Jogging Tips for Beginners

Today, our sedentary lifestyle is making us more and more physically inactive. The simplest way to stay active in your everyday life is to include a jogging program in your daily schedule. Running and jogging is an easy form of aerobic exercises. The impact of this form of exercise is very low and it can be done by anybody. Jogging can reduce the risk of various major health problems related to the heart, bone etc. It is believed to have a strengthening effect on the cardiovascular system of the body. Apart from that, it is one of the most effective ways of burning excess calories from the body and losing weight. Jogging in fresh air in the mornings can also help in coping with the stress of life in a better manner. Before discussing about the various aspects of jogging for beginners, let us take a look at how you should gear up with right kind of clothes and the right pair of shoes.

Clothes for Jogging

For jogging, always wear loose fitting clothes. Loose fitting clothes will be the most comfortable while running. The material of the clothes you wear is also very important. Cotton clothes are better avoided as they tend to become wet and heavy with sweat. It is advisable to wear non-cotton clothes. Your clothes should be such that they can keep you dry at the same time help in maintaining normal perspiration while jogging. In cold weather conditions, do not wear too many clothes to keep yourself warm. At the start, it may feel nice but after jogging for sometime the heat will be very uncomfortable.

Shoes for Jogging

Selecting the right pair shoes for jogging is very important because a wrong shoe can badly injure the feet of the jogger. If the shoes are bigger than your size then problems related to feet and toes may bother you a lot in future. A number of variety of shoes are available in the market to chose from. Like cushioned shoes, performance training shoes, racing shoes, motion control shoes, etc. You should choose one that suits your needs. Every person has different running styles and the shoe which you are using for jogging should be suitable for your running style. It is also very important that you discard your worn out shoes on time. The longevity of the jogging shoes depend on several factors like the shape of your feet, your body weight, the surface on which you are running, etc. On an average, running shoes should be used for 400 - 500 miles. After that it should be changed.

Jogging Tips for Beginners

The ideal time for jogging is early in the morning. At that time, the atmosphere is full of fresh oxygen. While jogging, your intake of oxygen increases and it will be helpful in burning off extra calories from the body. Therefore, if you wish to get the full benefits of jogging, you have to make a habit of getting up early in the morning.

The place where you jog also plays a very crucial role in getting maximum benefits. Never jog in an indoor track, or in confined places, like a closed room, as you will not get enough fresh oxygen in an indoor area. Most outdoor places are suitable for jogging. A track inside a garden full of trees is the most preferred place to jog as you get plenty of fresh oxygen in the morning. Beach areas also make a good place for jogging.

Jogging should be done on an empty stomach. Try not eat any food before you go out for your morning jog. Instead, drink some water. Note that drinking too much water before your jog will make it difficult for you to run, hence limit yourself to just 2 - 3 glasses of water before starting out.

Prior to jogging, proper warm up of the body is a must. For this, you can do some skipping, jumping, sit-ups etc. for 5-10 minutes. Stretching exercises are also an excellent way of adding flexibility to stiff muscles. It helps energize the body and prevents your muscles from any type of injury.

As beginners, the most vital jogging tips for you is that you should start jogging slowly, both in terms of distance as well as pace. Do not push yourself too hard or else you may get exhausted very easily and injure yourself too. For the first few days, try jogging for about a kilometer. In the initial weeks, you should not cover more than 2 - 3 miles per week. Slowly, as your body gets used to the jogging schedule, you can increase the pace and distance covered.

While jogging your heart beat increases and a large amount of oxygen gets into the blood. This increases the rate of metabolism of your body, and more calories are used during jogging. Calories burned in the process becomes apparent in the form of perspiration. In other words, the more you perspire, the more body fat is getting destroyed. For this reason, jogging for beginners can be a bit tiring at times. In that case, stop jogging for a while and sit down. Carry some citrus fruit juices along with you. Citrus fruit juices will make you feel better after some time. Do not rest for too long, lest your body cools down and becomes stiff. If you need to take a break before you have completed your schedule, make sure it a short one, and you complete your schedule before cooling down.

Since your body muscles are not used to getting stretched so much, you should cool down the muscles for 5 minutes after the end of your jogging schedule. The cooling process is done in a similar manner as the warming up. It helps to ease off the stretched muscles and lets them regain their original shape. Another benefit of cooling down is that the muscles can flush out unwanted lactic acid. Learn more on:

• Jogging to Lose Weight
• Jogging: Calories Burned Per Hour

More and more people are taking up jogging for weight loss. From the tips given on jogging for beginners, you can see that it is far less complicated than any other fat burning exercise. When you are jogging to lose weight, all you have to do is to run at a speed that you are comfortable with. If you start your day with jogging, you will get a fit and flexible body, and it will boost up your confidence and self-respect to a great extent.