Jogging Tips: 3 Ways to Make the Most Out of Your Jog

Many of us choose jogging or running as our preferred way to exercise. This is because it’s an easy way to burn calories and stay fit. You don’t need any kind of machine or gym membership and you don’t even need any special kind of knowledge: all you need to do is run, and that’s something that’s hardwired into our genetics. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the time to go for a long enough jog to burn all the calories that we need to burn. This is when we need to get creative and try to make the most out of our time constraints. We’ve put together a few running exercises for people with little time on their hands.

Remember to reserve enough time to warm up and to cool down and also allow enough time to stretch a little after you’re done.

Uphill running

Running uphill for about 20 minutes can burn as many calories as jogging for an hour. When you’re going uphill you’re not only using your muscles to make yourself move, you’re actually lifting your own weight every time you take a step. Combine this with a jogging pace and you’ve got yourself a very complete cardio exercise. You will activate a lot of muscle that will burn fat much quicker than if you were simply running.

The best way to get results – and to not be completely exhausted five minutes in – is to do the running at intervals. Run at a moderate pace until you’re halfway up and then go as fast as possible. Walk down the hill, regain your breath and then repeat the process.

Interval running

If you only have about half an hour to spare for your running, try running intervals. The number one thing we tell people that are doing any sort of interval training is: don’t cheat. Interval training consists of going at your top speed for a short period of time and then slowing down – but never stopping – for half that time. For example, you would sprint for 20 seconds and then walk or slowly jog for 10 seconds, and then go back to sprinting. If you cheat and don’t go all out in the 20 seconds you’re meant to be sprinting, the exercise will be less effective. Remember: it’s not about always reaching a certain speed, it’s about going as fast as you can when it’s time to sprint even if, towards the end of the interval running training, this means you can barely jog.

Tempo Run

If you have about 40 minutes available for your running, you could try a tempo run. It’s a somewhat more advanced way of running and it will help you know your limits better. First you warm up for about 10 minutes and then you gradually build up speed until you reach a pace that you can keep for about 20/30 minutes, depending on how much time you have. Then have a 5 to 10 minute cool down run, and you will have burned enough calories for the day.

About the author: The article was written by Holly Adams at Coupon Croc offering a Travelodge discount code to save on your health spa and resort travel plans.

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