RUNNING WEIGHT LOSS: What Everyone's Getting Wrong

Running weight loss is a topic that pro runner Kara Goucher spoke about in a very popular Instagram post where she called out the unhealthy culture of losing weight in running, triathlon, cycling, and endurance sports.

[youngy]

Thankyou Taren I am 230lbs and doing my first IM 70.3 Stafford UK next june and was worried about being heavy. This vid has made a difference

[meatmk]

Great advice. I found my optimal race weight was 180-185lbs. One year I thought I would get lighter to race faster, the marginal return wasn’t there and it was the year I had the most injuries.

[ChrisProuse]

Well said Taren! I ran 500km in October trying the low heart rate / high volume training stuff... didn't shave anything off the tummy, but I got a lot faster out there 😄

[juanseaforth]

Taren thanks for posting this video far the past five years I was under the impression that I needed to be as litter as possible and most time I found myself running out of energy because I was so focus on being as skinny as possible and not pain attention what my body need and not what people used to tell me what a runner looks like.

[darianbroadhead]

I’m 6’8 and if I am anything under 220lb I not only don’t perform well, but I look grossly unhealthy. I am built like a basketball player, and trying to squeeze down for Ironman races has made me absurdly tired and not feeling well. Great and refreshing video!

[forunlawfulcar-nalknowledg]

The more kind I’ve been to my body the better it has performed. The more rest the more love the more care. I set three PRs after coming off an injury this week. I honestly credit it to letting my body rest, being more mindful in feeding it when it was hungry, and getting more sleep.

[paulk]

I went from running an Ironman with a BMI of 33 to running it 3 yrs later at BMI of 25. I lost mass from long zone 2 rides, runs and Keto diet. I had more endurance, less joint pain, more and cut more than 3hrs off my time. I found my best race weight and I am sticking to it.

[toddtaylor]

One of the best yet! Great advice! I wound not have set that 6 months ago, but this training method has changed my mind. I have been training hard for my first half IM, and in the middle of a long run hit a wall. Not only did I hit it, that sucker fell right on top of me. I had been feel some of those sneaky pains from over training and just ignored them. After that blow, I took about two months off . I finally started back following the same focus you talked about here, and can feel the difference. It will take a little time to get back to the same endurance level, so far the slower zoned pace coupled with the super HITT i think you called is doing the trick. Thank you for what you are doing, Good Luck in your new journey, and keep Motivating!!

[fluorophoremusic]

I realize this is an older video, but I'd like to comment as someone with a LOT of experience manipulating body weight, body fat, lean mass in myself and clients--as well as a masters of science in exercise physiology--and a PhD candidate in biomedical science with a focus on skeletal muscle molecular signaling. I don't say all that to brag, but I do want to qualify my opinions.

Firstly, I agree with a lot of what you're shedding light on from a mental health and body image perspective. I do agree with your stance that body weight/BMI on its own is not the best predictor of performance for endurance sports--you showed a couple of studies that seem to support this. Rather, body composition seemed to be significantly correlated with performance at both the professional and recreational level in runners. Now that is out of the way, I feel it's important to highlight some glaring issues that someone may run into with their own interpretations and practical implications of this data. For one, BMI is often a fairly (and I mean fairly) decent guide for a healthy body weight--and, the healthy BMI range is not narrow...it's relatively wide. I am 5'9" and weighed as high as 190lbs and as low as 130lbs. I've competed in bodybuilding, powerlifting, running etc throughout various phases of my life...around all of those weights. For a natural individual (no PEDs), it's not very common for someone to have an exceedingly high body weight for their height while maintaining lower levels of body fat. That's even the case for individuals SOLELY invested in lifting weights and getting jacked--which, we know serious runners tend to care less about. What is my point? My point is, although body fat or composition is more of an accurate predictor of performance, the average runner who does minimal weight training (e.g., very little hypertrophy) thus having relatively low skeletal muscle mass, MOST of what determines their body weight going up or down is indeed body fat anyway. For example, I am currently 5'9" 150lbs...I have relatively visible abs, but I'm not shredded by any means--I probably still hold more overall muscle mass than the average runner from the previous decade of consistent heavy weight training--I'm still not super lean at 150lbs. Compare this to the average runner who may do very little weight training, and comparatively less muscle mass development...if they are 5'9" 150lbs, it's almost certain their 150lbs contains a lot more bodyfat. Thus, for them to improve their body fat (which is positively correlated with performance) they will no doubt need to lose more weight. There's no way around that.

For natural individuals, ever increasing BMI is usually correlated with increased body fat. Certainly, a well-trained natural lifter will likely ride the higher end of the BMI range...but, people have the wrong idea thinking that you can be well out of range and it's "because I have a lot of muscle". Naturally, it's not easy to gain a substantial amount of muscle mass while remaining 8-10% bodyfat...good luck. This is, again, even more of a reality for the endurance focused athlete. SO, typically lighter IS better...it's not just anecdote. You can improve body fat % by increasing lean mass, but it's going to be lightyears more difficult to improve body comp significantly for a runner (sans PEDs) by increase muscle mass...comparatively, it would be far easier to just lose weight in the form of adipose tissue (which is what the majority of the weight loss will be) to improve body fat %...and in turn, yes, body weight will go down.

I do agree, this is of course to a point. I don't think anyone would argue that someone who has been fully starved down to emaciation would perform well at anything, let alone endurance sports. But, I'd have no doubt that my running times would improve if I got my body weight (and in turn, yes, body fat predominately) down from 150 to maybe 135-140. It's just really important to point out that this shouldn't be for vanity sake...it's not about seeing how shredded I am. I'm relatively happy with my current physique. It's just practical. If I lose body fat and muscle stays relatively the same, I'm going to lose weight as a consequence...that's just how it works. Lastly, looking at Kara, she's relatively light. Like most serious runners...she has very little lean body mass, though, thus she's very light and efficient while still holding what looks like a "muffin top" (albeit, I wouldn't classify that as a muffin top), and not the most prominent abs. The post comes off as she's saying look at my body, see you should stop worrying about weight. Kara does not have a high body-weight, by any means. As a consequence of being a female, likely not focusing primarily on hypertrophy (which, she shouldn't), and running probably very high mileage...she subsequently does not have the lean body mass to support additional weight loss (even though a sizeable portion would be whatever body fat she does have) without getting into a potential danger zone.

[geraldkiessling]

I think it's good that you bring this up, Taren.
It's the same topic every year when you look at sports magazines: How do I lose weight. I have never read how to gain weight. I tend to have this luxury problem. When it comes to weight, I can only say: feel good and stick with it if there is nothing to be said against it from a medical point of view.

[christyjones]

AMEN!! 💯 I agree wholeheartedly! Especially after training myself into the ground the taking 4 years to recover to where I could sustain endurance/intensity. Not to mention the mental/emotional toll of feeling like I needed to train more/lose weight/not good enough. Thank You for advocating for change in our endurance culture.

[EverythingIsPhotogenic]

Too many people optimize for body weight/body composition first. When you optimize for performance and recovery, body weight and composition generally follow suit naturally. Race weight can be an important consideration, but it shouldn't be drastic. It would require very minor tweaks in the weeks preceding an event to maybe shift the couple of pounds that might give you a little extra speed on race day.

[ndi]

Our bodies have a “happy place”. When we reach it at what ever weight and configuration, our performance will be at its best.

[wilfdarr]

“so why this continual focus on weight?”
'Cause the average IQ is only 100.

Less fuel and less muscle (less weight) is “less faster” (within reason of course), it's so obvious to me (maybe because I'm the wiry sort and the heavier I get the faster I get), yet so many people are obsessed with bringing weight down (personal opinion: they're just lazy so they think that if they have less weight to carry it's free speed... it doesn't work that way).

I see so much of this on Nick Bare's channel, people saying that he's too heavy, but he's done a 3 hour marathon, so I call BS. More muscle is more faster and requires more fuel.

[chrisstrider]

Light may come from lots of training and performance
The reverse doesn’t follow

[DavidFritzIII]

@taren well said and so very true... I Used to be so focused on weight as an indicator, now only measure it before a zwift race... Lucy Charles Barclay said it very well in one of her videos (paraphrasing here)... her body weight and look is a result of training to be the fastest she can be, she doesn't train to look a certain way.

[andypcguy]

It says in your article, body composition is what matters. Dexa scan is the gold standard. Loosing fat is still a good thing for race performance, as long as this doesn't come at the expense of lean muscle. Loose 3lbs of fat for 1lb of muscle will improve your ratio. Lose 1lb fat and 1lb of muscle and you haven't done anything.

[elclaudiosanchez]

Most important in endurance sports is having a balanced pelvis, no injury history, Good VO2max and discipline.

[pierce]

Been slim isn't everything. It's about fitness.
August 2019 I was 24stone, now I'm 15st12lbs. Have done 3sprint triathlons, 2 try a tri's, 4 aquathons and 4 duathlons. All this summer at 17st.

[darren]

Totally ignore what you weigh. Eat healthy, strength train, put in those miles.. The result will be a fit body.