Everything there is about it is wrong. You either run or you walk. Jogging as a warm-up ? NOT!; Jogging as a workout ? NOT!! In my opinion jogging should be outlawed. Jogging is something the English invented and America adopted and eventually created a compulsive passion for in their attempt to get. Do you get the idea I have an opinion on this matter. You have no idea. There have been times of near madness that while observing the bad posture, painful looking, laboring, pounding foot strikes of a bad jogger running alongside the slanted, pitted edge of the road in a cloud of car exhaust as I drove up on them and for that brief moment I actually believed I would be doing them a favor by running them down and putting them out of their misery. So far I haven't snapped.

If you know how to run it surely can be used as a part of a fitness program. If you are an athlete involved in pivotal sports, there are much better alternatives than running slow for a long period of time. Joggers? intentions are honorable in finding an activity to improve or maintain their fitness, but when an activity is damaging important parts of your body in a cumulative fashion an argument for finding an alternative arises without much of an intelligent come back available.

There is a significant difference between running and jogging. Running is efficient, graceful, light footed, balanced and a biomechanical sound movement. Jogging is characterized by various degrees of incorrect movement techniques and posture. Posture is rarely close to acceptable ranging from hunched over and placing., tremendous stress on the thoracic and cervical spine to running ramrod erect with a pronounced hyperextension of the cervical spine which magnifies the compressive force on the lower back. Running: Personally, I am not a fan of distance running for fitness. Ice, uneven grades, foot, ankle, knee, hip, low back, neck pounding repetitions on hard surfaces, and car exhaust are a few of the negative impacts associated with running. On the other hand, I know many people enjoy it and it is a cost free form of exercise that can be done outdoors. Notice I stated that I am not a fan of distance running as opposed to running. A major portion of my all around training is running intervals on a track or a field. As with all the areas of fitness, maintaining good technique is the key to safety and performance. When running intervals I am using the muscles of the body to challenge the ground with each step, minimalizing concussive force in the joints up the length of my body.

Running is a world away from jogging. Two completely different animals. Jogging is characterized by various methods and degrees of ill form. Joggers can demonstrate a posture that ranges from having an hyper-extension of the lower bask to being hunged over, carry their arms too high, land heavily on the heel, and have their feet turning inward or outward. Such form uses excess energy and magnifies the impact of the each footstike, twising ankles, knees and hips as well as providing dangerous compressive impact to your spine, especially the lumbar area. . A well trained runner can move much faster than a jogger, yet experience much less impact due to a smooth form that minimizes vertical motion, and which doesn't exhibit the heavy rear-foot landing during the footstrike. Think about it!

Greg Alario

www.OptimalPerformanceFitness.com