Jogging and running do not refine the silhouette of the body, they fuse together. This means that if you jog you are actually running in place while your upper body remains motionless (a “lean” position). On the other hand, when running you are actually changing gears (running fast) which refines the silhouette of the body by forcing your hips and legs to change the direction of movement. As with any movement that affects the skeletal system, both running and jogging can lead to injury.
When I started running, I did so because it was the easiest way for me to get into shape. After all, running requires far less physical effort than jogging and therefore allows me more time to do the things I enjoy. Unfortunately, my body just wasn’t built for running. My lower body was designed for walking, while my upper body had no upper limit to its flexibility. Because of this, it was difficult for me to increase my running speed without causing my lower and upper body injury.
A couple things that I did to minimize risk were to get a good pair of running shoes (which I now have for about ten years) and to get on a treadmill for at least thirty minutes per day. In the beginning, I didn’t even think about how this would affect my body since I figured that I was doing what I wanted to do: run. However, after several months of jogging, I began to notice that my joints were becoming tender. In addition, my feet were feeling tired.
By this point I realized that the whole purpose of this exercise was to minimize such risk. I therefore started jogging with a higher intensity level, which increased my heart rate and burned more calories. During the next two months, I gradually decreased the intensity of my jogging. At the end of November, I completed my first full month of intense jogging, at which point my upper body was finally starting to feel the effects. At this point, I knew that I had to stop since my upper body wasn’t getting the same benefits as it had during the beginning.
What I found was that when you jog, you lose some of the muscular control that you have in your upper body. For example, if you’re jogging along and suddenly try to turn, your body does not have much of a chance to react. Instead, it snaps forward quickly to compensate. This results in an upper body lean and can cause upper body injury if it’s not corrected quickly.
What I recommend is that you jog slower and longer than you normally would. You should also start to increase your endurance. The last piece of advice I’d like to give you is to always listen to your body so that you can learn new ways to improve running and jogging techniques.
