There are a lot of misconceptions that people have when it comes to general exercise. The debate about whether jogging or sprinting is better for weight loss continues to linger, and everyone has their own opinions.
A lot of people think that jogging is better for weight loss since you are moving for a longer period. Others believe that sprinting is more effective since you are burning fat at a faster pace.
To an extent, both sides are correct. However, if you’re looking to burn fat and lose weight more quickly, then sprinting is the way to go.
Here are six benefits of sprinting over jogging for better weight loss:
1. You Burn More Calories By Sprinting
Studies have shown that you can burn more calories if you sprint in intervals for a total of 15 minutes, rather than jogging steadily for those 15 minutes.
It’s impossible for the human body to run at a full sprint for more than 30 seconds to a minute. Resting for a few seconds in between those short bursts helps the body recover and helps you get your breath back.
Depending on a lot of factors like your weight, height, age and other things, you could essentially more than a triple amount of calories that you burn in the same amount of time if you sprint rather than jog.
2. Stimulates Human Growth Hormone
Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is the main contributor of building lean muscle throughout your body. Having lean muscle is important because you will burn more fat as a result. As you burn that fat, your metabolism will increase as well, which will help with your weight loss.
So what does that have to do with sprinting? Sprinting will stimulate more production of HGH than jogging will. With all the benefits that HGH has, you’d be missing out on a lot of benefits if you chose not to incorporate sprints into your workout.
3. Sheds More Body Fat
Sprinting will help burn body fat a lot more quickly without touching the lean muscle mass. Once you start burning fat, you will be well on your way to losing weight and toning your body.
Since sprinting highlights lean muscle mass, chances are you will have a toned appearance, but might not lose as much weight on the scale. As long as you understand that the weight is now a good weight instead of a bad weight, then you should be pleased with the way you look overall.
4. Your Workout is Finished Quicker
We all have busy lives that sometimes prevent us from working out as much as we should. That’s one of the most common reasons why people don’t work out at all. If you fall into that category, then sprinting could cut your workout time in half, or even more!
If you think about it, you might have to jog for an hour to reach your goal of burning 600-800 calories. If you stay focused on sprinting, then you may be able to reach that same goal in about 15-20 minutes.
When you look at it that way, sprinting will allow you to stay healthy, lose weight and still give you time to do the other things that you need to do.
5. Puts Less Strain on Your Body
Some people just may be physically unable to sprint for a variety of reasons. If that’s you, then you may have no choice but to jog instead of doing sprints. However, if you started out with sprinting in the first place, then you may have avoided injuries completely.
Jogging for an extended period of time is tough on your knees and ankles. The constant wear and tear on your body can be tough in the long-term if you jog often. Instead, short intervals of sprinting can help reduce that pain and put your body in less of a strenuous position.
6. You’ll be in Better Shape
Jogging for an extended period of time will help you get in shape to an extent. However, if you have a desire to play sports or if you like to do outdoor work around your house, then sprinting is better for being in shape.
When you jog, your heart rate will only get so high and your muscles only stretch out so far. However, sprinting will stretch out your muscles and elevate your heart rate to a level that is healthy.
Jogging is great for endurance. Sprinting is the better option for getting in shape.
Conclusion
Make no mistake about it, jogging and sprinting are both good exercises for you to do.Sprinting will definitely accelerate your weight loss efforts more than jogging, but that doesn’t mean that jogging is bad for you. If sprints aren’t your favorite type of running to do, then jog rather than do nothing at all.
With all else equal when it comes to your health and physical attributes, sprinting has proven to be a more effective method of working out when it comes to weight loss.
Hopefully, these six reasons helped you confirm that sprinting is the better option out of the two, but just remember that doing something is better than doing nothing!
Nancy Lang
