Look at a sprinter and look at a long distance runner. Tell me which one has the better physique. 100 percent of the time it will be the sprinter. In my opinion and many others, long distance running wreaks havoc on your physique. You get the classic skinny fat body. Skinny arms with a gut, it looks awful.
The sad thing is that when people are looking to lose weight often time they go straight to the treadmill and start jogging. Long distance running can actually make you RETAIN fat! Yes you heard me right. For long distance running the body relies on fat as energy. If you do it consistently your body will start producing more of it in response. Pretty similar to when you workout and tear muscle, your body produces more muscle and more strength so the next time you go do that it won’t be as hard.
When I say long distance I mean 5 miles and higher. I personally don’t even recommend going above 2 miles if you are jogging. A mile jog here and there won’t kill you but there are far better methods to do cardio. Even walking is better for you!
So what are your options? Sprinting and walking (preferably on an incline).
Let’s go back in time. You need some food, what do you do? You walk around. A lot. People were nomads and walked quite a bit. What happens when you see a nice meal you need to kill. Or on the other side, something trying to kill you? You sprint like hell to or away from it. Your body was made to sprint and to walk. Not to jog at a medium pace for long distances.
For walking I suggest doing it on an incline. Ideally up hills or hiking but a treadmill on an incline works as well. To make this harder you can even wear a weighted vest.
For sprinting there are a lot of different workouts you can do. HIIT and Tabata’s are my favorite. They both revolve around all out sprints followed by slow paced jog or walk to recover. They are short and intense workouts.
Something you can try for “fun” if you want to call it that is go to your local track. It is a pretty straightforward workout. Sprint the straight aways and walk the curves. Do this straight for 10-15 minutes.
If you want to go on that 1-2 mile jog, by all means go for it. I would recommend you stay away from the long distances though and make most of your cardio either walking or sprinting.
