When it comes to training for better health, there is no shortage of complicated workout plans and exercises available. If you try doing something that is difficult or confusing, you run the risk of not sticking with your program for the long haul. Walking and jogging are basic forms of exercise that give you benefits without complication.
Weight Bearing
In similar fashion to muscles, bones are living tissue that breaks down and rebuilds. Without regular exercise, they eventually get weak, especially as you age. One way to keep them strong is to perform weight-bearing exercise in which gravity pushes down on your body while you are on your feet. Walking and jogging are both forms of weight-bearing exercise. Be aware that jogging causes more impact on your joints than walking. Consult with your health care professional before walking or running for exercise if you have any joint issues.
Calorie Burn
Weight loss is a primary motivation for many people to start an exercise program. The key to reaching a weight-loss goal is to reduce your caloric intake while burning calories with exercise. Both walking and jogging burn calories, but at different rates. A 200-lb. person, for example, burns just under 400 calories walking at 3 mph for 60 minutes. This same person burns about 770 calories jogging at 5 mph.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercises are those performed in a repetitive motion with little added resistance. When you perform this type of training, your heart rate increases and you start to break a sweat. Walking and jogging both fall into this category, and by doing them on a regular basis, you can develop a stronger heart and have more lung capacity. According to MayoClinic.com, you also experience a greater sense of well-being when you do aerobic exercise because your body releases endorphins.
Muscle Recruitment
The motions involved in walking and jogging include hip flexion and extension, knee flexion and extension, plantar flexion and dorsiflexion. Hip flexion takes place when you move your thigh toward your stomach, and it works your quadriceps and hip flexors. Hip extension takes place when you move your thigh backward, and it works your glutes and hamstrings.
Knee flexion, which takes place when you bend your knee and move your heel toward your butt, works your hamstrings. Knee extension takes place when you move your leg from a bent to straight position, working your quads. Plantar flexion takes place when you point your toes down, and it works the calves. Dorsiflexion takes place when you point your toes up, working the anterior tibialis muscles on the front of your shins.
Disease Risk Reduction
Living a sedentary lifestyle raises the risk for a number of chronic conditions, even if you are not necessarily overweight. Walking and jogging are both types of physical activity that can have a positive effect on your overall health. According to the American Heart Association, 30 minutes of physical activity, such as brisk walking and jogging, can help control blood lipid abnormalities, reduce blood pressure and control diabetes. The key is to work out on most days of the week.
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