We all know that jogging is a cardio exercise, in as much as running is. Jogging may also be a preparatory fitness workout for a more intense training or only for a light body movement needed to start a day. For one, the writer does this also in his routine exercise.
For beginners who want to indulge in a fitness regimen, jogging seems to be the easiest form of physical activity. You will move and run but at your own pace. You may not force yourself to sprint but only do so according to the amount of energy your body can exert at a given moment. Hence, you will not exhaust yourself till you drop and run out of any viable energy as a result.
Choosing which is better will depend on your goal and your time, routine, and regimen that you will design and put into practice, as a scheduled activity for that matter.
In terms of goals and objectives, you have to factor in whether the same is for weight loss only [just to comply with the minimum standard suggested by your physician or nutritionist] or for a much toned or bulked body that you want to have.
Going into a more evaluative approach, the answer will depend on the above strategies. We will discuss this further.
What are your goals? Do you have time? Do you plan a routine?
If your goal is only to lose weight and you have so much time for it, then, jogging before your primary workout may offer a workable alternative.
If that is the objective, it is worth noting that a greater number of people will do jogging before daybreak or early in the morning. In this situation, most of them, if not all, will perform the same on an empty stomach.
As you start to jog, your body will begin to burn calories. Hence, without much food in the belly, it will utilize fuel from all available resources within your body to come up with the needed energy to be expended. This will be your reserved fats or carbohydrates you ingested the day before, as the case may be.
As a recommendation, drink protein shakes of smoothie before jogging. Bring also your water for ready replenishment.
However, and a bit of caution [and also ask your health professional], it would not be wise, immediately after jogging for a considerable amount of time, to indulge right away with your primary workout.
Your body will tend to reach for other sources of body fuel when your reserved fats and carbohydrates are depleted. It will now turn to protein, which is not a good idea, as your muscle may shrink.
You may want to start another workout only after you have rested. Moreover, you must replenish your body with the required food. However, this does not mean you will eat too much meal after jogging. You should only take enough for you to have energy in the ensuing fitness activity. You must have sufficient time intervals in between jogging and primary workout, under these circumstances.
On the other hand, if you want to bulk up and you only have 2 to 3 available days in a week for at least 1 to 2 hours per day, jogging before a workout may also be done. Yet, it must only be for purposes of warm-up of short duration, like 5 minutes or less. It may also be performed for the same number of minutes in between intense workout supersets or repetition.
However, ideally, it is most convenient in this [bulk up/toned muscle] fitness goal, or when you do not have that much time to spare for a daily exercise, if you will concentrate first on your primary/intense workout schedule then jog afterwards, as a light movement for your body to settle down, if that is what you prefer.
What is the usual body fuel consumption?
Carbohydrates
In a daily routine without working out, carbohydrates are first metabolized for energy. Therefore, those people who have enough carbohydrates in their bodies tend to exhaust the same first, as required on a daily basis to burn the needed calories.
Most of the time, energy from carbohydrates is enough to burn calories on a certain day. Hence, often than not, calories from fats are never fully broken down.
Fats
Thus, we can safely assume that fats are not really being substantially metabolized in the body, when an individual eats more carbohydrates than fats. This is also true if he does not engage in any fitness activity. It is but logical that, after exhausting the energy coming from carbohydrates, the body tends to stabilize.
Our body has a standard calorie consumption per day depending on one’s Body Mass Index (BMI). After reaching that, energy consumption generally settles. The suggested daily calorie intake is 2,000 cal. a day for women and 2,500 for men.
Consequently, because of our usual diet stated above, fats are not generally consumed most of the times. And if we indulge in eating, we are inclined to add up fats more than we should be getting. The result is gaining weight, if not obesity.
Even so, carbohydrates that are not processed on a given day as fuel for the body will also be transformed and stored as fats. Thus, additional body weight is most likely to result as a necessary consequence.
Energy Consumption | Calorie Burn
Most human beings use normal and usual dietary practices, such as more carbohydrates, balanced protein, and fewer fats. When we engage in a light workout such as jogging, as per research by some health professionals, we tend to burn fewer calories using less carbohydrates as fuel.
While in light workouts, our body prefers fats. Nonetheless, the overall calories that have been used are lesser than the calories utilized from high-intensity exercise.
The fuel produced from burning carbohydrates, while being consumed less, does not reflect the full amount of calories burned, in relation to the total calories used at a given fitness activity.
In a light workout, fats are preferred as we have discussed. Moreover, in arriving at the total amount of burned calories, you will notice more fats are broken down. Nonetheless, it is as well apparent that fewer calories have been burned. Compared with high-intensity exercise, where more carbohydrates are metabolized and less fats processed, we will see that more calories from dissolved fats are turned into body fuel.
Workout: Nutshell Carbs and Fats Comparison
Light workout: Jogging: 3 Miles for 1 hour at 300 Calories/100 Calories per Mile
Fast pace workout: Running: 4 to 5 Miles for 1 hour at 400-500 Calories/100 Calories per Mile
You may notice in the above example that the speed increases since the subject has to complete the 4 to 5 miles distance only for 1 hour.
Fats
| Time/Hour | Distance/Miles | Fats Burned/ Percentage | Calories Burned From Fats | Total Calories Burned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 70 | 210 | 300 |
| 1 | 4 | 60 | 240 | 400 |
| 1 | 5 | 50 | 250 | 500 |
Carbohydrates
| Time/Hour | Distance/Miles | Carbs Burned/ Percentage | Calories Burned From Carbs | Total Calories Burned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 30 | 90 | 300 |
| 1 | 4 | 40 | 120 | 400 |
| 1 | 5 | 50 | 250 | 500 |
In this particular table, which on the assumption the body can still work and perform, you will notice that the more the movement becomes intense from jogging to running, the percentage of fat burning decreases. Yet, the calories from fats that are consumed increase.
Body workout needed
On an average and normal activity for a day and a person taking the standard food intake as discussed above, only fuel, most of the time, from carbohydrates will be utilized.
Consequently, if you need to indulge in healthy lifestyle, work out, exercise, and fitness regimen are inevitably required.
You need to touch upon losing fats along side using carbohydrates as fuel.
Jogging Before or After Workout
Now to the query, is jogging better before or after workout? For me as a fitness enthusiast, the writer personally has an experience that jogging is better before starting your workout, whether on a beginner or more advanced level.
This is to say that a person like me has more time to indulge in fitness activity with a routine schedule of primary workout, considering the explanation above that a high-intensity workout breaks lesser amounts of fats but burns more calories. More importantly, while having a light workout such as jogging, we know that it dissolves more fats, although turning fewer calories into body fuel.
When you start jogging before work out for a short duration [5 to 15 minutes], your body will be stimulated and will be prepared for what will lie ahead—training as a novice or for more intense body activity.
Even gym trainers, if not all, will promote jogging or light activity for at least 15 minutes or less or cycling with stationary bike for 5 minutes. This is preparing your body for the needed repetitive exercise.
It will start to scrape your stored carbohydrates to be used as fuel. According to a variety of Fitness Professionals, while light workouts such as jogging use more fats as energy, heavy and intense exercise burns carbs substantially within your body because of a shortage of oxygen.
