Hil Running

I prefer cross country, but there aren't many locations over here, plus there are no hills. There's a big difference between concrete and for example a beach with loose sand, or a forest trail. Foot placement becomes more important on a trail, for obvious reasons. In loose sand the muscles in the lower leg are stressed much harder, when I first did it my toes and mid foot muscles cramped up all the time, and my calves and ankles also took a beating. But they get used to it, and it's definitely beneficial. It's a much more natural environment to run in. In the forest there are things to jump off, rocks to climb, fallen trees to balance on, etc. Let me loose in a forest with hills and I'm a child again, it's so much fun and a much better workout than your average asphalt run.

 

I wouldn't say it builds muscle, perhaps some in the foot and lower legs. If you add in some sprints and some climbing perhaps. Don't expect bodybuilder like muscle growth though. I guess it also depends on how much muscle you have now, you could also end up losing some.

For fat loss hill runs and off road runs are definitely better because they end up being a HIIT session.

 

forest runs are by far the best, im a big kid aswell in the forest, jumping off tree, ducking branches imagening enemies attacking me sprinting up hilss and its just aloot nicer than city running, no cars , no dickheads to get in your way, althoug they could be intergrated as part of a jog/spar session ^^

 

I thought I was the only person slipping tree branches

 

I run in the woods mostly. There are tons of trail around my house. I get a much better workout too because I don't get bored and I usually pick trails with a lot of elevation gain. And it's much easier on my knees and feet.

 

I live in the mountains so I have to run up hill at some point. I don't think it builds more muscle but it improves your endurance. (If you want to build up your leg muscles, try doing some squats and hill-sprints).

I normally run cross-country and combine it with some road work. I guess it must depend on your location. (I prefer road work when it's raining / snowing and cross country running when it's dry).

 

Yeah, that's the problem it's muddy everywhere now.

 

If you want to loose fat, try wearing a sauna suit / sweat suit on your run. There are some effective fat burning supplements available that help the process along, but the trick is to burn more calories than you eat!

If it's dark then I normally stick to roadwork (with high visibility jackest for safety!) Although it's possible to buy lightweight 'head torches' - which I find work well.

 

How will dehydrating help him lose fat?

 

I see your point but I felt that sauna suits do have their benefits -
Numerous people use sauna suits to reduce weight, which occurs through a shedding of excess water. Sauna suits also aid people looking to detoxify their body, as impurities, chemicals, unwanted toxins, and other types of waste are also released through the amount of liquid extracted while wearing the suit.

I'm not saying it's the only way to burn fat, but with a combination of a balanced diet (burning more carbs than you eat), taking fat burning supplements and running when wearing sauna suit is the way to go. I found it to be beneficial anyway.

**There are some dangers when sauna suits are abused and worn too
long - dehydration being one of them.

 

Sauna suits will not aid in burning fat, which is what he's after. Water weight loss is meaningless, as soon as you drink it's back again. Dehydrating is all a sauna suit does, and the OP is not making weight he wants to shed his fat belly.