Jogging on the spot

spyro88

My boyfriend exercises by jogging on the spot in the living room whilst watching TV for half an hour each night. He has lost a lot of weight by doing this before and he doesn't like the idea of jogging outside or gyms. He's really into it and he likes it so it's good that he's moving! But do you think this is good exercise or not and why ? and what is the difference to real jogging? Which is worse for joints/ impact?

AllanMisner

It is only worse if you have neighbors below. He should know that while he might be developing some cardiovascular improvements, the musculature demand would be different if he were actually jogging (outside or in a gym). It is good he’s moving, so I’m going to say kudos. If fat loss is his goal, he needs to pay attention to what and how much he is eating (if he’s not already).

spyro88

Thankfully we don't have neighbours below Thanks for the reply and yes it is just fat loss really... he's eating mostly the same as me at the minute so pretty healthy

ElvenToad

I can jog in place in front of the tv for about 20 minutes without stopping. On the treadmill I can jog for about 3 min without stopping. It definitely uses more muscles to jog in a forward motion rather than in place. As far as impact/joints I think its much easier to jog in place, so I would guess its easier on them.

I think its still good exercise. Anything that gets you up and moving, gets your heart pumping will burn calories. I've done the Leslie Sansone walk at home videos when I was bigger and they are still quite a workout for me. So if its something he enjoys doing than great! He can up the intensity by jogging faster, raising feet up higher each step, swinging arms harder, or holding a dumbbell in each hand etc. I jog in place when I'm feeling too lazy to get on the treadmill, and I definitely work up a sweat. Its always better than sitting on the couch

sofaking6

I will run around the kitchen island instead of in place - I haven't really tried to identify the root cause but for some reason as long as I'm moving forward I'm comfortable, but staying in one place makes my knees and calves and feet angry.