Overcome Your Fear of Jogging

Too many people are reluctant to try jogging because it seems overly challenging and difficult. Especially if you are overweight, stories of your friends jogging for miles and miles can just be intimidating and discouraging. One simple trick can help you overcome your reluctance and dramatically increase your fitness level. Alternating walking and jogging can keep you on your feet for longer and set you up for success rather than failure.

There have been many studies on the relative value of different kinds of exercise, comparing tennis to bicycling and such. However, most “fitness challenged” Americans are not choosing between exercise options. Rather, the toughest decision for many is whether or not to get off the couch and do anything. One of the healthiest choices you can make is to keep moving, however you are able to accomplish that.

In his book Fit or Fat, Covert Bailey wrote that just fifteen minutes of exercise in one session is enough to reap cardiovascular and weight loss benefits. So rather than despair because you are unable to run several miles at one clip, a more productive strategy would be to alternate walking and jogging. You should make it your goal to exercise for at least fifteen minutes at least three times per week. If fifteen minutes is all you can do at the beginning, you will find that you are able to do more over time.

If your walking and jogging are evenly split at the beginning, you will find that you can improve that ratio over time. Eventually, you will be able to jog two minutes, then walk one minute, and continue that pattern. Some veteran exercisers prefer a sliding scale that gets easier over the course of the workout: jog five minutes, then walk one, then jog four minutes, then walk one, and so on. Log your exercise, and celebrate your steady improvement.

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