Jogging Can Lose Weight? Here Are The Rules!

Having an ideal and healthy weight is certainly a dream. Various diets and other efforts will be tried. However, according to Danny Mackey, head coach of the Brooks Beasts running team in Seattle, there is no big mystery in losing weight.

“It’s just an energy equation—what you’re taking in versus what you’re expending,” Mackey says. For the calories in part of the equation, try one of the healthy diets available.

For calories out, nothing beats jogging. Here’s why!

Lose weight by jogging?

Yes. Jogging will give you the best results for weight loss. “If you only have 30 minutes to work out, jogging gives you the highest calorie burn you can get in that amount of time,” Mackey told Prevention.

In fact, according to the American Council on Exercise, jogging burns the most calories of any exercise.

A 70-kilogram person, for example, will burn 13.2 calories per minute jogging compared to 9 calories per minute swimming, 6.9 calories playing tennis, and 6.4 calories cycling.

In principle, you can’t target a specific area of your body when losing weight. But jogging will help you lose belly fat and other areas.

“Because you’re essentially doing plyometrics on one leg while running, your core strength improves, your hamstrings, glutes, and calves get stronger. You’re also working your arms to balance yourself,” says Mackey. It’s a total-body workout!

How to jog to lose weight

Mackey shows that jogging is a very easy way to start a weight loss plan, because it can be done by anyone and at any time.

You don’t need to join a gym, hire a trainer, or invest in equipment or videos. All you need is a pair of jogging shoes. And they need to fit your feet and your body.

A recent large study found that for people with a genetic predisposition to obesity, regular jogging was the most effective form of exercise for controlling BMI, body fat percentage, and waist circumference.

So to get started and keep the weight off, Mackey has the tricks.

– Week 1-2: Start by jogging for 1 minute, then walking for 1 minute. Do this 8 times alternately for a total of 16 minutes.

Increase the number of repetitions as you feel more comfortable, aiming for at least 3 runs per week.

– Week 3: Increase the jogging time to 2 minutes, alternating with walking for 1 to 2 minutes for a total of 30 minutes.

– Week 4: Try jogging for 3 minutes, followed by walking for 1 minute. Continue to increase the jogging time, adding 1-minute walking breaks as needed.

Keep changing your routine!

Once your body gets used to jogging, you may find that your weight loss slows down. To prevent plateauing, add different challenges to your jogging routine.

“A good way to change up your routine to increase the number of calories you burn is to jog harder and add in uphill sprints,” Mackey suggests.