Why Jogging is bad for you.
Please see the article below sent to me by Dorothy. It is well worth a read and if you are really pushed for time you can cut to the shorter version. Now do not take it literally word for word, it is not the bible, but I do agree with the general principle, which is why on Tuesday evening, only 8 weeks off my 82nd birthday, you will see me with Graham’s gang trying to run up Kingswood Avenue 12 times x 45 seconds. Mad I hear some of you say but at least still trying to get fitter. -😊
Personally I do not follow exactly what is said in this article. I avoid very short HIIT sessions, a good way to get injured I believe. However, I do use Interval sessions of 200, 300 , 400 metres. Jogging is useful to warm up, cool down, recover from injury or after a hard race. Also when beginning running or after a layoff of several weeks. Naturally we jog between hard efforts.
That leaves steady state running, which I agree should be around 80% of our training. However, how do we define “steady”. Personally I use around 80%-90% of my racing pace (when I used to be able to race!). Some people use pulse rates which is ok but I think it is just as easy to use common sense. If I could race at
5-00/5-30 m.p.m then “steady” was 6-00/6-30 m.p.m. hard enough to be real effort but not hard enough to blow up. The same principle applies if I raced at 8-00 m.p.m., steady would be around 9-00/10-00 m.p.m., working but not exhausting.
The only other comments I want to make is hills. I used to love them, even up to a couple of years ago. Now of course I can only manage about 45 seconds shuffling and then I have to walk, and only then about 20 minutes per session. However, hills build strength, not just in the legs but to the upper body as well and of course work the heart and lungs. The article indicates you can achieve as much fitness in 20-30 minutes hill training as 2 or 3 hours steady running and I quite agree. Runners have a love hate relationship with hills and I love them. -😊
Tony
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