RUNNING: EFFECTIVE WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT.

RUNNING: EFFECTIVE WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT.  Running is considered one of the most popular sports when it comes to losing weight . It’s no longer a secret that you burn a lot of calories while jogging, but is running really the most efficient way to lose weight or is that just a myth?

Many people ask themselves this question, especially as they get older, because many people struggle with annoying pockets of fat. No wonder, because aging is associated with many physiological processes that lead to a decrease in muscle mass and an increase in fat mass. However, if you exercise regularly, you can prevent physical changes as you age. Finnish researchers recently examined how exercise influences aging and what effects different sports have on physical condition.

In order to research how long-term running affects body composition in old age, the researchers used data from the Athletes Aging Study (ATHLAS Study): Here, body information was collected from 109 young male subjects aged 20 to 39 and 147 older subjects, who were 70 to 89 years old were collected. These were athletes from various disciplines, such as endurance athletes, strength athletes and competitive athletes. In their new study, the Finnish researchers now compared the data on fat mass and lean mass of competitive athletes with those of subjects of the same age who were regularly active in sports, but not competitively.

Jogging doesn’t directly help you lose weight, but it does prevent you from gaining weight

The results of the study show: Running, whether long distances or shorter sprints, leads to a lower percentage of body fat in the long term. The evaluation showed that even older sprinters and endurance athletes had a lower body fat percentage than the younger participants in the strength athlete or control group. Nevertheless, the researchers point out that jogging does not directly lead to weight loss, but rather helps not to gain weight.

Running could be enough to keep you productive even as you get older

In order to remain productive in old age, the proportion of muscle mass is of course also very important. As assumed by the researchers and probably understandable for everyone, the study was able to prove that strength athletes have more muscle mass than endurance athletes or non-athletes. In fact, older strength athletes had similar muscle mass to younger subjects in the same discipline. Nevertheless, the study also provides good news for enthusiastic runners: the older endurance athletes also had more muscles than the defined threshold for the age-related natural loss of muscle mass for the respective age group.

In order to keep fat mass as low as possible even in old age and to prevent the loss of muscle mass, a combination of endurance and strength training together with a balanced diet is recommended, as this way the body can benefit from the advantages of both disciplines.

A new study shows that regular jogging helps prevent weight gain. Even if running doesn’t immediately have the desired weight-loss effect, you should stick with it: Jogging can keep your body productive, especially in the long term, and not only reduce fat, but also maintain muscle mass