Recently I was chatting with a runner who was frustrated because her weight gain since starting running.
While this is often unexpected for new runners, there is a reason behind the madness:
- Muscle
- While running isn’t necessarily traditional gym work you will gain some muscle mass when you begin running.
- Carbs
- When you run longer your body will begin storing more onboard carbohydrates in the form of glycogen.
- Water
- There are water molecules attached to the store carbohydrates. This along with your body storing a bit more water in general leads to some weight gain.
- Food
- And it’s quite easy to overeat when running. You may not think about it or notice, but eating more calories than you’ve burned during your hour run isn’t hard.
All of this also means you’ll lose weight if you take a period of rest from consistent running!
It is also so important to remember that the scale is not a reliable measure of health. Getting a body composition test done at a local gym can tell you your actual lean mass and body fat amounts, and when you start running you’ll likely see positive changes in these metrics!