What is Wogging?

Wogging is an exercise trend that began in 2008. It's a combination of walking and jogging, Wogging is a perfect next step for walkers who want to begin jogging, but don't yet have the stamina needed to jog at a constant pace.

You burn more calories and give your heart more of a workout with wogging than you do with walking alone. This is because the added jogging is like a fast walk, but with more of a rolling motion from the heel to the toes. Avoid keeping your arms tight or fists clenched. Instead, keep your arms loose at your lower waist level. Your head should be up with your eyes looking straight ahead.

It's usually recommended that walkers should be at a level where they can walk 30 minutes about five days per week before they begin wogging. It's a good idea to ask your doctor if he or she recommends you adding wogging to your walking workouts. Running shoes should be worn when wogging as they absorb the shock to the body.

Wogging could be started by walking four or five minutes and then jogging two or three minutes. You would repeat these walking and jogging blocks of time until you reach about 30 minutes to complete your workout. Stick to the minutes scheduled for about a week and then you will most likely be ready to increase the minutes spent jogging rather than walking.

For example, walking 2 1/2 or three minutes and then jogging five or six minutes may be a reasonable goal for the second or third week for some people. Others may not be ready for that until the fourth or even fifth week. The idea of wogging is to have a challenging balance between walking and jogging, but not to overdo it. By the fifth or sixth week of wogging, you may be ready for a schedule of 2 minutes of walking and 8 to 10 minutes of jogging.

Wogging can often be done for about 30 minutes three days a week to start, and then perhaps adding a fourth day could be a good idea. Depending on a person's fitness level and goals, the remaining days in the week can be spent at rest or on other activities to compliment the wogging workouts such as swimming or biking. Weight-training is another option.