Sprinting vs. Jogging

Sprinting vs. Jogging

Sprinting and jogging are both good exercises. Deciding what to incorporate in your workout may be a difficult decision. Although you may choose to combine both, one may be harder to fit into your workout time and get the most out of it. No matter what you choose on sprinting vs jogging, you need to stay properly hydrated while you work out.

Sprinting vs. Jogging General Overview

Sprinting and jogging are both cardio exercises. However, they differ in a lot of areas. Before we can tell you how to stay properly hydrated while doing both, let’s break down these two cardio exercises and learn more about what sets them apart. 

Sprinting

Sprinting is a cardio exercise in the form of interval running. It burns fat, builds muscle, and boosts your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is a great form of exercise that provides plenty of benefits.

Woman sprinting in an empty walkway while holding a Hydro Cell water bottle

  • It’s efficient: sprinting is high-intensity interval training or HIIT. Therefore, it saves a lot of your time and maximizes improving your health and muscles. 
  • It improves your condition: sprinting can enhance your endurance and anaerobic performance. This can lead to better performance in other sports. 
  • It preserves muscle mass: sprinting works specific muscles in your body, making it look leaner. 
  • It increases the anaerobic threshold: increasing your threshold will make your body work for a longer duration of time. 

There are various ways you can do sprinting, and it changes the difficulty level and benefits. For this matter, we’ll compare only the basics of sprinting to the basics of jogging. We’ll also show you the different ways to do sprinting to give you an idea.

Flat Sprints 

Flat sprints are what most beginners are accustomed to when sprint training. It is simply running or sprinting on a flat surface. Examples of a flat surface you can sprint on are:

  • Running tracks
  • Sports fields
  • Jogging paths
  • Neighborhood sidewalks 

Incline Sprints

Incline sprints are more challenging and work your muscles more. It’s generally not recommended for beginners who lack the proper form and technique to avoid injuries. To do incline sprints, find a hill with a steep grade. You should also be able to run at least 50 yards. Examples of these are:

  • City parks
  • Hilly roads
  • Mountain paths

Jogging

Jogging is similar to sprinting. However, you are running at a pace much slower than sprinting. Jogging is generally at a speed of fewer than 6 miles per hour. Even if it’s a slower pace, jogging also has multiple health benefits on its own. 

Woman drinking from a pink water bottle after jogging

  • Increase your heart rate: if your exercise only involves walking or climbing the stairs, then jogging might be a great start to increase your heart rate to get your body pumping. 
  • Helps in weight loss: Combined with staying hydrated, jogging promotes weight loss and prevents obesity.
  • Boost your immune system: jogging (as well as regularly drinking water) can improve your immune system lessening the risks of infection and disease. 
  • Prevents diabetes: jogging can decrease your insulin resistance. In turn, it reduces your risk of getting diabetes. 
  • Helps with stress and depression: jogging can relieve you of stress and manage symptoms of depression. 
  • Keeps your spine healthy: as we grow older, our spine also ages. Jogging is known to slow down the aging process of the spine. 

Sprinting vs. Jogging 

While jogging and sprinting might involve the same movement, they have different ways to go about it. They also have different outcomes. We’ll discuss further to help you choose which one is for you. 

Similarities

  • Although not on the same level, both sprinting and jogging work your muscles. 
  • Both target the hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes, hip flexors, calf muscles, and core. 
  • Both exercises burn calories and help you lose weight. 
  • Both exercises will strengthen your core muscles. 
  • Sprinting and jogging can increase your life expectancy.
  • Both reduce the risk of anxiety and depression. 

Differences

  • Sprinting is better at building muscles. Your muscle fibers are activated differently.
  • Sprinting activates fast-twitch muscle fibers for more bursts of energy. Jogging, on the other hand, activates slow-twitch muscle fibers that aid in endurance and stability. 
  • Sprinting burns more calories compared to jogging. The difference is so significant that most experts would recommend sprinting if you want to lose a lot of weight. 
  • Sprinting allows you to maximize your workout routine. Sprinting provides better benefits at a lesser time. Therefore, it enables you to do different exercises for your saved time, maximizing your workout.
  • Sprinting does a better job of strengthening your core and reducing abdominal fat and waist circumference. 
  • Jogging is better at promoting cardiovascular benefits. Jogging keeps you at a steady pace, and you can go longer distances without taking breaks. 
  • If you have weak knees, you may want to do jogging so as not to overwork your knees. Runner’s knee is an injury usually caused by improper form and running technique. If you also feel something different when running, you should probably slow down and jog to correct your form. 

Major Distinguishing Factor

Sprinting is a fast-paced exercise, while jogging is a slow-paced one. However, both have the same primary forms and techniques. If you’re a beginner or need a low-impact workout, this difference in pace is really important to consider.

Two women in workout clothes walking while holding stainless steel water bottes

When To Sprint

If you want to get the most benefit in a shorter amount of time, do sprinting. However, make sure you are doing it properly, or you might end up injuring yourself. Sprinting, in general, provides more benefits than jogging. Sprinting will allow you to build your muscles and lose fat quicker.

However, it is also highly demanding, so you might want to hydrate with your water bottle once in a while. Hydro Cell water bottles can withstand the harshest conditions globally. This ensures that your water maintains its temperature while you run. 

When To Jog

Jogging is better for people who have weak knees or prefer taking their time exercising. Jogging isn’t that demanding to your body compared to sprinting, so you get used to it easily instead of burning out. 

Jogging is the best way to make your body get used to workouts as you lose fat gradually and maintain a lean look. 

Most people find it challenging to carry their water bottles because they tend to slip. A solution to this is Hydro Cell water bottles because of their anti-slip finish improving your grip when jogging.

Which Exercise is Better

If we’re adding the pros and cons, sprinting is a lot better for muscle building and fat burning. However, not everyone can get into sprinting, so jogging is another alternative. You don’t want to subject your body to extreme workload suddenly. 


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