Why Marathon Runners Can't Lose Weight?

I have a lot of admiration for those who are about to engage in the marathon experience in London on Sunday. Those who trained for the last 6 months, all those miles of pounding the streets in all sorts of weather. Even those who have done the majority of their training indoors on treadmills expecting to now be able to run 26.2 miles outside. 

Mostly I have admiration for raising money for charity, for all those worthy causes. 

The majority of people who are running on Sunday will be using it as a blanket to try and lose weight more than anything else. It is a common believe that if you exercise a lot then you will lose weight.  

I have witnessed for the last 10 years many many people training for marathons and instead of losing weight they actually gain weight. This is Carrie who gained weight whilst training for the London marathon in 2007, yet was able to lose more than double that by completing High Intensity Interval Training combined with Weight Training. 

Why does this happen you ask?

Simply put we are not designed to run 26.2 miles in one go. We haven't changed much in 10,000 years and you can be sure that you would never have seen a cave man donning his Nike's and water bottle for his morning jog!

So why am I so against cardio as a training modality? It raises the stress hormone cortisol, which leads to increased fat storage around the midsection, it oxidises the brain which can lead to memory problems. Ask any endurance athlete how many times a year they get colds, they will say all the time. This is because their Immune systems are constantly under attack.

This study showed that higher body fat percentage is associated with increased cortisol reactivity and impaired cognitive resilience.

This recent study in Canada showed that exercising on treadmills can lead to higher Insulin resistance. (Courtesy of Charles Poliquin and the Irish Strength Institute)