Running marathons and losing weight..

[Syringer]

So this may be a pretty small sample size on my part, but I've known 3 people who were maybe a bit chubby/overweight, and after training and going through a marathon, their bodies pretty much looked exactly the same.

Is this generally the case that such low intensity, long duration workouts would lead to such minimal changes? I have no idea how their diet was at the time, but I'm sure it wasn't to such an extent that they were replacing all they were losing in training and then some..has anyone else noticed this?

 

[Deeko]

Weight loss is all about caloric balance. If they're running, and it burns an extra 1000 calories/workout, but they make up for it with a large milkshake from McDonald's, they aren't going to lose weight. They might end up slightly healthier due to a stronger heart/lungs, but they won't lose weight unless they're in a caloric deficit.

 

[brikis98]

As Deeko indicated, adding exercise alone doesn't in any way guarantee weight loss. If they eat correspondingly more, their body won't change. Moreover, even if they do lose weight, long bouts of low intensity exercise tend to burn up not just fat, but muscle as well. If they aren't doing weight training on the side (which helps preserve muscle), then they could end up lighter, but still be at roughly the same body fat percentage, which means they'll look just as chubby/overweight.

 

[tyanni]

As mentioned, you burn a lot more calories doing short, high intensity workouts. So, if all you do is long runs, it takes a while to knock off the weight. Mix in some fartleks/speed work, and you lose weight faster.

 

[saechaka]

If you want to lose fat and keep muscle, then marathon running is not the best choice. But I'm not sure that's what you're commenting on. Here is a link to a Nova special on marathon running. Really good.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Syringer
So this may be a pretty small sample size on my part, but I've known 3 people who were maybe a bit chubby/overweight, and after training and going through a marathon, their bodies pretty much looked exactly the same.

Is this generally the case that such low intensity, long duration workouts would lead to such minimal changes? I have no idea how their diet was at the time, but I'm sure it wasn't to such an extent that they were replacing all they were losing in training and then some..has anyone else noticed this?

They may seem chubby/overweight many times due to the fact that they have lost a significant amount of muscle mass. Without a resistance type training program, your body isn't really convinced it needs the muscle more than the fat. It burns both, resulting in the whole skinny-fat look.