Running to Lose Weight May Also Lead to Loss of Mobility - Health - Weight Loss

The results are finally becoming clear about running to lose weight and they are not very pleasant. The vast majority of people, who spend much time running, end up paying a heavy price.

First, let's start with the knees. It has become an epidemic in our aging population to suffer knee problems, and leading surgeons are telling anyone who will listen, "Stop running on hard surfaces." If you must run you need to do it in a swimming pool with water above your waste or on a low impact surface like a rebounder. The knee is a strong and resilient joint, but it was not meant to be pounded on pavement for mile after mile and year after year.

Next we come to the health benefits of running, or the lack thereof. Steady, long, endurance exercise is not something that is conducive to long term health. Beyond the effects to the joints mentions above, endurance exercise floods the body with free radicals. Maybe you've heard of these, they zip through the body wreaking havoc and are related to a myriad of health concerns.

Also, endurance exercise forms a type of muscle in the body that is the least efficient at burning fat. So if you are running to lose weight you are really doing yourself a disservice.

So, what should you do instead? Low impact of course, but you also want to add intensity.

Intense exercise of but my favorite Sprinting (on bike, rebounder, pool, etc. This will create the type of fat burning muscle that you want without the free radicals or the joint overload.

But the above can create knee pain in the long run so monitor your knee pain carefully. If you experience any discomfort you may have to back off on the impact.

So keep this in mind as you make your plan of action.

???????