Although both are considered cardiovascular workouts, jogging and kickboxing share only a few similarities. Both boost your heart rate through repeated motion, and both can be hard on your ankles if you're not wearing good shoes. On the other hand, one is a track and field event while the other is a combat sport. Which one is best for you will depend on your exercise goals and personal preferences.
Access
The best exercise in the world won't do you any good if you can't get a workout at it. Kickboxing requires extra instruction, a large area, and specialized equipment such as punching bags and safety gear. You can jog in place with just your regular clothing and workout shoes, in an area as small as a closet. Jogging in place might be a better choice for people with tight schedules or other constraints on their workout.
Calorie Burn
If your primary goal for exercise is weight loss, the number of calories burned by a workout is a useful measurement for choosing what kind of exercise to take on. According to health resource website Nutristrategy.com, a 155-pound person will burn about 500 calories in an hour of kickboxing, and about 560 in an hour of jogging in place. As with any exercise, these calorie calculations should be considered a general guideline instead of precise figure. Your intensity, personal conditioning, metabolism and even your mood or the time of day will affect your exact calorie burn.
Interest and Engagement
The best exercise is often the exercise you find the most interesting and fun. Jogging in place can be boring and repetitive -- it's one of the reasons health clubs place TVs in front of their treadmills. Kickboxing, by contrast, is an engaging activity that requires concentration and development of skills. This might make it easier to stay motivated to attend a kickboxing session as compared to a session of jogging in place.
Safety
Kickboxing is a combat sport, one in which participants actually hit and kick each other. Even though the intent is rarely to injure a training partner, kickboxing does carry an inherent risk of injury. Jogging in place does risk a turned ankle, muscle pull or occasional rug burn, but it's significantly safer than kickboxing and other martial arts.
Strength-training
Jogging is a cardiovascular exercise, one that improves your cardiovascular health by elevating your heart rate throughout the workout. It doesn't do much in the way of resistance exercise to build strength. Kickboxing does provide a cardiovascular workout, but training in that fight sport also includes strength-building exercises that will make you stronger as well as improve your cardiovascular condition.
Bottom Line
The differences between jogging in place and kickboxing mean each sport will appeal to people in various ways. However, the most important aspect in a workout program is that you exercise regularly and with intensity. Ultimately, your decision to commit to exercise will be more important than which specific exercise you choose to engage in.
Posted in: Kickboxing