Is It Safe To Run Everyday To Lose Weight

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Walking For Weight Loss Plan—no Gym Required

Angle down icon An icon in the shape of an angle pointing down. Running is a great form of exercise that can help you lose weight and boost your mood. Oleg Breslavtsev/Getty Images

While running can be an active and cost-effective exercise routine to improve your overall fitness and boost your mood, there are risks to running every day. Here is everything you need to know about how often you should run and when you should take a break from hitting the pavement.

Running is great, but it's important also to keep the tissue fresh and not have the same stress [and] the same load applied in a consistent manner all the time, says Edward Laskowski, MD, a professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Mayo Clinic.

Will Running Everyday Help Me Lose Belly Fat?

Running every day can increase your risk of overuse injuries, which are caused by repetitive trauma. Overuse injuries include stress injuries in your muscles, tendons, and ligaments as well as stress fractures, according to Laskowski. You can also get pain and inflammation in the muscles and tendons along the shin, an injury called shin splints.

There are two risk factors for overload and stress injuries, says Laskowski: the greater the number of consecutive days running and the greater the total mileage. It's like a linear graph, if you run 7 days a week and you run a bunch of miles each of those days, then that's a higher risk category.

While you should not run every day, you should aim to run between three and five days a week. That's because, if done right, there are many benefits to running.

How Many Times A Week Should I Run?

Running is going to improve your quality of sleep, it's going to decrease your stress levels, and enhance your cognition, says Slater Nelson, MS, the owner and coach of the personal training program EsdotFitness in Chicago.

Running, like other aerobic exercises, can also reduce your health risks in cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and some cancers. It can also increase stamina and decrease fatigue, as well as strengthen your muscles.

According to Nelson, you should run for 30 to 45 minutes, with a warmup and cool down included when you're a beginner. Don't just run as fast as you can right away. Start off with a moderate walk for a few minutes then pick up into a light jog. At your peak, you'll be at a light jog or run before slowing back down to a swift, then moderate walk.

Strength Training For Fat Loss

In the usual case of adding distance, it's good practice for a runner to only increase their mileage by 10% every week to reduce overuse injuries.

How long you rest really depends on what the problem is, according to Laskowski. If you do have a stress fracture, those can take four to six weeks off of running to heal. Otherwise, just a day or two should be adequate to recover from sore muscles.

Cross-training, defined as using several different types of exercise to train, can decrease your risk of overuse injuries due to running frequently. It also conditions and strengthens muscles that support you while running.

Running A Mile A Day: The Pros And Cons For Your Health

I always say you shouldn't play your sport to be in shape, you should be in shape to play your sport, says Laskowski.

A 2015 study found that women who participated in cross-training had higher muscular and aerobic endurance compared to those who only practiced one form of training. Another small study conducted in 2018 found cross-country runners improved their running performance by adding elliptical biking and outdoor cycling to their schedule twice a week.

According to Laskowski, it's good to alternate running with low-impact activities to keep your muscles receiving different stimuli. He says a good example of this is to run on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Then bike on Tuesday, use the elliptical Thursday, and swim on Saturday. This can keep you fresh for running and lowers your risks of overtraining by utilizing different muscles.

Signs Working Out Every Day Is Too Much, From Experts

Although running is a beneficial activity to do frequently, running every day can increase your risk of injuries like stress fractures and shin splints. Instead, aim to run three to five days a week and incorporate rest days and cross-training like biking or swimming. This not only reduces your chance of running-related injuries but also increases your overall productivity and fitness.

Elena Bruess is a writer and multimedia journalist based in Chicago. Her work covers the intersection of health, environment, and human rights.asks you to accept cookies for performance, social media and advertising purposes. Social media and advertising cookies of third parties are used to offer you social media functionalities and personalised ads. To get more information or amend your preferences, click the ‘More Information’ button or visit 'Cookie Settings' at the bottom of the website. To get more information about these cookies and the processing of your personal data, check our Privacy & Cookie Policy . Do you accept these cookies and the processing of personal data involved?

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Running For Weight Loss: A Simple Guide To Help You Shed Those Stubborn Pounds

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Should I run every day? Probably not. But it depends on the intensity. Here's how to adjust your running volume to enhance your performance.

Training For A Marathon: How To Prepare

Maybe you're craving that runner's high and are itching to log some extra miles. Or perhaps you want to reach your goals more quickly and you think jogging every day will help you do that.

There are so many benefits of running; it's easy to believe that more is better. It can be especially tempting if you're training for a half-marathon or other race, or you have specific goals like weight loss.

But is it OK to run every day? The simple answer is: No, you need at least one rest day a week to allow your muscles to recover. Plus, overtraining can lead to overuse injuries, stress and prolonged fatigue.

Ways To Run To Lose Weight

Where the answer gets complicated is for advanced runners who know how to properly programme a running routine and might be fine running every day. Consider this your guide to finding the balance between running and recovering so you can avoid burnout.

Adults should aim to exercise between 150 and 300 minutes a week at a moderate intensity, or 75 to 150 minutes at a vigorous intensity, according to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Here are some ideas of what that might look like for a weekly running schedule:

Rest and recovery are an essential part of your workout programme. When muscles experience micro-tears in response to a training stimulus, it triggers the repair process. Blood gets pumped to the muscles to clear out lactic acid and supply oxygen and nutrients.

Run To Lose Weight Safely (top Tips & Mistakes)

But this repair process doesn't happen instantaneously. Post-workout recovery can take anywhere from two days to a week, depending on the intensity of the activity performed, according to the American Council on Exercise. This can be based on:

So, in terms of running and whether you can run daily, the answer is: it depends. Weigh the pros and cons to decide what's best for you.

A July–August 2017 study in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases found that running five to 10 minutes every day at a moderate pace resulted in improved cardiovascular health, lower blood pressure and reduced risk of all-cause mortality.

Benefits Of Jogging: 7 Reasons You Should Go For A Jog

In just 10 minutes, your heart rate will be in a moderate