Jogging Question

[dreaded_beast]

So, I've decided to start jogging to relieve some stress in my life.

I was planning to jog 1 mile in the morning and 1 mile in the evening.

Is it detrimental to jog more than once a day?

 

[werk]

Is it detrimental to jog more than once a day?

Is it detrimental to what? It really depends on your goal.

If you are jogging to lose fat, then yes. Longer duration is going to work in your favor, as you will first burn up all the carbs in your blood, muscles, and liver before you begin burning fat.

If jogging for stress management, there are some studies that equate anaerobic exercise with a release of chemicals in the brain that reduce stress. But for anaeroibcs, you'd need to RUN for that mile, which isn't really safe without a nice warm up and stretching before hand.

So, aside from being less than optimally productive, I don't know of anything detrimental.

 

[dreaded_beast]

Is it detrimental to what? It really depends on your goal.

My goal is stress relief with the added benefit of improved health.

I'm worried that jogging twice a day will have negative effects on my health, instead of improving upon it.

 

[Umbran]

If you are jogging to lose fat, then yes. Longer duration is going to work in your favor, as you will first burn up all the carbs in your blood, muscles, and liver before you begin burning fat.

Well, the issue is a bit more complicated - what really matters is when you jog as compared to when you eat. In the long run, what really matters is total calories burned vs total calories taken in. So long as you burn more than you take in, you'll have to burn fat.

For general use cardiovascular conditioning, if I recall correctly several short bouts are more effective than one long bout of aerobic exercise for initial conditioning. Similarly, you are somewhat less likely to injure muscles, tendons, or ligaments, if you have longer rest periods between exercise periods.

 

[Exquisite Dead Guy]

Well, just my 2 cents:

I walk 2 miles a day during my lunch hour and it only takes me 1/2 hour. If you are running one mile you'll probably have it done in 8-10 minutes. I find that the walk lets me unwind more and sometimes I slow my pace or walk a little farther if I'm really stressed to increase the duration.

Walking is also lower impact, which may or may not be a factor for you like it is for me.

 

[Mr. Draco]

So, I've decided to start jogging to relieve some stress in my life.

I was planning to jog 1 mile in the morning and 1 mile in the evening.

Is it detrimental to jog more than once a day?

I've done distance running for quite a few years, so I'll pitch in my 2 cents.

If you're intending on continuing jogging for some time (even if it's only as much as a month or so), you'll almost certainly want to move up your milage. I would recommend running once a day, in the morning. It's really worth it to get up an extra half hour, or hour earlier to start off your day with a good run. When you start off, do an easy mile's jog and then get in some good stretching. It's especially important to stretch, otherwise it's very easy to hurt yourself, especially if you're not in great shape. Once you've done that warm up and stretches, go for a mile or two of a jog. Do this for a week (or less if you're in better shape) and gradually move up your milage. If you can, find new routes that are longer rather than running the same, shorter route twice. The first two weeks or so will be very hard. Very, very hard. That's the amount of time it takes your body to adjust to the work. Make sure you run every day during this period! Once about two weeks have passed, your body will be able to quickly recognize when you're running, and will start producing larger amounts of a chemicals called endorphins. If you've ever heard of "runner's high," that refers to the effects of endorphins. They're a combination of pain blockers and feel-good drugs.

Also, keep a running log. Write down each day how much you run, when you ran, and how you felt. That way you'll be able to look back and watch your progress.

Good luck with your exercise!

 

[EricNoah]

I have heard that, based on distance alone, running and walking burn about the same amount of calories. A 1-mile run is the same as a 1-mile walk, but of course the walk takes longer. And I don't know about how they differ in terms of burning fat or whathaveyou. I personally find walking to be better for stress release/relaxing than running.

 

[Harmon]

It has been a while sense I was a jogger, so my knowledge is a little sketchy.

Don't jump out of bed and go into a run, its bad for your body, you need to get warmed up, get everything moving before you start. If I recall a delay of an hour from out of bed to first steps is a general rule.

Walking a mile and jogging a mile is the same thing (as indicated in previous post).

Have a cool down period after your run. Let your heart rate get back to normal before you consider yourself done (I use to use the last half to full mile for my cool down).

Running twice a day- not sure about anything related to that. I do have a suggestion however- try Yoga in the morning, and jog at night.

When I started Yoga the first time I found that twenty minutes of that really helped my stress and focus levels more so then an hour run.

Have fun, and give Yoga a try, its not complicated, or goofy, its really relaxing.

 

[paulsometimes]

Wow, everyone has a different method to try
Personally, my jogging habits go back and forth, but I notice when I do jog regularly, my stress tends to be down about things in life. However, I have friends that hate jogging and go lift weights to help deal with stress. So my advice is to try different things to see what works for you, but make sure to give everything it's due time to work. Who knows, maybe jogging will be all you need to try.
Also, I'd stick to jogging only once a day with a greater ditance. I always tend to feel much better after a good long jog than a shorter one, even if I know I may be doing another jog later. If nothing else, I'd keep the jogs somewhat close together, maybe a half hour to an hour apart and doing some stretching and other exercises in between.

 

[werk]

Well, the issue is a bit more complicated - what really matters is when you jog as compared to when you eat. In the long run, what really matters is total calories burned vs total calories taken in. So long as you burn more than you take in, you'll have to burn fat.

It's definitely more complicated, which is why I didn't go into it in depth, but I do not agree with your statement above.
The problem with fat is that you have to 'burn' it, that means catabolization, which requires a good amount of oxygen. If you stop eating and sit and watch tv, you'll lose pretty much everything before you lose all your fat, including muscle, organs, and skin. You'll lose some fat, to be sure, but not in an as-needed way that you suggest. Protein is much easier to convert to energy than fat.