Run-Down Forums

[Guest]

Hi Dan!!
I love all the advice you have given to everyone! So, I have a question for you. I am back to running again after a two year hiatus and I would love to get my husband involved. The only thing is, he feels that if he begins to run that he will lose weight. He is about 5'11 170lbs and he wants to gain bulk in his legs. I know that running long distances will probably not create "bulk" in his legs, so I thought that if we only ran three miles a day, three days a week, he can still get a good cardiovascular work-out and get the bulk he wants. Am I on the right track? While I'm asking, I on the other hand, am trying to lose the "bulk" in my legs.... hence, three miles a day, three days a week may backfire on me, huh? I do 3 miles in 30 min. so I am afraid if I quicken my pace to keep up with him, I will gain bulk as I have in the past. I suppose I should just run for 45 min at a slow pace to burn fat/tone right? Ok, that's about all. I hope my questions make sense!! Thanks!
Shelly

[Anonymously Posted by: 'casenshell']

[Dan]

Hi Shelly,

I was a bit too tired at 1am (after grocery shopping) to give a cohesive answer, not to say I'll do much better now...

First of all, I doubt anything less than 5-7 miles a day would cause significant loss of bulk in the legs. Keep in mind that running is a pretty intensive leg exercise, so it takes relatively high mileage to counter the strength building requirements in favor of efficiency.

Also, I think your consideration should be based more on duration and effort than pace. Many people say that more calories are burned at sustained, moderate efforts than at short, high intensity efforts. I couldn't disagree more! Research has shown (although I'm sure it's also shown just the opposite) that your metabolism can remain at its highest level for up to 17 hours following high intensity exercise. On the other hand, low intensity exercise allows it to drop to normal levels almost immediately after.

Most conventional wisdom ignores this, as well as the higher calories burned per minute at higher intensity, and points to the longer duration of low intensity stuff as the reason it burns more calories. Phooey.

Does that little rant help?

Dan