Whats the difference between running and jogging

All semantics. Different people have tried to come up with definitions, but none of them are definitive. Essentially jogging is a lower intensity form of running but how that gets defined isn't universally accepted.

Personally, I tend to think I jog on my recovery days and run the others. But that is just me.

Some people have started to consider or use it as an insult, which i guess was inevitable. I would call somebody out who told someone they were only jogging and not running. Pure ignorance and sounds like an attempt to knock the runner down.

So don't worry, it's a not clearly defined subset of running.

All semantics. Different people have tried to come up with definitions, but none of them are definitive. Essentially jogging is a lower intensity form of running but how that gets defined isn't universally accepted.

Personally, I tend to think I jog on my recovery days and run the others. But that is just me.

Some people have started to consider or use it as an insult, which i guess was inevitable. I would call somebody out who told someone they were only jogging and not running. Pure ignorance and sounds like an attempt to knock the runner down.

So don't worry, it's a not clearly defined subset of running.

There is a definitive definition:

One foot in contact with the ground at all times during the stride= walking

Both feet leave the ground at the same time during the stride=Running

Physiologically, there is no such thing as "jogging".

All semantics. Different people have tried to come up with definitions, but none of them are definitive. Essentially jogging is a lower intensity form of running but how that gets defined isn't universally accepted.

Personally, I tend to think I jog on my recovery days and run the others. But that is just me.

Some people have started to consider or use it as an insult, which i guess was inevitable. I would call somebody out who told someone they were only jogging and not running. Pure ignorance and sounds like an attempt to knock the runner down.

So don't worry, it's a not clearly defined subset of running.

There is a definitive definition:

One foot in contact with the ground at all times during the stride= walking

Both feet leave the ground at the same time during the stride=Running

Physiologically, there is no such thing as "jogging".

Which is consistent with my point. :-) The word, of course, has been used for centuries but not consistently with running until Bill Bowerman's book "jogging" published about 50 years ago. So a common word with an unclear meaning.

Running, to me, is jogging with a purpose. You set goals, maybe even have a training plan mapped out. You strive to get better. Maybe you are working towards your first 5k, maybe you are trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but you are running with a purpose.

Running is a broad category that includes sprinting, jogging, escaping predators, fun runs, etc. Jogging is a consistent speed activity typically done for fitness or recreation.

Jogging- Fast walking, slow running... This is just my definition lol.

Running = a stride wherein both feet leave the ground at once (versus walking, where one foot is always in contact).

A jog is a slower run. A sprint is a faster run. These are subjective. What's faster or slower for you may not be what is faster or slower for me.

That doesn't matter though: it's all running. Jogging, to me, is a word people use either to self-deprecate ("oh, I wasn't running...it was just a jog") or Serious Important Runners (tm) use to disparage more casual runners.

"It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the. . . It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run." - John Bingham

If you aren't walking, then you're running. If jogging is just slow running, then wouldn't there need to be a definitive speed at which it turns into running? We humans can complicate the simplest things.

ETA: It's funny to me how we never say a small child is jogging. They're either walking or running. When did we grow out of that?

ETA: It's funny to me how we never say a small child is jogging. They're either walking or running. When did we grow out of that?

ha - excellent point! "No jogging in the house!"

No difference. It is what you say it is. I say I run.

If jogging is just slow running, then wouldn't there need to be a definitive speed at which it turns into running?

How would you determine that definitive speed because people are so different?

An elite marathoner (2:15 or so) would run his recovery runs at around a 6:30 per mile pace and his easy runs at around a 6:00 pace. That's just light conversational trot to him, but it would go sub-20 in a 5k. Would anyone say a typical sub 20 5k runner is just "jogging". I laugh if you told me I jogged my 5k PR, but if Ryan Hall were running with me that day, he might say that is all he did.

if you have to define it at all, I think it would have to be on effort, not speed.

Running = a stride wherein both feet leave the ground at once (versus walking, where one foot is always in contact).

A jog is a slower run. A sprint is a faster run. These are subjective. What's faster or slower for you may not be what is faster or slower for me.

That doesn't matter though: it's all running. Jogging, to me, is a word people use either to self-deprecate ("oh, I wasn't running...it was just a jog") or Serious Important Runners (tm) use to disparage more casual runners.

"It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the. . . It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run." - John Bingham

Actually, there is a difference between sprinting and jogging/running.

Sprinting is performed under anaerobic conditions: you are working so hard you cannot keep up with the oxygen demands of the muscles, and so build up lactic acid.

Running/jogging is aerobic: you supply the muscles sufficient oxygen to prevent lactic acid accumulation.

The actual speed at which these happen is of course dependent on the individual athlete.

Hi There
I have never been one for being outdoors and do most of my exercise fast walking on a treadmill inside. However I have recently had a thought that I would like to go a bit faster and get myself outside now that its light at night.
But can you tell me please what is the difference between running and jogging. Is it purely the speed? or are their different techniques to use for each. I would like to start running, I though I was but my husband tells me I was just jogging, is that just because I was too slow?

"jogging" was just a term used by people in the 1980's to describe running.

it's a term thats often used by the sort of people who believe a 5k is a 'marathon', and the same people who ask how long a marathon IS, and those who also believe that a 5k/10k/half marathon/full marathon have variable distances depending on the location of where these events are run, and will often ask you how many 10k marathons you have run.


what's more important is that you really..REALLY need to get off the treadmill and run outdoors.

I have no technical knowledge about what constitutes jogging vs running, but I agree that running seems like the broader term and that it would include jogging. (All squares are quadrilaterals, but not all quadrilaterals are squares)
Poo pooing your running by saying, no actually you're jogging is just kind of a jerk thing to say.

Running = a stride wherein both feet leave the ground at once (versus walking, where one foot is always in contact).

A jog is a slower run. A sprint is a faster run. These are subjective. What's faster or slower for you may not be what is faster or slower for me.

That doesn't matter though: it's all running. Jogging, to me, is a word people use either to self-deprecate ("oh, I wasn't running...it was just a jog") or Serious Important Runners (tm) use to disparage more casual runners.

"It was being a runner that mattered, not how fast or how far I could run. The joy was in the act of running and in the. . . It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run." - John Bingham

Actually, there is a difference between sprinting and jogging/running.

Sprinting is performed under anaerobic conditions: you are working so hard you cannot keep up with the oxygen demands of the muscles, and so build up lactic acid.

Running/jogging is aerobic: you supply the muscles sufficient oxygen to prevent lactic acid accumulation.

The actual speed at which these happen is of course dependent on the individual athlete.

A sprint is still a run. A jog is also a run. Nothing in my post suggested that all three exercises involve the same oxygen demands. Also, OP wasn't asking about aerobic/anaerobic conditions or sprints, as you'll recall.