This post contains affiliate links.
I love the idea of track running because of the competitive element. What’s more, it’s a great opportunity to get to meet others who love the hobby of running as much as you do. Track running is also said to be filled with benefits that are great for your health. But today I wondered, is track running something that will help me lose weight?
Track running can be an excellent way of increasing weight loss. While a consistently healthy diet and a calorie deficit are the two main things that will help a track runner to lose weight. Track running itself can encourage an active lifestyle which can help you get the weight off and keep it off.
So reader, to help you understand how exactly running track can be beneficial for weight loss, I’ve got the opinion from other track runners, I’ve looked into the research, and I’ve weighed up the pros and cons.
What Runners Think
To get a better understanding of what track runners as a majority think about track running, I headed onto this online running track forum and created a poll asking what runners thought about track running being linked to weight loss. 137 runners voted. The results are in.
Hey Runners, will running track help me lose weight?
| Choice | Votes |
| Yes | 137 (47.9%) |
| No | 8 (2.8%) |
| It Depends On What You Eat | 141 (49.3%) |
Looking at the table above, it seems that the majority of runners believed that when it comes to running on a track to lose weight, it completely depends on what you’re eating. Some of the runners who voted had this to say:
“As I know fast running is not so god for fat burning. So running with a slower speed in a lower HR is better to loos weight. And I expect that you are talking about running fast on the track. But nevertheless it will help, but not as much as running slow.”
Clemi_br
“Do you think more exercise than what your routine is now will result in weight loss. Maybe, but muscle weighs more than fat.”
YYYdddEW966hgHCE
“Losing weight is really a simple concept. You consistently eat less calories than you burn.”
Local_Outcast
With the opinions of other runners in mind, I decided to look into what some of the current research suggests when it comes to running on a track to lose weight as well as running in general.
What The Research Says
This study from The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness looked at how combining average weekly distance running with small diet changes could result in reduced fat mass. They did this by asking runners to run an average of 5K or more per week and tracking it via GPS over a year-long period. Diet changes were also assessed through online questionnaires.
The study found that those who ran lost significantly more weight than those who didn’t. Simply put, whilst this study might have some limitations, it supports the fact that running 5K every week somewhere like a track and combining it with a healthy diet can be excellent for fat loss.
By the way, if you’re wondering whether or not a 5K might be a little too much to run on a track when it comes to losing weight, I’ve written an entire article about that very topic. You can find it here.
Surprisingly, it’s a little easier to find out whether track running will help us to lose weight by looking at rodents rather than people. This study from Physiology & Behavior looked at mice that they had deliberately overfed. By giving them a wheel and watching them run on it for 30 mins five days a week, they were able to work out that the mice who did this exercise were much leaner.
If I was asked to figure out the closest practical thing that people have to use as a running wheel, I would say that a running track is going to be your best bet!
Whilst the majority of people believe that diet is going to be the leading cause of weight loss, some disagree on how much of an impact exercise can make. This article from the British Journal of Sports Medicine discusses the fact that whilst we can’t “outrun” a bad diet, we don’t pay enough attention to all the positive benefits that come with doing exercises such as track running.
Simply put, even if exercises like track running and running, in general, don’t directly link to weight loss. They should still be considered because of all the other health benefits available.
By the way, if you’re interested in learning more about the health benefits of track running, I’d reccomend checking out the video below.
With the research above in mind and the opinions of other runners, I decided to look into some of the specific pros and cons surrounding running on a track to lose weight.
Pros Of Using Track Running For Weight Loss
Promotes Healthy Lifestyle
We’ve already established that if running on a track can help you lose weight, it can only do so if you’re eating right at the same time. That being said, there’s a good chance that getting into track running could be your gateway to a healthier lifestyle in general rather than just trying to go straight into dieting.
Helps Build Strength While Losing Weight
Whilst a diet alone will only help you to lose weight, track running alongside can offer lots of other benefits for your body. One of the most well-known of these benefits is building strength.
Building strength is crucial for track runners as well as runners in general because it helps in several areas. Examples include minimizing the damage that can be done to joints, aiding force as you push off from the ground, and minimizing the risk of injury or pain.
Typically, running is a total body workout and can help build strength throughout your body everywhere from the abdomen to the biceps. That being the case, runners can expect to build up the most strength in muscles throughout the legs such as glutes, quads, and hamstrings.
Interested in learning more about how running can help with strength? Check out the video below:
Great for Mental Health
In addition to physical benefits such as helping with losing weight and building strength, running on a track can be great for mental health. There are lots of reasons for this, which is why I wrote this article that covers it entirely.
However, according to John Hopkins Medicine exercises like running on a track can blunt the brain’s responses to emotional and physical stress. In some ways, perhaps track running is better for mental health than many other forms of running due to its healthy competitive nature.
What’s more, whilst running is usually an exercise that’s carried out alone, track runners can do it as part of a team, which brings an additional social side to running.
Cons To Using Track Running For Weight Loss
Weight Loss Isn’t Guaranteed
Simply put, the main way to lose weight is to get yourself into a calorie deficit which means eating lesser food than your body normally takes in. Whilst there is a lot of research that suggests that exercises like running on track can help you lose weight, there isn’t a lot of evidence to say that running alone will lead to weight loss.
If your only goal is to lose weight, then it might be a better idea to focus solely on your diet. However, if you want to get stronger, healthier faster, and in better shape overall, then it’s a much better idea to get into a sport like track running.
Could Cause You To Gain Weight
Believe it or not, when I first started running there was a period when I was actually gaining weight. This is because I thought that as I was running all the time, I could eat whatever I wanted. The result of this was me getting very far into a calorie surplus before realizing what was happening.
It’s not that surprising if you think about it. Many studies show that running can increase appetite. This is especially true for new runners whose bodies are adjusting to this new kind of exercise. One way to handle this is to stick to a high-carb diet but also keep count of your calories at the same time, this will help you to feel full and happy but also stop overindulging and gaining weight.
Running Track To Lose Weight Is Counter-Productive
If you’re waiting to get good at running track. It’s important to eat right. If you’re looking to lose weight, it’s important to decrease your caloric intake. Simply put, by decreasing the amount of food you eat, you could be seriously hindering your performance.
According to Ramstrack, a teenage track runner might be looking at eating 5000 calories a day to perform at their best. At the same time, someone looking to lose weight typically needs to aim for around 1500-2000 calories a day. So it’s clear that trying to do both will come with its problems. Either you will be too hungry and not able to perform properly, or you will be eating too much to lose weight.
How Running Track Causes Weight Loss
We’ve already discussed that the only way to lose weight is to get into a calorie deficit where the body burns more calories than it takes in. That being the case, the body does burn up calories by running. This is how running can support weight loss.
On average, the body will burn 100 calories per mile. This means that if you’re running a 5K on a track, you can expect to be burning around 310 calories.
Track running is arguably the best place for running for weight loss because it is the most ideal environment for sprinting, which can be especially good for burning calories. If you’re looking for a fast workout that will quickly help burn up some calories, then sprinting for 1 minute straight can typically burn around 20 calories. Just be sure to warm up first!
What Sort Of Foods Should Track Runners Eat?
If you’re wondering what runners should be looking to eat in general, then I’ve written an entire article on the best foods for runners which you can find here.
When it comes to track running, runners should be looking for whole and unprocessed foods that can provide them with lots of energy to do high-intensity training like sprints and interval running.
Some good examples of these kinds of foods include chicken, egg, grains and high-carb vegetables.
Running Exercises For Weight Loss
If you’re running track to specifically lose weight, there are some types of running that are more useful than others. The following types of runs are likely to help you burn the most calories.
- Long Distance Runs- This type of running can be carried out on a track, but may become boring after a while. So staying consistent will be tricky. Long-distance runs typically involve running at a pace of anywhere from 5 miles plus. If this sort of thing interests you, then you might be interested in checking out these articles I’ve written on running marathons.
- Interval Runs – Ideal for track, these runs involve doing an intense burst of exercise for set distances, typically around 400m-800m. Interval runs are especially great for track because it’s easy to measure the distances that you need to be running.
- Hill Repeat Runs- Unless you plan on finding a running track that goes up and down a hill, you will struggle to do this kind of running on a track. Hill runs are great for losing weight because they require you to use a lot of energy and force within short periods. You can learn more about them here.
Interested in learning more about running workouts designed for weight loss? Check out the video below!
