Is running good for burning calories? (2024)

If your goal is to lose weight, then running is one of the best activities you can do to help you achieve this. When you integrate running into your routine, you’ll experience countless other physical and mental benefits along the way, too.

As a very general rule of thumb, an average-sized runner burns 100 calories per mile ran – or 60 calories per kilometre ran – which means a four-mile run would burn approximately 400 calories, or to burn 600 calories you should aim to run 10km.

According to Medical News Today, we can even shift around 360 calories with just 30 minutes of running, making it one of the most effective forms of exercise going for burning calories and losing weight.

While the approximate values are impressive, don’t forget that various factors affect the number of calories you burn as an individual runner, including your age, sex, base metabolic rate, existing level of fitness and the intensity of your run. For instance, men tend to burn more calories than women, as do heavier people and those with a higher level of fitness.

While running any distance at any pace is a sure-fire way to burn calories – irrespective of your biological make-up – the way you choose to refuel post-run can dictate the impact of those calories lost. If you're running for health, fitness or to seize a new PB, remember to include enough healthy food and drink in your diet to compensate for calories burnt, maintain your weight and aid your running performance. If you're using running as a tool to help you lose weight, you'll need to be in a calorie deficit – this means consuming fewer calories than you burn while running or engaging in other activities.

If you want to up the ante and boost the number of calories you burn while running, add a bit of intensity to your training.

Running faster is (quite literally) a quick way to burn more calories – specifically, up to ten more calories per minute than during slower runs. After faster, more intense running such as intervals, sprints and strides, your body also continues to burn up to twice as many calories as it does after a lower intensity run, as the recovery needs are greater. So, try to build one or two speedier sessions into a given week of training.

Running uphill can also burn up to 250 more calories per hour than running on a flat surface for the same duration – and the incline doesn’t even need to be huge to make a difference. Susan Paul, exercise physiologist and program director for Track Shack Foundation in Orlando, notes that the high-intensity of hill running causes your body to work harder, increasing your heart rate and helping you to strengthen major muscles like your glutes and upper hamstrings. This all contributes to a higher calorie burn in less time. Now that's efficiency!

Whether you choose to run an undulating route in your local area or take it to the treadmill and run at a steeper incline, try to slot at least one hill session into your week to reap the strength and fitness rewards.