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Is Jogging Good Cardio

February 9, 2022

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Is Jogging Good Cardio

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Jogging is one of the most popular types of exercise because it is easy to do and does not cost anything. You only need to have the right gear, the perfect weather, and enough determination, and you are ready to go jogging.

But there is more to jogging than you might think, which includes the benefits it may have for your heart and overall health. We will look at how jogging is good for cardio and whether it is the perfect solution to keep you healthy and active.

Stay with us, and we will show you if jogging is any good for cardio and whether anyone can do it for better health.

What Is So Important About Cardio?

Cardio is basically any type of exercise you may do that raises your heart rate and your breathing at a steady pace. This type of exercise also helps to improve the circulatory system and boosts the function of your lungs and heart.

Why do you need to do this type of exercise, and is it really beneficial to your health in general? Cardio is not just about increasing the heart rate; any type of activity you do can increase your heart rate, like walking around.

Physical exercise that raises your heart rate and breathing and improves the function of your heart and lungs qualify as cardio. So, any type of physical activity that meets those two requirements while also improving the circulatory system can be called cardio exercises.

If the exercise you do to meet that criteria can be maintained for at least 30 minutes, you have reached your goal of cardio exercises. This is where jogging comes in. It can be done for 30 minutes at a good pace to reach the target heart rate for your age.

Leisurely activities such as walking and riding a bike slowly cannot count as cardio because they do not challenge the heart and lungs.

Jogging For Cardio

Whenever you mention the word cardio, people automatically assume that it has something to do with running because that is what everyone believes. The reason for that is that most types of cardio have to do with running, while most people run for cardio.

So, you can take it that running and cardio go hand in hand, but cardio is not just running, and running is not always cardio. Jogging may also burn a lot of calories, but this might only be true for a while until your body starts getting used to it.

With any type of exercise you perform regularly, your body will eventually plateau, meaning there is no further development. You must change the intensity of the exercise for the duration of the session to give your body a type of shock to not peak.

So for jogging to be good for cardio, you need to run uphill or a bit faster, then slow down for a few minutes. This will provide you with the best cardio effect to allow you to use jogging as cardio to improve your heart function.

Does all this mean that jogging is not good for cardio? It is not the only and the best option for cardio. If you apply the rules of not allowing your body to get used to the pace and intensity, it will be effective for cardio.

Man in red hoodie jogging beside the road in the city

What Is the Best For Cardio?

If you are not interested in doing any other type of physical activity, such as weights and aerobic exercise, you can still jog for cardio. If you go out jogging, do not just jog at a slow pace; mix it up a bit at different speeds.

Take a different route every day. For instance, take a route with more uphill roads and fewer flat stretches on the first day. For the following day, you can take a flat route but jog at a faster pace and stay longer on the road.

To mix it up even more, you can jog at different speeds with short bursts of faster running between slower sessions. Do not use the same pattern every day, or your body will get used to it, and you may peak at some point.

Jogging this way will also break the monotony of the jogging session and make it a bit more exciting and fun. You also do not need to make use of any electronic gadget to measure your heart rate; simply do the speaking test.

If you cannot speak without catching your breath, you know your heart rate and breath have increased to the target rate.

Benefits Of Jogging For Cardio

While jogging is a medium-intensity type of exercise, it can successfully be used for cardio to improve heart and lung functions. Cardio training is not necessarily what you do, but it is more how you do it, so jogging for cardio the right way is good.

Benefits

  • Jogging for 30 minutes or more will help to burn more calories than many other types of exercise.
  • While jogging does not build serious muscle, it will help to improve circulatory system function if used for cardio.
  • It also helps you to burn fat, and that is good for your overall health.
  • You may burn anything from 400 to 600 calories in a one-hour session of jogging.
  • For the toning up of lean muscle, jogging can help to slightly increase muscle mass.
  • For a leaner build, you can jog to help with the toning of your muscles.
  • The heart is one of the important organs you need to keep in good shape, which is where jogging excels.
  • Harmful cholesterol levels can also be reduced with a good jogging program to increase overall health.
  • A great benefit you get from jogging is that it will help improve mental health so you feel better about yourself.
  • Jogging also gives you that sense of achievement after finishing every session.
  • After a good early morning jogging session, you will have more energy to tackle the tasks of the day.
  • Most of all, jogging can be a good form of cardio if you do it right, and it costs you nothing.

Summary

So, you can see that jogging can be good for cardio if you are doing it correctly while making it interesting for yourself. Even though many do not consider jogging the best cardio exercise, it will help you achieve many different health goals in the long run.

So, go out and jog but most of all have fun while doing it!

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