Jogging Alone Won’t Give You a Lean Athletic Body
It Isn’t the Best Form of Cardio for Most People
What you’ll tend to find in January, when people quote unquote want to “lose weight,” is that they often gravitate towards steady-state cardio — particularly jogging.
And to be fair to jogging, it does have some benefits.
For example, it does burns calories and can boost your metabolism for a couple of hours afterwards.
So that’s not bad.
If you’re somebody who hasn’t exercised in a long time and you start jogging, you’ll probably notice some strength improvements in your legs and you may initially see some weight loss as well.
Again, not bad.
However, there are much better options and if I were grading jogging from a fitness‑effectiveness standpoint, I’d personally give it a D.
Meaning it’s not a C, B, or an A, so it’s far from the best, but it’s still better than doing nothing.
So what I’m going to do for you in this article, is first explain the downsides of jogging so that way you understand why I gave it a D.
Then afterwards, I’ll then share two alternatives that are much, much better.
So let’s get into it.
#1 Jogging Can Increase Cortisol Levels
So, for those who don’t know:
Cortisol is the stress hormone, and it generally works opposite to testosterone.
So when testosterone is high, cortisol tends to be lower, and vice versa—when cortisol is high, testosterone usually comes down.
The problem with jogging, especially when done for prolonged periods, is that it can lower your testosterone levels.
Testosterone is considered by many to be the “male” hormone
So for me personally, I classify long-distance jogging as something of an anti-male exercise.
It’s not something I want to be doing for extended periods.
That said, if you’re a man and you enjoy jogging, you should probably keep on doing it, because you are more likely to stick to exercising if you enjoy the activity.
However what I want to make clear is that jogging shouldn’t be your sole focus.
From a physique-development perspective you should be doing other forms of training, which I’ll later be discussing.
It’s also worth noting that excess cortisol can break down muscle tissue, which many people don’t want.
Just look at the physique of a marathon runner:
Yes, they often have low body fat, but they can also be extremely skinny—skin and bones as I like to call it.
#2 Long Distance Running Taken to the Extreme, Breaks Down Muscle Tissue
Let’s continue from the previous point.
Years ago—I’m not sure whether this is still circulating now—an image compared the physique of a marathon runner and an Olympic sprinter, and they look completely different.
As you can see in the image above, I have replicated that image:
The marathon runner is on the left and the Olympic sprinter is on the right.
Look at the marathon runner, he’s basically skin and bones, there’s nothing to him. Now look at the Olympic sprinter on the right — he’s pure lean muscle.
That difference makes perfect sense because the body is an adaptation machine
If sleep, nutrition, and stress management are dialed in, your body will adapt to whatever exercise you give it.
A marathon runner, who needs to run long distances, doesn’t benefit from carrying lots of muscle; it would weigh him down.
In contrast, an Olympic sprinter needs to get from A to B as quickly as possible, so they need that fast‑twitch, lean muscle for acceleration and power.
From a physique-development perspective, sprinting is hard to beat as a form of cardio. It burns body fat intensely and also builds lean muscle.
The main drawback is the injury risk and this is because of the demands sprinting places on the body.
However, you can mitigate that risk by sprinting uphill which reduces top end speed and therefore impact forces.
Plus the added resistance due to sprinting up hill also helps with regards to building more muscle which of course isn’t a bad thing.
#3 Long Distance Running Can Also Be Problematic From an Injury Perspective
The rock‑solid truth is that there’s an actual technique to running, yet most people don’t know how to do it because they haven’t been coached or trained.
Just imagine somebody hitting the pavement five, six, seven days a week—mile after mile.
That’s a lot of stress on the body.
Ankle, knee, and hip problems are common among runners and many will encounter these issues at some point because of that repetitive stress.
Honestly, if I had to choose between walking and long‑distance running as a form of cardio, I’d choose walking.
Not only is walking safer, but from a cortisol perspective (see #1) it’s much better.
In contrast to running, walking is therapeutic and actually relieves stress.
So now that you know the downsides of jogging, you probably understand why I’ve graded it a D.
So let’s talk about the two things you can do if we’re talking purely from a physique‑development perspective.
#4 Strength Training
So, basically, if somebody just wants to look better naked then strength training is an absolute must it’s non-negotiable.
This applies to both men and women.
Strength training gives your body shape and raises your resting metabolic rate, which means you burn more calories throughout the day.
This is what most people want.
The beauty of strength training is that you don’t need to live in the gym.
Three days a week of full-body workouts is all that’s required. Obviously, you also need to manage stress, eat well, and choose the right exercises but If you do those things, you will build muscle.
In a previous article I talked about about improving your appearance. In it I said that before you even bother with clothes and fashion, put muscle on your frame.
You see when you have muscle, your clothes will just naturally fit better.
A perfect example of this:
Is an athletic guy wearing a $20 T‑shirt from Target and it looking expensive because of his body and shape, while you could have an overweight guy wearing a $300 T‑shirt, yet it looks sloppy again due to his body and shape.
The most expensive clothes is really an athletic body — and you can’t buy that in a shop.
You have to earn it.
#5 High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
So let’s explain HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, so you understand what it is.
It’s basically short bursts of very intense exercise followed by brief rest periods — that’s the easiest way to describe it.
You can do this with sprints:
Go all out as fast as you can, and when you feel your speed dropping off, stop and walk back to the starting point.
That walk back is your rest period.
Once you return to starting point, sprint again and repeat for several rounds.
I wouldn’t recommend that someone who’s brand new to exercise to start sprinting on the ground, because they’re more than likely to get injured, however they can mimic this using machines at the gym instead.
For example, someone could use an assault bike:
Go all out for 10–15 seconds, take a short rest, then repeat for several rounds.