Many people start jogging because they want to lose weight. But it is not uncommon for them to be confronted with the opposite phenomenon: Gain weight through jogging. But how does jogging cause such weight gain? What role does muscle building play in this? And how can you prevent gaining weight through jogging? We’ll clarify all of this in today’s post.
Gaining weight through jogging – what makes up weight gain through running?
If you gain weight through jogging, the first thing we need to do is take a closer look at how this weight gain is made up.
Because not all weight gain is the same. For example, you can gain body fat, build muscle or retain water. The scales don’t differentiate here, but these different areas can definitely be relevant for your health and your goals.
Water retention due to more training
Most people start to retain a little more water when they start running more. This can actually make a difference of 1-2 kilograms in body weight in a trained state compared to an untrained state.
On the one hand, this is because jogging trains your ability to do more to store glycogen. And for every gram of glycogen you can store up to 4 grams of water.
On the other hand, training always means some stress for your body. If this stress stimulus is high, for example due to an unusually high training stimulus, high temperatures or poor regeneration, you can also retain water.
Weight gain when running due to muscle building
Especially in the context of exercise, people tend to say, “Muscle is heavier than fat,” when they gain weight.
And that’s basically true: muscles are denser and, for the same weight, result in less body size. They even contribute to a defined look.
But: weight gain when running through actual muscle building is very small.
If you’ve been extremely inactive before, you may actually gain some muscle from running. However, this will not amount to several kilograms of body weight.
Even if you sprint very intensely and base your training primarily around it, you may still gain some muscle mass.
If you gain weight through running, depending on your level of training, perhaps 0.5-1kg of body weight can be explained in the form of muscle building over the course of several months.
Gaining weight by jogging causes more body fat
In addition to water retention, an increase in body fat caused by jogging is actually not that rare and is promoted by the following factors:
- Feeling more hungry through more exercise
- Overestimating calories burned while jogging
- Too few carbohydrates in the diet
- Low protein intake
- Low fiber intake
- Declining daily activity (often unconsciously) after training
- Eating as emotional regulation, reward or outlet to relieve stress
If you were underweight or below normal weight before you started running, gaining weight through jogging can also be very healthy and your body’s attempt to restore its natural balance.
What can you do to avoid gaining weight through jogging?
If you find that gaining weight through jogging is an issue for you, then I would first advise not to panic. Before you take any action, I would recommend an honest analysis of your own situation and ask yourself the following questions:
- How much weight did you gain and over what period of time? For example, a weight gain of 1-2kg is nothing to worry about, especially if you are of normal weight.
- Are you constantly gaining weight or have you gained weight in the short term and are now maintaining your weight?
- Before you gained weight, were you below normal weight or even underweight?
Depending on the answers, you can then use the following tips to avoid gaining weight through jogging.
The best tips for gaining weight through jogging
Eat more carbohydrates
The number 1 mistake I see again and again among runners is not consuming enough carbohydrates for their activity.
Running primarily burns carbohydrates, which you have to get from food.
If you eat too few carbohydrates, you will still feel hungry, even though you may even be consuming enough or too much energy.
Above all, make sure that you consume enough carbohydrates before training, during long sessions (lasting 60-90 minutes) and after running.
During training, you may want to have a little more quickly available carbohydrates.
Go for fiber
If you’re not in the training window, a higher fiber intake can help regulate your hunger. Lots of vegetables and fruit, whole grain products and legumes as well as psyllium seeds, chia seeds and flax seeds are suitable here to improve your satiety.
Foods rich in fiber are often not suitable shortly before running because they can put a strain on your digestive tract. Regardless, it is important to consume enough fiber.
Keep an eye on your everyday activity
Running burns a lot of energy, but your everyday life often burns even more compared to exercise. So be sure to keep an eye on your everyday activity. Have you been more inactive since you started running (more)?
Not only the big things like going for a walk in the evening play a role here, but also small behaviors like getting up every now and then, going to the toilet, unconsciously wiggling your leg and more.
Increase your protein intake
Many runners still eat too little protein and are surprised that they gain weight from jogging.
Protein is essential for your regeneration and the macronutrient that is most satiating.
As a runner, you should consume 1.2-2.2g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. A protein source with 20g of protein per meal is a good guide to meeting this daily requirement.
Change your meal timing
Fasting for hours in the morning, only a salad for lunch and then the big cravings come in the evening?
This supposedly “healthy” pattern throughout the day can promote weight gain in many people.
Make sure that you consume enough energy throughout the day to counteract evening cravings and provide your body with enough calories for all the activities you plan to do.
You should always be well looked after, especially during training, to prevent weight gain due to jogging.
Find your sweet spot of training
Too little exercise can lead to hunger dysregulation.
Too much exercise too.
Find your personal training sweet spot where your feelings of hunger are well balanced and you can rely on your body signals.
Discover tools for emotional regulation and stress management
If your weight gain cannot be explained primarily by jogging, but is simply a correlation because you used food more as a reward or for emotional regulation, then this point is absolutely essential for you.
Find new tools for emotional regulation and manage your stress levels. These include, for example:
- Mindfulness
- meditation
- Surf The Urge
- Journaling
- Breathing techniques
- Coaching
- therapy
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Conclusion – gain weight through jogging
Gaining weight through jogging is not that uncommon. But not all weight gain is the same. If you gain weight from jogging, it can be due to:
- Water retention
- Muscle building
- body fat
be attributed.
If you want to stop weight gain, the following behaviors will help you:
- More carbohydrates – especially around training
- Increased fiber intake
- Everyday activities
- Increase protein intake
- Optimize meal timing
- Find the right amount of training
- Discover tools for emotional regulation and stress management
