Jogging is a basic form of moderate-impact aerobic exercise. Being that you activate a number of joints during the jogging motion, you recruit numerous muscles. This will not give you a big and bulky look, but it will definitely make your muscles appear lean and toned. Even though a lot of work is performed with your legs, you recruit muscles in other areas of the body as well.
Glutes
The glutes compose the buttock area on the posterior side of the body. In order from largest to smallest, the glutes consist of three segments: the gluteus maximus, medius and minimus. While jogging, you perform an action called hip extension when you move your thigh backward. This causes you to work your glutes. By jogging uphill or on an incline on a treadmill, you work your glutes with more emphasis.
Quadriceps and Hip Flexors
Hip flexion involves moving your thighs toward your stomach. You do this numerous times while jogging, which works the hip flexors and quadriceps. The hip flexors consist of the iliacus and psoas major; they run from the lower stomach to the top of the thighs. This muscle group is also known as the iliopsoas. The quadriceps consist of the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius and vastus intermedius. You not only work these muscles with hip flexion, but also during knee extension. This movement occurs when you straighten your leg.
Hamstrings
The hamstrings reside on the back of the the thighs, and they contract when you extend your hip and also flex your knee. Knee flexion takes place when you lift your foot off the ground and kick your heel backward while jogging. Although the hamstrings are one muscle group, they have three parts: the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus. The biceps femoris has a long and short head.
Calves
Well-defined calf muscles take on a diamond-shape on the back of the lower legs. The most visible part of the calf complex is the gastrocnemius. This has a lateral and medial head; it sits right below the knee. The thinner portion of the calves is called the soleus, and it resides right in front of the gastroc. You work both of these muscles when you plantar flex your foot during jogging. This occurs when you bend your ankle and move your foot downward right before lifting your foot from the ground.
Core Muscles
The core muscles wrap around the middle area of the body. Together, these muscles function to stabilize the spine and produce force when you jog. The faster you jog, the more work they get. The main muscles used are the rectus abdominis, internal and exterior obliques, and erector spinae. The rectus abdominis is the large muscle that runs from the chest to the pelvis. The obliques run along the sides of the stomach in a diagonal orientation. The erector spinae, also known as the spinal erectors, run down the sides of the spine to the lower back.
Posted in: Jogging