RUNNING/JOGGING QUESTION

dodoodoodo

Hello all!!

Does anyone know if it is more beneficial to work on speed and go less of a distance, or go farther and slower?

In the past I would run at 5 mph (okay, i guess thats a jog!) and slowly worked my way up to running 5 miles straight at 5 mph, but I'm wondering if you get better results or anything by increasing speed first and then going for distance later?

Thanks!!

Celo24

Try some interval training. That will help you build both speed and endurance. If you haven't done intervals, basically what you do is run for a period of time (say 5 minutes), then walk for a minute. Do that the entire time you are working out. Since you can already do 5 miles at 5 mph, try running at a 6 mph pace so you have to push yourself. As you get better, you can increase the interval to 6/1, then 7/1, etc.

Liss1

I know this sounds wrong because i remember learning it in class and thinking that it cant be true, but, If u run 5 miles and walk 5 miles it is the same amount of calories because walking will take u more time thus burning more calories to add up to the same as running for a shorter time.

Also :Faster running will be better for your bones worse for your joints.
:Slower running is better for your joints worse for your bones.

MaggieMay131

Let's say you "sprint" for 10 minutes and burn 200 calories. (hypothetical... I have no idea what you'd burn personally)
Or, you might "jog" for 20 minutes... you'd probably burn 200 calories.

As far as "burning fat vs. burning carbs".... it's all just about calories. You burn more calories, you lose more fat!

SO, if you're just working out to burn calories, shorter/higher intensity is probably about the same as longer/lower intensity.

If you're training for something specifically, you'd want to change your workout accordingly. I hope that helps!

Red13

It depends. Are you training for a long distance run or do you want to run for the benefit of your body? To have a greater impact on your tone and weight lose, it is better to do interval cardio. An example that I do is walk briskly for 3 min, lightly jog for 1 min, and then sprint for 1 more minute. Then keep repeating for as long as you want to run. Your body works it's hardest when warming up for exercise and cooling down so when you keep changing your speed, your body works harder and burns more.

afoshag

I agree with the interval working. I have been doing it for about a year and it really will get you in shape faster. I started with the run walk, but have now worked up to jog / fast run work.....I do 2 minute/3 minute interval usually. I also do work on pace runs as well. Fartlek runs are another great interval training tool. If you don't know what that is it can be found online. Hill training is another way to mix up your workout and gain great endurance. Hope this helps!

hyoung3

I use http://www.walkjogrun.net

You can plot your course, plug in a time that it takes to complete the course and it'll do the math for you.

If you alter the time taken, it will adjust the speed for you.

You'll get a calorie burn number that even accounts for changes in incline throughout your trek.

Hope this helps...

cacrat

As far as "burning fat vs. burning carbs".... it's all just about calories. You burn more calories, you lose more fat!

I'm hoping you didn't mean to simplify it like that.

misssuperstitious

It really depends on why your running My goal is to do my first marathon with a weightloss side effect. My friend who has run several marathons told me to first just start working up to running for an hour straight to build my endurance, he didn't care about my speed at that point, in fact I was only going 5 mph then myself. I started adding intervals and hills when the official 20 week training program began. So far it's working well for me. Good luck!

dodoodoodo

thanks everyone i will check out those sites mentioned. and i USED to be able to run for 60 minutes, not yet though haha. and nope not training for anything just want to lose weight, although if i could do a marathon some time in my life i'd be sooooo happy.

Leannek74

I'm a slower runner, but I can go long distances.... happy with that, I used to have to stop right quick! I'm more concern of how long I can go and I'll work on the speed later.

The running guys always talk about pacing yourself and then working on speed.