Jogging Tip

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While jogging, pay attention to overall body form, posture and breathing. Get jogging tips from a fitness trainer in this free video on running.

Expert: Samuel Harvell
Bio: Samuel Harvell is certi…

Congratulations! You have two little ones to tow around with you when you’re out running errands, taking a walk, or jogging through the park. It may seem like a daunting task to have two babies to bring along rather than just one, but with a little bit of planning, you can double your fun with double jogging strollers.

When you are trying to get back in shape after having two little ones, it is important to look for exercise activities that will not only accomplish your goals of losing weight and toning up but also give you an opportunity to share time with your babies. Double jogging strollers are perfect for providing the opportunity to get in a good workout through jogging, running or walking, while keeping your children nearby. Using double jogging strollers not only provides you with the healthy benefit of getting back in shape, but also provides your babies with the opportunity to get fresh air and learn the value of exercise from a very young age.

Before selecting the right double jogging stroller for your lifestyle, it is important to understand your options. Double jogging strollers are not meant for just twins – two babies that are the same age and weight. Double jogging strollers can be utilized just as easily for two children who are merely close together in age. If your two children are not twins, however, it is important to realize that the balance of the stroller may be thrown off a bit by the uneven distribution of weight. You will simply need to compensate for that with your jogging stance in how you push the stroller.

Double jogging strollers are specially designed to be more flexible and hardier than other double strollers. Although it may be possible to find a double jogging stroller that places your two children in back and front positions, most are actually designed to sit side by side. This design allows for greater balance and stability when you are running behind and pushing your double jogging stroller.

Like a vehicle, you’ll want to look at double jogging strollers that have enhanced suspension systems to minimize the feel of bumps and potholes along your jogging route. In addition to the lightweight frames used by double jogging strollers, the wheels used on these devices are also different than other strollers. Made more to resemble car tires than the hard plastic usually used by strollers, these wheels are designed to make the ride more comfortable for your babies while you take them along on your jog.

In addition to the types of wheels, you’ll also have the opportunity to choose between double jogging strollers that have one wheel in the front or two. This is a matter of personal preference in how you want forward weight balanced when you are jogging. Other options to consider when choosing between double jogging strollers include how you can change the position of where your babies are seated to heighten their comfort along the ride.

And how can you be able to job the whole time.
Like if it’s a 4 mile jog, and you want to be able to jog the whole 4 miles without stopping?
How about for a 16 mile jog ?
Walking without stopping is extremely easy, just not jogging,
Also, what happens if you do not stretch before you jog?

Jogging Strollers are not what they used to be. In fact, in my day, they used to be a contradiction in terms!

A ‘Stroller’ used to be someone who made their way slowly through the park with a bag of bread-crumbs, looking for birds to feed ,and ‘jogging’ was almost the opposite of ‘strolling’.

Today the changes are for the better, especially from a health and welfare perspective. The modern jogging stroller is a lightweight, highly engineered, piece of equipment with numerous safety features built in, so that parents can run while their young children stay safe and protected, to enjoy the fresh air.

A Jogging Stroller is a fairly new invention for although the three wheel design for the stroller was seen in prints as early as 1847, and the basic frame was evidently modeled on the same basic shape as a rickshaw, it wasn’t recognized until 2002 when it was developed as a viable product by the designer Chorette Corbin. Could she have for-seen the huge increase in interest that such a modern ‘vehicle’ would produce. And now you want to buy one!

When buying a modern jogging stroller there is much to be considered.

The seat, for example should be considered for child comfort and have a 5 point harness for safety, but it should also be washable, waterproof, possibly reclining for longer journeys and posses some sort of canopy for rain and/or sun protection. Check the suspension system closely because if you are intending to run long distances over rough terrain you should consider some form of shock absorbers.

When it comes to the wheels there will be several choices. Alloy, which is lighter, or wire spoke wheels, air filled tires or solid and the size: some are larger almost like bicycle wheels and these tend to be more stable for the faster, longer jogging route. But there is more. The front of the three wheels needs to be a locking wheel for jogging, or preferably one that is fixed, which makes steering a little more difficult.

The type of grip and the way it adjusts will be critical, because it has to match your height and the way you hold your arms as you run. This means that not only should it be comfortable with good grips but quickly adjustable, even when jogging. Of course an aluminum frame is best because of its lightness but the ability to adjust parts quickly and easily is an important consideration.

Finally there are the long list of accessories that are available to attach to your lightweight jogger. Do you need an umbrella on an extension for rain or sun, how much sling space do you need for extra clothing and other personal items and do you really need a cup holder?

Your going to need a check list with you as you consider your options and as a close friend recently remarked, if you check through the strollers manual and it seems as if you might need a physics degree to decode it, don’t buy the stroller! Your going to need to have that manual at your side, just like the support department and the repair department: just in case.

You did check to see if there was a support department didn’t you?

I am looking for a good jogging stroller. I have a 19 month old son and I have been using the Graco travel system stroller when I go walking jogging. I go almost every morning and bring my son with me. The Graco stroller is not ideal for jogging because it has 4 wheels and I struggle and get tired very easily when I start to jog. Anyone have any suggestions?

Like today I ate lunch at 12, then started jogging at 2. I then got a stomach cramp and this happens all the time! I’m trying to get ready for basketball season but these cramps are limiting my exercise. I am 6 feet tall, 150 pounds, and 15 years old.

Jogging Bad For Weight Loss and Fitness? Yes!

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Home Page > Health > Jogging Bad For Weight Loss and Fitness? Yes!

Jogging Bad For Weight Loss and Fitness? Yes!

Posted: Apr 06, 2011 |Comments: 0
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You might feel jealous at how fit and energetic they look, and perhaps even a twinge of shame as you look down at the box of donuts in the seat next to you which was your purpose for being out this beautiful morning.

But are your feelings of jealousy and shame justified? Should it be you out there in high end cool running gear jogging along to shed some pounds and get more fit?

After a careful analysis, we think you’ll agree the correct answer is NO, that should not be you. Why?

Because Jogging is BAD for weight loss and fitness.

While you definitely should be looking for ways to lose weight and become more fit, millions of people are doing more harm than good choosing jogging as their form of exercise. Can millions of people be wrong? Well, grab a donut, read on and decide for yourself.

FIRST A FEW DEFINITIONS

Ok, let’s be clear who and what we are talking about with some definitions:

JOGGER – Person who runs 1 hour per workout session at a pace of 5 miles per hour (12 minutes per mile). Since many joggers keep a faster pace than that. We will also address “Runners” who keep an 8 mile per hour pace (under 8 minutes per mile). These definitions are provided by the Mayo Clinic Weight Loss Website.

WEIGHT LOSS – The losing of weight per your scale or your clothes feeling more loose. Sorry, buying new, larger clothes does not qualify under this definition (be great if it would, eh?).

FITNESS – There are many ways to define fitness. We have chosen one that hopefully matters to the most people: A person’s overall physical health measured by their ability to successfully perform a wide variety of functional tasks.

WHY JOGGING IS BAD FOR WEIGHT LOSS AND FITNESS – THE EVIDENCE
CALORIC DEFICIT

You will likely outeat the calories you burn while jogging or running

According to the Mayo Clinic, a 160 pound person who jogs for an hour will burn 584 calories. A 160 pound runner ramps up the calories burned in an hour to 986. If you weigh more you burn more calories, if you weigh less you burn less. Many people don’t jog for an hour per workout, but we want joggers to have a chance at success here so we’ll pretend they all do.

In order for our jogger to lose weight as a direct result of this workout they will need to ensure they do not eat more calories than the 584-986 they just burned. This is what’s called the “caloric deficit” and it’s probably the most widely accepted and proven method to weight loss.

How realistic is that? Not very. An hour of any exercise tends to create a pretty serious appetite at some point later that day (which would be the worst time to eat it by the way), let alone the feeling of “entitlement” that comes from a workout well done. So most joggers (from here forward when I say joggers I am including “runners” unless noted) are going to head out for a nice meal to celebrate their efforts. A meal that will have much higher calories than what they would eat if they didn’t jog.

But does it really take a huge meal to make jogging or running a net loser for weight loss? The Power Bar you eat right before the run has 230 calories, that bagel with the cream cheese “schmear” you eat with your running group after the run has 400 or more calories, as does ONE decent sized slice of pepperoni pizza you’ve surely earned. If you decide to splurge on dessert because you jogged today, any decent one will surely add 500 or more calories. We won’t even mention the couple extra beers or glasses of wine…oops, guess we just did!

So it’s a good bet that joggers and even runners will add enough calories to their diets on exercise days to outeat what they just burned, which at best will be a breakeven, and very often will create a net caloric (as in WEIGHT) GAIN.

But we are not stopping there. What about on those days you don’t jog? How many people are really that disciplined to cut back on their eating since they won’t be burning those additional calories? More often, you hear “I’ll run this off tomorrow” as they head back for seconds on the pasta. So, now the increase in calories caused by jogging on workout days leads to more calories on non workout days, further increasing weight gain.

We contend this is how MOST people manage their eating, which means most joggers are gaining weight as a result of their jogging efforts.

To be fair, there are a select few people who do manage their calories more effectively than outlined above– we have a name for those people – “The 2% club”: The 2% of people who successfully maintain a low calorie diet. While members of the 2% club can create a caloric deficit by jogging, it still will not be a signficant deficit, and more importantly 2% Clubbers DON’T NEED TO JOG TO LOSE WEIGHT because they are successfully dieting!

MUSCLE CATABOLISM

You will actually lose muscle while jogging, especially since jogging does not involve your upper body in any meaningful way.

A “catabolic state” refers to the state in which your body is burning protein for its nutritional needs. A catabolic state is one you’d like to avoid as it means you are burning muscle to create energy for your exercise efforts. Yet joggers and runners are putting their bodies in this state every time they work out.

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When you jog you are using your leg muscles which gives them a reason to grow stronger. That’s good, but to jog for an hour your body needs to find energy, and low intensity activities like jogging for an hour will need to access energy from all possible sources which include fat and muscle.

Here’s a simple question: What does jogging do to benefit your upper body? Simple answer: NOTHING. So along with the fat you want to burn, your body is burning muscle as part of it’s energy to let you do your jogging workouts. And, where is it most likely to “catabolize” this muscle? From your upper body where it’s not being used and therefore not needed.

And while jogging can give you stronger legs, a weak upper body is harmful to fitness as defined at the start of this essay. This is one example of how jogging harms your fitness. There’s more to come.

Most joggers and runners become aware of this and start doing upper body resistance training such as weight lifting to prevent muscle catabolism. That’s a really good idea, but that’s not jogging for fitness is it? No, that’s having to do MORE exercise to offset the negative effects of jogging!

Plus, studies indicate that every pound of muscle on your body takes 3 to 10 times more calories to support than fat, so allowing any muscle catabolism means you are actually slowing your metabolism throughout the day. Slower metabolism does not sound like a good thing for either weight loss or fitness does it?

Again, the devil’s advocate will want to argue that joggers can minmize muscle catabolism without supplemental exercise by using Target Heart Rate Training. Basically, this involves exercising at a rate below your “target” heart rate to encourage more fat burning. So now we are jogging slower which means we are burning fewer calories which harms our caloric deficit. This makes weight loss even more difficult. Now we’re confused. What’s the most effective way to jog again? Do we jog faster and burn more calories or jog slower and save more muscle?

ADAPTIVE RESPONSE

Your body will adapt to the challenge of jogging fairly quickly, thus making it progressively harder to lose weight or become more fit. Once your body adapts to jogging you enter a “death spiral” of needing to run further or faster or both to see any further improvement.

Adaptive response is just a fancy way of saying that your body will do it’s best to adjust to whatever level of exercise you are trying to do. It will “adapt”. This is why it’s a lot easier to complete the 1 hour jog after you have done it 10 times than it is the first time you try it.

But when it comes to weight loss, adaptive response is exactly what you don’t want. It means your body has reached a state where jogging is no longer a challenge, and because you are now capable of handling the task at hand, there is no reason to drop any additional fat or add any more muscle. In addition, your metabolism has a similar adapative response. You will be doing the same exercise, but whatever metabolic benefits you were getting will continue to decrease the better you get at it. You might think of this situation as a “plateau”.

As adaptive response makes your runs less and less effective from a fitness, metabolic and weight loss standpoint, joggers are left with 2 choices: run faster or run farther to give your body a new challenge that it needs to improve upon in order to adapt. Running faster or farther is not necessarily a bad thing, but it dramatically increases your chances of injury and also starts to take an excessive amount of time to perform an effective workout. Plus it’s HARD. A much harder jog (or run) that lasts a lot longer increases your chances of giving up on your jogging program. And if you do give up jogging because it becomes too much work to see any results, you are at risk of significant weight gain without an even more restrictive diet.

Bottom line, your adaptive response to jogging has a positive aspect in that it’s good for your ability to jog (not necessarily for your overall fitness–see PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS), but it’s BAD for your weight loss efforts, and it creates a never ending “death spiral” of harder, longer jogs or harder, faster runs that most people will have trouble staying with due to injury or lack of motivation.

INJURIES AND OTHER HEALTH ISSUES

Jogging’s repetitive motion over long periods of time makes joint injuries very likely. Other injury and health concerns come from the adaptive response death spiral mentioned above, running in traffic and in inclement weather.

Pavement is hard and unforgiving. Your legs pounding against it for thousands of steps per jogging session can cause serious short term and long term injuries to your joints and muscles.

Sure, there are good running shoes that can help prevent injuries, but sooner or later you’re bound to injure a knee or ankle or even worse, a hip while jogging.

There’s also the issue of running on the roads with automobile traffic which has been known to cause serious injury or even death. That cannot be considered a plus for joggers.

And, the sheer length of jogging, a repetitive motion for 1 full hour, increases the chance of a variety of injuries like shin splints or a variety of foot problems versus shorter forms of exercise due to muscle fatigue.

There’s more. Consideration must be given to the health and safety risk of running in inclement weather. Jogging in extreme heat or cold, rain, snow or worst of all icy conditions greatly increases the risk of injury or an illness that makes you miss workouts for a short period of time or possibly something worse.

Of course the treadmill offers a viable solution to many of these issues, but not all of them. And many joggers insist on jogging outdoors throughout the year. When they do, the risk of injuries and other health related issues is very real and should be considered in an evaluation of the benefits of jogging.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Jogging has few practical applications. Jogging is not a good form of training for most other activities — except for more jogging. Plus, the loss of upper body muscle and lower body joint problems that often result from jogging can actually decrease your overall fitness level.

Remember our definition of fitness: A person’s overall physical health measured by their ability to successfully perform a wide variety of functional tasks.

We would have to concede jogging could improve your abilities at the following activities:

1) More Jogging
2) Basketball – well not really the sprinting up and down the court to be competitive, but you can jog down to set up a half court play with the best of them.
3) Football – Jogging from the huddle to the line of scrimmage.
4) Baseball – Jogging to the dugout with a beer in your hand at your weekly softball league.

Umm, that’s all we can think of. The rest of the activities in the above sports and many others like skiing, tennis and golf require strength (both muscle and joint), the ability to use your body at full speed, as well as hand eye coordination, none of which are helped by jogging.

The fact that jogging has no practical applications as cross training for any other sport makes it a lot of time spent for very little benefit, except of course for #1 above–more jogging. This is especially true when you compare jogging to other exercise alternatives like strength training, and interval training. You can spend a lot less time exercising and become more effective at performing all sorts of other sports and activities. This in turn offers you more opportunities to have fun and improve your fitness. Does developing your jogging skills help you with any other activities or tasks you like to do?

THE VERDICT?

Based upon the overwhelming evidence outlined above, the verdict is Jogging is a BAD exercise for weight loss and fitness. Running for an hour at a faster pace does offer certain advantages over jogging but still ends up a net negative for weight loss and fitness when all the factors are considered.

SUNDAY DRIVING

So, the next time you head out for weekend donuts you can smile at thin or fit looking joggers, because now you know they didn’t get that way by only jogging. And when you get home, grab a maple custard (my favorite!) and spend 30 minutes studying weight loss and fitness plans that work on improving your body’s metabolism to solve the caloric deficit problem because there are much better ways than exercising endlessly and cutting calories. Also, a good fitness plan should prepare you for a wide variety of tasks and activities.

If you study hard and plan correctly, your exercise program should only take half the time the joggers spend but will take you much further down the road to weight loss and fitness.

We hope you do your homework and find the plan that’s right for you because being happy with your weight and fitness is a great feeling that everyone should enjoy.

c 2010 Jon B Pearlstone Consulting, Inc. No part of this material should be reproduced without the written consent of Jon B Pearlstone Consulting, Inc. Contact eetfit@gmail.com

Mr. EET is the Founder of the EET Fitness Plan. EET uses the power of Eating and Exercise Timing to create optimal health and fitness with workouts under 30 minutes and no food restrictions except the TIMES you can eat various foods.

Website http://www.easytiming diet.com

Email: eetfit@gmail.com

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We have all done it, you have probably been ordered to do it by your coach, you’ll probably want to do it to lose some weight… But is jogging really the answer to your training needs.

I mean, will going for a jog solve your lack of endurance in a game of squash, rugby, football or golf?

Are you lumping around more body fat around the court than you absolutely have too so you feel that a jog around the block will make this go away…

What I write over the next page or so will probably annoy you, you may even flat out disagree with me. All I ask is that you keep an open mind.

Some 40 or so years ago, a man Mr K Cooper invented the world of aerobics and ever since, we have been “shackled” to the concept of effective training involving an hour long bout of aerobic training, normally in the form of a jog, cycling down the street, or attending a fitness class.

However this form of training has been long since proven to NOT be the most effective method for most sports AND, more importantly, NOT an effective fat loss tool either.

How has this form of training managed to remain the foremost practised workout in the world? Whilst my sceptical head has many theories on this, the purpose of this article is not to disprove the aerobic method, but to provide you with reasons to try something else instead.

I could bore you with many studies that prove that Interval based training principles and resistance style workouts are better for your sports training needs, but instead I want to appeal to your common sense.

Unless your chosen sport is purely endurance based, such as marathon running, triathlon, long distance cycling or cross country skiing then you need to look at the how you challenge your body when you are “playing” your game?

Even an endurance based sport demands a different look for optimum training plans, but that is for another article!

Most sports require short bursts of effort interspersed with periods of rest. The ability for your body to handle these efforts is based on the ability for your muscles to recover effectively ready for the next effort. Think of the short sprint to reach a long ball, darting across the squash court, or rushing at an opponent to make a tackle.

Most sports require a level of strength exerted over a short period of time, ie. POWER. Think of a tennis stoke, golf swing, a leap or a quick start.

Most sports require a flexibility and at the same time a stability of your joints to execute a controlled movement. Think a kick of a ball, striking a ball with a bat, or throwing an object.

Now tell me how spending most of your training time doing a low intensity, aerobic style workout like that of jogging or an hour on an exercise bike is going to help you develop a better body for sport?

This style of workout that has been shown to restrict mobility, increase your chances of repetitive strain injuries and breaks down muscle tissue in order to retain your body’s natural homeostasis.

Armed with a little knowledge and a helping of common sense, you can see that doing your “usual” workout may not be optimum for you or your sport! I also mentioned at the start that this style of training is not that effective for fat loss either! The only study I will cite in this article demonstrates that an interval based training plan has be shown to be NINE times more effective for fat loss than doing long slow steady state workouts such as jogging, or working out on an exercise bike for an hour or more!

Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C. Physical Activity Sciences Laboratory, Laval University, Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada.

So what should you be doing for your sports training?

Well simple really, take a look at the demands your sport has on the body…

Is it short sprints, then go out and train for short sprints…

Is it dynamic, powerful movements whilst on your feet, then train to make dynamic, powerful movements whilst on your feet (that means stay away from the machines, and pick up a dumbbell or two!)

Is it jumping, first step quickness, changes of direction, flexibility, stability, strength, power?

You see what I am getting at?

Most of us never need to do aerobic style training, whilst to some this will come as a relief, you may still be resisting this paradigm shift. What I propose is such a fundamental shift in over 40 years of training folk lore that it is easy to dismiss such a simplistic concept.

Sabine is a keen skier, water in the summer, snow in the winter. Since changing her training approach from that of endurance athlete to that of power and strength, her sporting performance has taken a dramatic turn for the better, what’s more her body fat percentage dropped to below 20%. Her workouts never last more than 45 minutes and has not done a single aerobic workout since the change.

Whilst every sport is different, it is important to note that the basic requirements of “most” sports requires a very different model of training than that which is normally adopted. Before heading out for your next workout, take a close look at the demands of your sport and ask yourself honestly if the jog you are about to do is going to make a difference? Or are you just doing it because that is what you have always done…

Baby is here and so are those couple of extra pounds. Its time to get back on track, quite literally. Put on your jogging shoes and shorts. Got you music ready and out the door. Oh wait, what about the baby? Where is that jogging stroller you meant to buy? While strollers have several standards and types to consider, jogging strollers are a whole different type of stroller. Any stroller could be used for some jogging, but strollers built for jogging are better suited and safer for the job. The full- and mid-sized strollers probably are built sturdily enough to use as a jogging stroller, they tend to weigh as much as twenty pounds. That would add some resistance to your workout, but is it best for your baby? Probably not. Jogging strollers are designed with bigger wheels, up to a 20 inch diameter, to minimize the bumps and shocks transferring from the street to the baby. They have sturdy handles so that the parent has a good grip to keep the stroller from rolling away, especially on the downhill. Jogging strollers are designed with the type of activity they will be used for. What you intend for the stroller to do will make a difference on which jogging stroller to choose. How often and how far will you use this stroller? Does it need to double as your basic stroller for mall visits? Are you using it on sidewalks or cross country? Do you need it to hitch to your bike? How small do you need it to fold? The type of wheel is very important on a jogging stroller. Jogging strollers have one of two types of wheel configuration: the swivel and the fixed. If you are training for a marathon or really hitting the pavement hard running multiple miles every day, you will probably be most happy with the fixed front wheel configuration. Swivel wheels can get hung up in softer surfaces, such as beach sand. While they turn on a dime, they usually wiggle when locked into a fixed wheel position. Swivel wheels are designed for the slower paced, more casual jogger than the Olympic athlete. Wheels in jogging strollers are built for terrain away from pavement and shopping malls. They are metal! They are steel or an alloy. Steel wheels weigh more and rust. A jogging stroller with steel wheels usually points to a manufacturer that is trying to cut costs. Alloy wheels are lighter than steel and are at least as sturdy. If you are going to use the jogging stroller for many years or multiple children, you might want to invest in alloy wheels right up front. If you have a couple (or more) children, good news, jogging double stroller can hold up to three little trail runners. But, for a jogging stroller to seat three children, we a talking really big purchase prices. It also will not fit in your trunk or through a doorway. Let’s hope that a double seat stroller will do for you. Double strollers can accommodate two children or one child and lots of stuff. Double jogging strollers are built with the proper balance for two children. This makes the stroller more stable than an overloaded one. While you can see your toes again, you are thinking about removing some of your jiggle, consider a jogging stroller that is designed for the activities your plan.

I have a pair of new jogging shoes, and one of them squeaks. I put talcum powder on it, as instructed by the manufacturer, but it still squeaks. Any suggestions?