science backed knowledge. Hopefully we can spread the importance of maintaining mobility to the people so everyone can enjoy life longer. Check out my video for more information on this topic and as always, stay happy and helpful!

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