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How to Avoid Weight Gain While Marathon Training?

Marathon Runner Top Questions

Traci and Mandi asked about avoiding weight gain while training and how to use running as a weight loss tool.

The thing that Dr. Umbehr cautions here is the difference between gaining weight and gaining fat.

"Don't confuse weight gain with a change in body composition. For the serious athlete, they should be more concerned with the actual body composition rather than a simple number on a scale," he said. He reminds that muscle weights three times more than fat, saying that such a muscle gain will reflect a weight gain but that also means your body has sufficient calories to build healthy tissue and heal.

“An important note is that you should train heavy, which means that you are fueling your body with enough extra calories to heal properly so as to prevent training injuries," he said. "You can cut some weight closer to important competitions as needed by carefully limiting intake to be 500-750 less than total expenditure.”

 

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