In the 70s of the twentieth century, almost the entire civilized world was fascinated by jogging. Gradually, his popularity subsided, but jogging to this day remains one of the most effective and affordable ways to lose weight and strengthen the cardiovascular system. Consider how it differs from other types of running, how it affects the body, and how to properly engage in order to lose weight, increase endurance, strengthen the heart and blood vessels.
Jogging is a universal kind of load, it is used by both champions and people far from sport, who for the first time decided to take up their physical form. Many, starting with small daily runs, are so involved that they completely change their lifestyle and start running marathons.
It differs from walking a trot by having a period of separation from the surface of both legs, the so-called flight phase. And jogging differs from normal running in that the phase of flight with it is minimal – it is only necessary to push the foot off the ground, as the second immediately lands, reducing the time spent by the body without support to the lowest values.
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Jogging technique
You can master jogging, observing the following conditions:
- the upper body should be as relaxed as possible;
- the spine is straight, the body slightly tilted forward;
- arms relaxed and bent at the elbows move freely in antiphase of the legs in the zone of the belt;
- steps are not long, their length increases with increasing speed;
- feet and knees should not be raised high;
- at the time of repulsion from the ground leg should be straightened in the knee;
- the landing is made on the entire sole, but professionals recommend to master the landing on the forefoot (running on the toes) since this reduces the shock loads on the joints of the legs and the spine;
- breathing – free, without shortness of breath, when it appears it is recommended to reduce the speed or go to walking.
When jogging, all muscles that do not participate in body movement should be relaxed. This also applies to the muscles of the legs, which should be relaxed for a short time while the phase of separation from the ground lasts. Due to the low intensity and economical movements, it is possible to postpone the onset of fatigue as much as possible and minimize the risk of injury.
But what muscles work when jogging:
- The maximum load falls on the muscles of the thighs, legs, feet, buttocks.
- Less loaded ileo-lumbar, intercostal, latissimus dorsal muscles, abs, biceps, triceps.
Benefit for health
Jogging refers to aerobic exercise, which during regular exercises have a powerful healing effect on the body:
- The cardiac muscle is trained, its work becomes more effective: the heart rate at rest decreases and the release of blood in one contraction increases.
- Trained muscles, providing breathing, increases the volume of the lungs.
- There is an accelerated burning of fat deposits. Aerobic exercise, in particular, jogging, is the most effective means of losing weight.
- Reduced risk of developing diabetes.
- Due to the improvement of blood circulation, blood pressure is normalized.
- All muscles are toned.
- The level of hemoglobin increases, the supply of tissues with oxygen improves.
- The neuropsychic condition improves, sleep normalizes, the risk of depression decreases.
The added benefit of jogging is that they are usually practiced outdoors. This contributes to an even greater enrichment of blood with oxygen, hardening of the body, emotional lift.
For the first time about the benefits of jogging, the New Zealand run coach Arthur Lydiard told the world in 1961. Later, he wrote several books popularizing jogging. Thanks to these books, as well as the asceticism of another American Jim Ficks jogging popularizer, jogging became very popular throughout the world in the 1970s.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the 70s began to jog in order to improve health and increase life expectancy. In the people, this occupation was called run from a heart attack. The boom of the popularity of cowards began to subside only in the mid-80s, the death of its popularizer Jim Fix at the age of 52 from a heart attack that occurred during the morning run contributed to this. At the autopsy, it was found that the athlete’s vessels underwent strong sclerotic changes.
However, this case should not be in doubt about the benefits of jogging. After all, up to 35 years old, Jim Fix had about 30 kg of excess weight and smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day. Most likely, by the time he started to run with enthusiasm, his arteries were already in poor condition, and if he had not changed his way of life, he would have broken off even earlier.
The discoverer of the benefits of jogging Arthur Lydiard lived 87 years, until the last day, giving lectures on health running.
Impact on the psyche
Systematic jogging strengthens the nervous system and has a positive effect on the psyche. In addition, there is also such a phenomenon as the runner’s euphoria – feelings of unreasonable joy and happiness, similar to the effect of alcohol or drugs that appear after a long run.
With a runner’s euphoria, besides the tides of joy and happiness, athletes feel a dullness of pain, reduced fatigue, self-reliance, and admiration for the world around them. Although this effect is similar to the action of drugs, but unlike them, the euphoria from running does not bring any harm to the body.
Runner euphoria, like narcotic drugs, is inherent addiction syndrome. That is, with regular long runs to achieve euphoria, an ever greater duration of continuous running is required. There is an opinion that this is what motivates athletes to run for long and extra-long distances, to participate in marathons and ultra-marathons.
How to do?
It is extremely important to choose a place for jogging because your safety will largely depend on it. Strongly not recommended to run:
- on roadsides of roads;
- along the paths with bumps, stones, grooves;
- on roads with sharp ups and downs.
To benefit from jogging, you must follow these rules:
- Before jogging, it is necessary to warm up the joints by performing a warm-up, including rotations in both directions of all large joints.
- Buy a heart rate monitor and put it on a run, making sure that when jogging the pulse was in the aerobic zone. To determine the optimal heart rate during jogging, you need to subtract an age from 220 and multiply the obtained value by 0.7. For example, for 28 years the optimal heart rate with aerobic exercise will be (220 – 28) x 0.7 = 134 beats/min.
- The duration of the run must be at least 20-30 minutes, but not longer than one and a half hours, in order to avoid overwork. The number of workouts per week is at least 3.
- It is desirable to breathe through the nose, especially when running outside in the cold season.
- In case of insufficiency of nasal breathing or shortness of breath, you need to go on a fast walk before resuming normal breathing, and then return to jogging again. At the first training, walking can be predominant, this is normal, increase the running load gradually, focusing on breathing, pulse, and well-being.
- Complete your run with stretching muscles.
To reduce the impact load on the joints, it is necessary:
- choose high-quality running shoes with a thick shock-absorbing sole;
- it is best to run along dirt tracks or at a stadium, asphalt is less preferable, concrete tiles are even worse;
- The best variant of the technique of running is to land on the forefoot, and you should gradually and carefully master the toe run so as not to get injured.
Clothing should be of hygroscopic breathable materials, not constraining movement. Women need a sports bra to prevent bust droop.
If you practice jogging for weight loss, then you need to limit yourself in nutrition in order to achieve a daily calorie deficit. If you eat the same amount of calories as consumed, or more, then you will not be able to lose weight.
The time interval between eating and jogging should be at least 1.5-2 hours. If you feel thirsty while running, you can drink a little water, at long distances you can be supported by chocolate and dried fruit.
See also: How to pump the hamstrings
Contraindications
Jogging is contraindicated in the following categories of persons:
- suffering from severe cardiovascular disease;
- patients with arthritis or arthrosis of the joints of the legs and pelvis;
- having severe spinal disorders;
- with severe diseases of the respiratory system;
- with diseases of the organs of vision: glaucoma, myopia;
- during the exacerbation of chronic ailments;
- for febrile illnesses.