#55: Why are you running?

What our body gets (or doesn't get) out of running

Author

Ben Johnson
August 24, 2025

Hey Friends,

Running is a common topic in the fitness industry.

Most people feel that they should be running occasionally. However, many don’t know exactly why they are running. It just feels like something they should do.

I would say that it is definitely beneficial to run occasionally, but probably for different reasons than you might think.

Weekly Action Point

🥕 Buy a big bag of carrots, and eat them throughout the week as a snack or with your meals 🥕 

I feel it’s always beneficial for people to be eating more vegetables than they are. So this week, when you grocery shop, buy a big bag of carrots with the intent of finishing them by the end of the week.

Doesn’t matter if you eat them raw as a snack or cook them with dinner; just finish the bag of carrots by the end of the week.

The benefits of running

Why are you running?

It’s a question I would guess most of you haven’t thought about. At some point in your life, someone told you it was good for you to run, so you do it. Or maybe you aren’t regularly running. You still probably know that running is good for you, but why?

If your answer to that question was something along the lines of “because I enjoy it”, fantastic! That’s an awesome reason to run. Many people use running as a way of reducing stress, clearing their head, and just really enjoy being out on a run.

Maybe your answer was “for my heart health” or something similar. Again, this is a fantastic reason to run! Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in America and around the world. Exercising your heart and improving your breathing are excellent ways to prevent heart disease.

However, usually these first two reasons aren’t the ones I hear when I ask why they are running.

Most commonly, the reason has something to do with physical appearance. “I’m trying to lose weight so I’m running more” or “I want to shed off some of the lower belly fat”. However you phrase it, for most people, this is at the root of why they are running.

If your primary reason for running is to lose weight, I hate to break it to you, but you are fighting a losing battle. And here’s why.

Your weight and how much fat you have on your body are based on a balance of energy, in this case, calories.

You burn calories when you run, so the common thought is that the calorie burn causes you to lose weight. Makes sense, right?

But the issue is, as you are running more frequently, your body gets more efficient. In other words, when you are running regularly, your body adapts and burns fewer calories to achieve the same goal.

This is why the runs get easier when you are doing them consistently: your body operates more efficiently to burn fewer calories.

Because of this, it’s extremely common for people to see some weight loss when they start running, but then it stalls. Sound familiar?

Here’s an Instagram video where he explains exactly what I’m talking about here:

In my opinion, if you are trying to lose weight/fat, lifting heavy weights will be far more fruitful for you.

When lifting weights and getting stronger, we build muscle. Muscle tissue takes more energy to maintain than fat tissue, and as a result, your body actually burns more calories when you have more muscle.

Does that mean I think you shouldn’t run?

No. I absolutely think running (or any other form of cardio) should be a component of any fitness routine. Mainly because, as I mentioned, it’s great for the prevention of heart disease.

However, if you don’t enjoy running, I’m here to say that you don’t need to do it.

So many people tell me they despise running, but do it anyway because they think they have to.

I personally don’t really enjoy running. But guess what, find some really heavy weights for a leg exercise and then do 12-15 reps. When I do this, my heart rate gets up into the 180s, and I’m definitely out of breath.

I prefer to do this for my heart health. My heart doesn’t know if I’m running for 3 miles or if I’m doing higher rep counts with weights. It just knows that it’s beating faster and working harder.

Next week, I’ll touch on why I think weight training is better for fat loss in more detail. Stay tuned.

Ben’s Best

Here’s an easy meal prep recipe that makes 10 servings and can be stored in the freezer for easy meals: