It’s mildly humorous but not exactly true. That’s one of the challenges faced by many obese persons. While lack of energy and other effects associated with obesity can make exercising more difficult, these can arguably be overcome with patience and determination.
That said, in general, increasingly with the extremeness of obesity, one can fact issues of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems that can actually make running dangerous.
A major potential risk is impact on the joints. The physics of weight compounds, so doubling the weight doesn’t double the force acting on a joint during impact movements like when the feet slam the pavement, it generally increases force on the joint by a factor of greater than 100%.
It is generally recommended that heavier individuals seeking to lose weight and exercise choose alternative activities. Joint loading is lower in walking but can still prove an issue and effects of weight on the feet can be problematic. Swimming is generally a solid low impact option for cardio as can certain types of elliptical movement machines which help minimize joint impacts through smooth motion and don’t put as much force on the feet through the exercise session.
There are other alternatives and in extreme cases weight may need to be brought down primarily by diet before one can safely engage in exercise. Obesity doesn’t always manifest the potential risk factors of obesity and not everyone who isn’t obese will not manifest risk factors like those in obesity. You still have to consider circulatory, respiratory, and other health factors independently.
This is why it is important to consult a health professional before beginning a new fitness routine. People who are younger and generally healthy have better statistical odds that they can get away with starting any random program without seeing a doctor and not have issues, though because you can have unknown congenital defects or other hidden health conditions it is still not unwise to get cleared before starting new physical activities and checking up regularly. The older one is, the more one knows or has reason to suspect they have health issues or face risks, and the more obese one is, it generally becomes more critical to have proper clearance and supervision for exercise and even dietary changes. So perhaps some people can run from obesity. Many cannot, and many more than that probably shouldn’t run from obesity as they may run into equally or more severe problems you can’t run from but could have avoided with a more prudent regiment.
For the non obese attempting to avoid obesity, running is generally safe. It is generally high impact even if one isn’t obese so one might consider that and the data on short and long term running related injury and plan an appropriate and healthy routine for themselves.
Running can help one maintain a desired weight and improve aspects of health and fitness, but running alone won’t let a person avoid obesity generally. A proper diet or at least a reasonable diet with controlled calories intake and ideally balanced and adequate nutrition are the best defenses against obesity. Of course some people have hormonal conditions or other factors that can make standard measures of diet and exercise ineffective in avoiding obesity.
It is also important to note that metabolic and genetic factors, especially coupled with diet and eating habits can lead to storage of visceral fat. It is healthy to have a certain amount of this fat to cushion internal organs and provide other benefits, however excessive storage of visceral fat is generally considered more unhealthy and dangerous than “soft fat.” Surface level fat commonly associated with obesity. Asides genetics, certain habits and diets can cause one to store more visceral fat. One can be “skinny” or in their body weight range and have an unhealthy amount of visceral fat- often a “beer belly” is a sign of this. For one’s health weight can be one important metric as can body fat percentage, but these metrics only tell part of the story.
That said, in general, increasingly with the extremeness of obesity, one can fact issues of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems that can actually make running dangerous.
A major potential risk is impact on the joints. The physics of weight compounds, so doubling the weight doesn’t double the force acting on a joint during impact movements like when the feet slam the pavement, it generally increases force on the joint by a factor of greater than 100%.
There are other alternatives and in extreme cases weight may need to be brought down primarily by diet before one can safely engage in exercise. Obesity doesn’t always manifest the potential risk factors of obesity and not everyone who isn’t obese will not manifest risk factors like those in obesity. You still have to consider circulatory, respiratory, and other health factors independently.
Running can help one maintain a desired weight and improve aspects of health and fitness, but running alone won’t let a person avoid obesity generally. A proper diet or at least a reasonable diet with controlled calories intake and ideally balanced and adequate nutrition are the best defenses against obesity. Of course some people have hormonal conditions or other factors that can make standard measures of diet and exercise ineffective in avoiding obesity.