Will Running Tone Your Muscles?
By admin on Sep 25, 2010 in Health and Fitness
Many people turn to running when they are looking to lose weight and tone their bodies, but is this really the best way to get those lean, defined muscles you are after?
From my experience and research, I can tell you that although you will initially achieve a certain amount of definition from running (not just in your legs) once you hit a plateau those gains are stopped. And, in running breaking through a plateau often means you must run longer or faster which both have their upper limits when it comes to steady-state, endurance based cardio.
The other potential downside to just running to increase muscle definition and body fat loss is that the activity itself can be catabolic. This means that you may actually lose muscle which will further slow your metabolism, and when you’re trying to lose weight this is the opposite of the intended effect that you’re looking for.
Lastly, endurance based running (not sprints) neglects to fully utilize your fast twitch muscle fiber and as a result you miss out on being able to significantly improve muscle tone. So, although I don’t recommend you drop running completely (unless you don’t like it or you feel pain while running) I would highly recommend you add in some resistance based workouts to compliment your endurance based cardio.
Stephen Cabral, CSCS, CPT, NS is the owner of Stephen Cabral Studio weight loss & personal training in Boston, MA, and also offers online fitness coaching.
Credits to:Nutrition Data: Dieting & Weight Loss Blog