Walking Vs. Jogging

All physical activity is beneficial but some may be better than others for burning calories, improving health and building strength. Whether you choose to walk, jog or run, exercisers of all fitness levels can get a good workout on the treadmill. Using the incline offers an additional challenge, taking a light walk to a grueling uphill battle. In fact, a steep uphill walk may prove to be a better workout than jogging on a flat treadmill.

Calories Burned
When comparing incline walking to jogging on a flat treadmill, the incline walking wins out. For a 1-mile walk at 3 miles per hour with a 10 percent incline, a 140-pound woman would burn 165 calories. The same woman jogging for a mile at 5 miles per hour, a 12-minute mile, would burn 92 calories. Additionally, for many people, jogging feels much more intense than walking, regardless of the incline. As a result, walkers may be able to extend the length of their walk and burn even more calories than their jogging counterparts.

Strength
One advantage of walking with an incline is it forces you to really engage your lower body muscles to propel you upward. As your legs push you forward, your glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps lift your body weight repeatedly. The result is a strong and toned lower body that you would not necessarily see from jogging on a flat surface alone.

Impact and Injuries
One big difference between walking at an incline and jogging flat is the amount of impact placed on the lower body joints. Each time your foot hits the ground when jogging, your knee must absorb the force of nearly eight times your body weight. Over time, that impact can lead to injuries if you are not adequately prepared to handle it. Walking, on the other hand, doesn't share that level of impact. Walkers can walk much farther and more often without the same types of overuse injuries that joggers often endure.

Time
One aspect that may give jogging the edge over incline walking is the time you spend working out. While you may burn more calories in a mile of uphill walking, it takes longer than it would to jog the same mile. For many people, finding time to exercise is a challenge. Raising your heart rate through jogging is an excellent way to improve your cardiovascular health in a short amount of time. Walking may be able to match those cardio benefits, but it takes longer to get to the same end result. Before starting any exercise program, always consult with your physician.

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Extreme Jumping Exercises

Extreme jumping exercises -- also called plyometrics -- are some of the best elements you can add to your fitness routine to improve your vertical jumping speed. Plyometrics are intense jumping exercises that require your muscles to contract eccentrically against the gravitational force pushing down on your body. The higher you jump, the harder your muscles have to work against the gravitational force. The result is more explosive power and speed. In sports like basketball, plyometric training is recommended to help players reach extreme jumping heights. The American Council on Exercise states that plyometric training can "help lead to improvements in vertical jump performance, leg strength, muscle power, acceleration, balance and overall agility."

Set your baseline first with a jump test. To improve your jumping, you have to first know how high you can jump before you start training. To perform the jump test, make sure to wear cushioned, protective sneakers. Wet your fingers in a bowl of water and stand face-to-face with a wall. Reach up with your wet fingers and touch the highest part of the wall you can reach without going up onto your toes. Immediately step back one step and jump up in the air as high as you can. Touch the highest part of the wall that you can reach, leaving a mark. Using a ruler, measure the distance between your first mark and the second mark. This will show you your initial jumping height. As you continue with plyometrics training, be sure to measure and note your progress.

Perform plyometric bodyweight exercises two times per week, leaving at least two full days in between training sessions so your muscles have time to recuperate. Plyometric exercises include jump squats, jump and switch lunges, bounding, single-leg hops, double-leg hops, frog jumps and single-leg squats and are usually performed in a set interval, working your muscles until they fatigue. For example, in a typical plyometrics training session, you might choose three to five jumping exercises and perform each exercise as many time as you can in 30-second intervals. Once you've completed each exercise once, start from the beginning and perform up to three sets.

Incorporate plyometrics box training into your fitness routine. Plyometrics box training exercises are usually performed on a specific piece of exercise equipment called a plyometrics box, but you could substitute a bench, stool, step or aerobics stepper. The American Council on Exercise recommends performing box exercises on a soft surface, like a padded gym floor or grass, to minimize injury if you do happen to fall during an exercise. To perform box exercises, position the box to a height that is low enough for you to jump on, but still offers a challenge. Stand directly in front of the box and explosively jump on to the box. Immediately turn around and jump off the box. Repeat as many box jumps as you can in a 30-second period, working your way up to three sets.

Tips & Warnings

Before every plyometrics training session, be sure to warm up your muscles first with five to 10 minutes of light aerobic activity, like jumping jacks or jogging in place. After your workout is finished, cool down your muscles with five minutes of light activity and a series of full-body stretches.
Extreme plyometric jumping exercises are high intensity and high impact and are not for everyone. If you're healthy and physically fit, practice plyometric exercises with caution and always wear cushioned sneakers to help protect your joints from the shock of impact. Do not practice plyometric exercises without your doctor's permission if you have arthritis, joint pain, heart disease or another chronic disease; if you have had recent surgery; or if you are obese.

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Heart Rate When Jogging in Pregnant

The medical community has changed its thinking on exercising during pregnancy in recent years. While doctors once advised pregnant women to give up vigorous exercise that raised their heart rate over 140 beats per minute, this advice no longer holds true, according to MayoClinic.com. In most cases, as long as you can talk while you jog, both you and your baby will get the oxygenation you need to thrive during pregnancy, especially if you were a regular exerciser before pregnancy. Talk to your doctor about jogging while pregnant.

Heart Rate Limits
Many joggers monitor their pulse rate while running. If you already do this and prefer hard guidelines on a safe heart rate during pregnancy to just monitoring your ability to carry on a conversation, Canada has recommended target heart rates. These recommendations might not apply to very sedentary or very fit women, Dr. Michelle Mottola of the Canadian Exercise and Pregnancy Lab at the University of Western Ontario cautions. If you're very sedentary or overweight, keep your heart rate below 144 beats per minute (BPM). If you exercised occasionally before pregnancy, stay under 152 BPM if you're age 29 or younger and under 148 BPM if you're 30 to 39. Fit women under 30 can rev their heart rate up to 160; if you're over 30, keep it under 156.

Getting Overheated
Most pregnant women have heard the admonition to stay out of hot tubs during pregnancy to avoid elevating your core body temperature. Even if your heart rate stays in a normal range, getting overheated while jogging might present a risk to your baby, especially during early pregnancy, but the evidence for this is limited, according to ACOG. The Organization of Teratology Information Specialists warns that a temperature of 101 degrees F or higher early in pregnancy could increase the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Neural tube defects occur very early in pregnancy, before the sixth week, when you might not even be aware that you're pregnant.

Exercise Benefits
Being active during pregnancy can shorten labor and hasten your recovery after giving birth, according to the American Pregnancy Association. Regular exercise such as jogging can also increase your energy levels, elevate your mood, and help prevent back pain and other common aches and pains during pregnancy. Exercise can also help you sleep better at night. Pregnant women should get at least 30 minutes of exercise most days, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends.

Safe Jogging While Pregnant
You can jog while pregnant unless you have an underlying heart or lung condition or develop complications such as hypertension, preterm labor or poor fetal growth. Get your doctor's OK before starting or continuing a jogging program. Jog on trails or roads you know and watch for obstacles that could literally trip you up, such as branches, stones or other potential fall risks. Your center of gravity shifts during pregnancy, which will change your jogging style and possibly increase your fall risk. Stop jogging immediately and notify your doctor if you have severe abdominal pain, start bleeding or notice any fluid discharge from the vagina. Don't exercise at altitudes above 6,000 feet without your doctor's OK, ACOG recommends.

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Jogging Versus Zumba Calories Burn

Zumba and jogging both burn calories quickly for easier weight loss while providing a heart-healthy cardiovascular workout. While there is no clear calorie-burning winner between the two exercise styles, the best activity is the one that you enjoy the most and are therefore more likely to perform regularly. Zumba is a good choice if you have fun dancing in a group setting, while jogging may be preferable if you prefer a more meditative, private workout. If you're new to exercise, see your doctor before starting a new fitness program.

Jogging Calories
The exact number of calories you burn while jogging depends on your weight and speed, but a 155-pound person jogging at 5 mph burns about 298 calories in 30 minutes, translating to 9.9 calories per minute. By increasing the speed to 5.2 mph, she burns about 11.1 calories per minute. Going much faster may be interpreted as running -- the line is not set in stone -- but at 6 mph, the same person burns about 12.4 calories per minute.

Zumba Calories
The number of calories you'll burn during Zumba vary according to the intensity of your workout, which largely depends on your instructor. The American Council on Exercise, or ACE, commissioned a study on Zumba and found that, on average, participants burned about 9.5 calories per minute -- comparable to a slow jog but not as effective as more rapid jogging. On average, exercisers burned about 369 calories per session, with class duration ranging from 32 to 52 minutes.

Interval vs. Steady State
Despite the number of calories burned during workouts, Zumba may have an edge over steady-state jogging. That's because Zumba provides a similar workout as cardio interval training, according to ACE, which is shown to increase your metabolism after exercise more effectively than maintaining a constant pace. One study, presented at the The Integrative Biology of Exercise VI convention in 2012, found that exercisers burned up to 200 more calories per day after interval training. That said, you can easily incorporate intervals into your jogging routine by alternating short bursts of sprinting with recovery periods of leisurely jogging or walking.

Counting Calories
Losing weight requires burning more calories than you eat, which is why calorie-torching activities like Zumba and jogging can help you slim down. However, exercise alone is not enough to lose weight -- you might even gain weight if you fill up on high-calorie fare after workouts. To lose 1 to 2 pounds per week, the University of Minnesota Medical School recommends that -- in addition to exercising regularly -- men consume 1,800 to 2,000 calories per day and women consume 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day.

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How Jogging Impacts Body Fat

Achieving and maintaining healthy body fat composition significantly reduces your risk of many serious health conditions, and incorporating regular bouts of jogging can make a significant impact. Your fat composition is the percentage of your body made up of fat tissue. When you jog regularly, you can burn enough calories to stimulate the breakdown of fat.

Body Fat Composition
Having an adequate amount of fat is important for ensuring you’re able to maintain proper bodily functions. Fat also serves as protection for our vital organs and to help keep the body insulated. Women naturally have more fat to help with child birth. However, too much body fat, especially around your stomach and waist, increases your risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. According to the University of New Mexico, a healthy body fat percentage range for women is 18 to 30 percent and for men is 10 to 25 percent.

Jogging
Jogging has the potential to make an impact on your body fat composition because of its ability to burn a high number of calories relatively quickly. How many calories you burn depends on a few things, including how quickly you’re jogging, the duration of your workout and your body weight. According to a calorie-burned chart provided by MayoClinic.com, a 160-pound person will burn about 606 calories in an hour of jogging at 5 mph, and 861 calories if they bump up their speed to 8 mph. A 200-pound person will burn about 755 calories in an hour of jogging at 5 mph, and about 1,074 calories when jogging at 8 mph.

Impact on Body Fat
The calories burned from jogging can cause a reduction in body fat composition. If you burn more calories than you take in everyday, you force your body to break down the fat you have stored so it can be converted to fuel. The calories you burn from your jogging workouts are added to those you naturally burn throughout the day as your body maintains proper function. When you burn 3,500 more calories than you consume, you lose a pound of fat and your body fat composition decreases.

Other Considerations
Jogging only decreases your body fat composition if you also limit your calorie intake. To create the caloric deficit needed to break down stored body fat, you’ve also got to make adjustments to what you’re eating and drinking so that you’re setting yourself up for success. If you’re consistent with your jogging workouts but consuming high-calorie meals, you won’t create the caloric deficit needed for fat loss. Take in too many calories and create a caloric surplus, and you’ll be increasing your body fat composition.

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