If you want to get in shape and lose 20 extra pounds, let this be your inspiration. Or if you just want to learn how to run an 8 minute mile, there's a lot to learn from the jogging experiment that I've just completed.

First, a quick background story...

Over the past few years, I had grown (what was) a very consistent morning jogging habit. As soon as I woke up each morning, I would immediately grab my shoes and be out the door for a mile jog.

However, it was the winter season. And I had recently moved and no longer had my gym membership or a treadmill that I could use. So I found myself quickly out of the jogging habit. Days turned into weeks. And weeks turned into months.

I noticed that I didn't have nearly the amount of energy that I had before. So I decided enough was enough, and I went out and bought a new treadmill. I soon realized that I was in need of something else...

The Added Challenge

I was doing some reading in the book Making A Good Brain Great and noticed that jogging wasn't on the author's list of best physical workouts for the brain.

I always felt as if jogging was the ultimate aerobic exercise. After all, it only takes about 10 minutes to get yourself huffing and puffing and begging for air. That certainly has to be good for your brain right?

The reason why it didn't make the author's top list is because studies have shown that the best workouts for the brain are those that combine aerobic exercise with strength training. While jogging is the ultimate aerobic exercise, there's no strength resistance like there is with an exercise bike or swimming for example (a few exercises on the author's list).

The author did make a suggestion on how to add jogging to the list. How can you make jogging the ultimate aerobic and strength training workout?...




Meet my worst nightmare. A twenty-pound Gold's Gym jogging vest.

By jogging with a weight vest, you can get an aerobic exercise with jogging, and strengthen your legs with the added weight at the same time.

Also, if you ever want to know just how good it would feel to lose twenty pounds, try running with this thing strapped to your back. Notice how light you will feel when you take it off! This is how good you will feel without that extra weight you've been carrying around.

Getting back to my experiment...

My goal was simple, run an 8 minute mile with the twenty pound vest on. Since running an 8 minute mile without a vest used to be a daily event for me, I wanted to get back in shape and complete this goal within 21 days.

So what happened?...

The Jogging Experiment

If you have read some of my previous personal development experiments, you already know that I like to have a trigger moment that gets me consistently starting my experiment. Something that is already automatic every day so that eventually my new habit will become automatic as well.

For this experiment, I used my wife getting up as my trigger moment. I know that sounds weird, but every morning she always wakes up after I do. So I decided that each morning, we would talk for a few minutes when she woke up, then it was time to hit the treadmill.

So what kind of results did I get from this experiment? Here's a daily chart of how things went...

Date  (2009)	Distance	Time	Comments
Feb. 20	1 mile	13:04	Ran at 7 mph (miles per hour). Then had to take a five minute break to catch my breath at the half mile mark. Then finished at 7 mph.
Feb. 21	1 mile	10:47	Ran at 6 mph without stopping
Feb. 22	1.3 miles	13:37	Started off at 6.5 mph. Then increased to 7 mph at the end. Finished with no stopping.
Feb. 23	1 mile	8:50	Had a short 5 mph warm up, then went up to 7.5 mph.
Feb. 24	1 mile	8:11	7.6 mph with similar warm up session as previous day.
Feb. 25	1.3 miles	11:32	Warm up then 7 mph. I also got a late start and ran at 11:00 as opposed to in the morning.
Feb. 26	1 mile	8:55	7 mph and started using weight vest. I had 12 lb (pounds) in the vest.
Feb. 27	1 mile	8:27	7.2 mph with 20 lb in the vest.
Feb. 28	0 miles	0:00	After feeling the effects of the vest, I took the day off for rest and healing.
Mar. 1	1 mile	8:17	7.3 mph with 20 lb. vest.
Mar. 2	0 miles	0:00	My wife was sick, so I spent part of the day at the hospital and ended up taking the day off.
Mar. 3	1 mile	8:12	7.4 mph with 20 lb. vest.
Mar. 4	0 miles	0:00	Once again, my wife was sick. Although my reason for not jogging was more from laziness than her being sick.
Mar. 5	1 mile	9:14	7.6 mph for 6.5 miles. Then nearly passed out from exhaustion. Took a shortt walk, then finished my mile without a vest at 6 mph. Attempt #1 at completing my goal failed.
Mar. 6	0 miles	0:00	Now I’m sick! Didn’t feel 100% and thought it was best if I took a day to rest and recover.
Mar. 7	1 mile	7:58	Finally, without taking no for an answer, I finally reached my goal by starting out at 7.6 mph and finishing at 7.7 mph. I truly thought I was going to have a heart attack and die. But nevertheless, I completed what I set out to do in 16 days.

 

As you can see, there were a few speed bumps along the way. My wife got sick. I got sick. I got lazy :-)

Nevertheless, I accomplished what I set out to do. Here's a picture of the treadmill timer for that final day...



I'll be quite honest, this experiment was harder than I had imagined. I thought that since jogging an 8 minute mile used to be a walk in the park for me, I'd have no trouble getting back into the habit.

However, the weight vest certainly adds a major challenge. It doesn't seem like it will be that much more difficult when you put it on, but once you've gone about a half mile, you really start to feel the difference!

What YOU Should Do Next

I highly, highly, suggest you try jogging each morning. With or without a weight vest.

I, personally, think I'm going to keep using the weight vest. But if you're not really into the jogging habit, you can definitely start easy. You don't have to use a vest. You don't even have to jog anywhere near a mile. I can't emphasize it enough...

Just get started!

For the next couple of weeks, just jog a quarter-of-a-mile. If you don't want to measure in distance, you can measure in time. Start jogging each day for five minutes. Shoot, start jogging for one minute! It doesn't matter where you start.

You can always build on it later. You will be amazed at what can be accomplished if you just get started, no matter how small you start.

Jogging has incredible health benefits. I mention several of the benefits of jogging here that I've experienced.

Get started. Enjoy the health benefits. And start to notice all the other areas of your life start to improve as well!

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