Believe it or not, jogging is a good exercise for toning your stomach. When people talk about having a toned, or flat stomach, what they're really referring to is having a lean stomach. Exercises that target the abs, like crunches and leg lifts, will make your abs stronger and build muscle, but they won't tone your stomach. You have to burn fat off your entire body to reveal your abs and jogging is a good way to do that. You can also go about jogging a few different ways to increase the amount of fat you burn while you do it.
Fat Burning
Jogging is a cardiovascular exercise, which simply means that your body uses your heart and lungs to convert oxygen into energy. Jogging at a low to moderate intensity for an extended period of time will burn fat directly. This is basically the difference between aerobic and anaerobic activity. To get the most out of jogging and burn the most fat, you need to do a mix of both aerobic and anaerobic exercises. The more fat you burn, the leaner you will be and the more toned your stomach will look.
Interval Training
Interval training is one of the easiest and most effective ways you can burn the most fat while jogging. The concept is simple: Vary the intensity of your jog from low to high while you're doing it and repeat. So, rather than jogging for 60 minutes at a slow pace, jog for 20 minutes, changing your pace from slow to medium to fast and then back to slow. For example, jog for 60 seconds at 3 mph, increase to 6 mph for 30 seconds, sprint for 30 seconds and repeat.
Tempo Training
Tempo training is a lot like interval training, with many ways of doing it. It's a method used by a lot of long-distance runners when they're training for a race. One of the most effective ways to do tempo training is to think of it as one long interval -- instead of switching from low to high intensity many times, you spread the transition out over one long run. Jog for 15 minutes at a slow and easy pace, jog for 20 minutes at a pace that is challenging but doable for you, and then cool down for 15 minutes by jogging at a medium to slow pace.
Engaging Your Abs
It's important that you engage your abs while you are jogging. Keep your posture straight and your abs tight the whole time you are jogging. This way you're not only burning fat so that you can see your abs, but you're also strengthening them.
Member Comments