While jogging alone can help tone your legs and butt, you'll get faster results if you incorporate interval training, dietary changes and strength training. Cardiovascular exercises such as jogging work your heart and can decrease blood pressure and improve circulation over time. Jogging is a high-intensity form of aerobics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults engage in 75 minutes of this kind of aerobic exercise per week. Alternatively, adults may perform minutes of low-intensity exercise such as walking each week.
Because cardiovascular exercise burns calories, you may begin to see a reduction in fat throughout your body, including along your legs and butt. Note that you must burn 3, calories more than you eat to lose 1 pound. Depending upon your weight and the speed at which you jog, you can expect to burn to calories in 30 minutes of jogging. However, jogging does pose some risks. The repeated pavement pounding can be hard on the joints, so if you have ankle or knee problems, consult your doctor before beginning a jogging routine.
Although jogging is a cardiovascular exercise that can help you shed fat throughout your body, it is particularly effective at working the lower body. The hamstrings -- the muscles on the backs of the thighs -- work to bend your knees, so the knee-bending activity of jogging helps tone these muscles. The calves, which are located in the back of the legs, bend the ankles. During jogging, your ankles flex and relax repeatedly, providing excellent exercise for the calves.
Adding weights during your jog can also tone your glutes, notes exercise physiologist Tom Holland. Lug a pair of lightweight dumbbells, holding them as you jog.
If you plan to tone with interval or weight-assisted jogs, make sure to warm up first. Start with a series of jumping jacks or jogging in place -- enough to get your heart pumping. Once you have warmed up, do a series of hip, hamstrings and quads stretches to help with your jog. Don't push interval or weight-assisted jogs too fast, though. Keep dumbbells light -- below five pounds unless you're used to running with weights.
And allow your body a day to rest between jogs. Having studied at two top Midwestern universities, Catherine Field holds degrees in professional writing and patient safety. Writing since , Field has worked with regional newspapers while publishing fiction online. She conducts medical communication research at a Midwestern medical institution and is slated to write a book based on her research findings.
By Catherine Field. Mandelbaum suggests no more than a 10 percent increase per week on each of those variables. If the pain doesn't go away after three to five days of no running, it's time to call your doctor.
Also, be sure to warm up before running or any exercise and incorporate leg-strengthening exercises into your workout routine to strengthen the muscles supporting the knee. And you may need to change how you run, as your stride could be the main culprit, suggests Carol Mack, CSCS , a doctor of physical therapy and trainer in Cleveland who often works with runners.
Talking with a running coach or physical therapist who can evaluate your body mechanics can often make a big difference in taking pressure off your knee, she says. What causes the toenails of distance runners to turn black? Improperly fitted or too-small footwear is usually the culprit, says Mandelbaum, as well as longer toenails. The excess rubbing stride after stride eventually causes enough damage to bruise or bloody the toes.
Wearing the right size shoes, as well as not ramping up training too quickly can help you avoid the problem, he adds. Nothing takes the fun out of a long run quite like chafing.
The more rubbing, the more irritation. But heat, moisture, and certain fabrics can all make the problem worse, too. Women often experience chafing along the bikini line, also a sensitive skin area thong-style underwear can make the problem worse.
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