Running will NOT get you into shape

I see it every day. First thing in the morning, people are running up and down my street to stay in shape. Whether or not it is raining, freezing cold, whatever, there are folks out there doing “road work.” I know all of them feel good about themselves, and why not? Taking such a consistent approach to staying in shape is something that should be heralded. The one thing about all these people though, and it drives me a little batty, is that while I see them run every day, for some it has been YEARS now, well, they look about the same. Yes, they run every day, no question. They are obviously exercising, but their bodies still look the same. The older couple who wear the blue jumpsuits still have their poochy bellies. The blond haired lady with the earphones still has…well…a little extra baggage in the back. How can this be?  They are running, exercising, staying in shape, so why don’t they look different?

They are so many myths about getting into shape, and one of them is that simply doing ANYTHING active for a certain period of time will get you into shape. This is simply not true. You see, your body is built to adapt to things. If you do something long enough, your body will get used to it. It will change for a short time in order to make your body more efficient at doing the activity, but once you have done it long enough, your body will simply adapt and stop changing, it’s true! The fact is you have to keep pushing your body to achieve results. This is known as PROGRESSIVE RESISTANCE training. Simply put, do something for awhile, increase the workload, do it some more. The key to this type of training is to continually make your workouts harder or more challenging. If all you did was lift a pink  5lb weight, pretty soon, that weight will be too light for you. If you continue to lift it, you will not make progress. You must keep lifting heavier and heavier weights to make progress.

Ok, so you now know why some of these runners are not making progress, but, is there anything else to the equation? You bet there is! Getting into shape is a process that really requires you have a program that is multi-faceted. What I mean by that is, running alone is ok, but running, combined with some weight lifting, stretching, combined with eating nutritional foods to support your muscles and encourage fat loss is a MUCH better plan. Who knows, maybe some of the people who regularly run in my neighborhood are starting each day with 3 donuts followed by a milkshake. Your diet is one of the most important elements of your plan to stay in shape. It is also one of the most neglected. Most people think that if they are doing SOME sort of physical exercise, they can eat whatever they want; this is simply not true.

So, while running will not necessarily get you into the shape you want, it IS a great start. Just about any exercise can be the foundation of a good program to get into shape. To be truly successful though, you must continually work to increase the amount of work you do, as well as couple your exercise with a healthy well balanced diet.

About the author

http://www.MrFatLoss.com , aka, Emile Jarreau is 31 year veteran fitness professional and co-owner of M2FitnessPros.com in Long Beach, California. Also having 19 years of bodybuilding and figure coaching and previous NPC judging experience, he specializes in fat loss and all its aspects and freely shares online resources to the world.

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