Will Jogging Slim My Legs?

Leg fat is categorized as subcutaneous, which means it is close to the skin's surface. Although this fat is away from the major organs and does not raise your risk for disease, it can cause self-consciousness. Exercise is a pivotal component of ridding yourself of this fat. Jogging is a good option, provided you take into account certain considerations.

Form of Exercise

Aerobic, or cardiovascular, exercise elevates your heart rate and causes you to break a sweat. This is caused by the repetitive movement of your arms and legs for an extended period of time. When you do cardio, you burn calories; this leads to weight loss throughout your entire body, including your legs. As jogging is a form of cardio, it will, in fact, slim down your legs.

Time and Consistency

Weight loss does not happen overnight. You need patience, dedication and the discipline to stay on track through the course of time. The key is to exercise long enough and often enough to promote weight loss. The American College of Sports Medicine notes that 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity performed five days a week is most favorable for weight loss. If you are unable to jog for 60-plus minutes due to time constraints, accumulate your time by doing multiple bouts of jogging throughout the day.

Muscle-Building Effect

Jogging not only burns calories, but it engages a high amount of muscle fiber -- especially in the lower body. Building even 1 lb. of muscle translates into a higher metabolism. This will, in turn, cause you to burn more calories while in a resting state and further slim down your legs. By jogging up hills, you will increase the emphasis on your muscles and increase the effect. If you jog on a treadmill, simply raise the incline.

Intensity

Jogging at a slow and steady pace is efficient for burning calories, but you can increase the effect by doing interval training. This is performed by alternating your pace back and forth between high and low intensity. Interval training boosts your caloric expenditure. During your workouts, you have a couple options with interval training. Either alternate back and forth between jogging lightly and sprinting, or alternate between walking briskly and jogging.

Diet Considerations

What you choose to eat on a daily basis is going to have a major impact on your leg fat loss. If you follow a high-fat diet that is also high in calories, your progress will be seriously compromised. Your best bet is to cut back on your daily intake and eat nothing but nutrient-dense foods like fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish, whole grains and legumes. A 500-calorie-per-day reduction will lead to about 1 lb. of weight loss a week. If you were to burn 700 calories in five jogging workouts a week, you will lose about 2 lbs.