Is Jogging the Best Way to Lose Weight?

The best way to lose weight is to combine regular cardiovascular exercise while simultaneously following a nutrient-dense, reduced-calorie diet plan. Cardio exercises such as jogging are a powerful component to a successful weight-loss plan because of the number of calories they allow you to burn very quickly. In most cases, jogging can be one of the best types of exercise to incorporate into your regimen when you’re trying to lower your body fat.

Components to Weight Loss

When you’re trying to lose weight, you’re concerned about two things -- how many calories you burn and how many consume. If you’re able to burn a higher number than you take in, the fat you have stored on your body is broken down and you lose weight. A caloric deficit of 3,500 equals one pound of fat loss. Therefore, the best exercise for helping you lose weight is the one that is the most efficient for burning calories, giving you a greater bang for your buck.

Power of Jogging

It turns out that running is the most efficient exercise for burning calories quickly. The faster you run, the harder your body has to work and the more calories you’ll burn. Also impacting the number of calories you’ll burn during jogging is how much you currently weigh. According to a calories-burned calculator provided by Health Status, a person weighing 150 pounds jogging for 45 minutes will burn about 432 calories at a 5-mph pace, about 513 calories at a 6-mph pace and about 587 calories at a 7-mph pace 2. A 200-pound person out for a 45-minute jog will burn about 576 calories if moving at a 5-mph pace, about 684 calories at 6 mph and about 783 calories when running at 7 mph. The higher the intensity of your workout, the harder your body works and the more calories you burn. If health allows, apply the high-intensity interval training principle into your jogging workouts. Instead of maintaining a steady pace, incorporate short bouts of sprint intervals mixed into your jogging session.

Compared to Others

Compared to other common cardio workouts, jogging, or running, is at the top of the list for calorie burning. For example, 200-pound person working out for 45 minutes will burn about 414 calories during a moderate-intensity swimming session and about 477 calories during a high-impact aerobics class, a session on the stair step machine, a moderate-intensity stationary bike workout, a rowing workout at moderate intensity and a low-impact step-aerobics class. Close to providing the same calorie-burning benefit as jogging, however, is a workout on the elliptical trainer. A 200-pound person will burn about 744 calories during a 45-minute workout. Depending on your running pace, an intense session on the elliptical machine may burn more calories.

Weight-Loss Potential

As long as it’s combined with a healthy nutritional plan, a jogging workout routine can help you lower your body fat relatively quickly. Knowing that you’ve got to create a 3,500-calorie deficit to lose a pound of fat, a 150-pound person burning about 513 calories during a 45-minute jogging workout at a pace of 6 mph can lose a pound of fat every seven workouts. A person weighing 200 pounds and thus burning about 684 calories during a 45-minute jog at 6 mph can cut down a pound nearly every five workouts. How frequent you are with your jogging sessions will also obviously influence how quickly you’ll lose weight.