The History of "Jogging"
This is a fun one... we were curious about the term "Jogging" and went searching for the source. We came up with three key figures and some intro backstory.
"Jogging" has become a popular form of exercise and a staple of fitness routines around the world. However, the history of jogging can be traced back to two key figures: Arthur Lydiard and Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper.
Arthur Lydiard, a legendary New Zealand coach, is widely regarded as the founder of modern jogging. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Lydiard introduced a new form of training to his athletes. Instead of focusing solely on intense workouts and competitive racing, Lydiard encouraged his runners to engage in a form of low-intensity exercise that he called "jogging."
Lydiard believed that jogging could help his athletes improve their overall fitness and endurance without putting excessive strain on their bodies. His approach to training revolutionized the sport of distance running and helped to inspire a new generation of runners to take up jogging as a way to improve their health and fitness.
In the United States, Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper was also advocating for the benefits of jogging. In the early 1960s, Dr. Cooper began to study the effects of cardiovascular exercise on the body, and he became convinced that jogging could provide significant health benefits for people of all ages and fitness levels.
Dr. Cooper coined the term "aerobics" to describe the benefits of regular exercise, and he popularized the term "jogging" through his books and lectures. He believed that jogging was an effective way to improve overall health and fitness and advocated for its benefits to be widely recognized and promoted.
Bill Bowerman is another important figure in the history of jogging, and his contributions were instrumental in popularizing the activity in the United States. Bowerman was a track and field coach at the University of Oregon, where he trained some of the most successful runners of the 1960s and 1970s. He was also a co-founder of Nike, and thats a pretty rad too, we think!
In the late 1960s, Bowerman began experimenting with new ways to train his athletes. He developed a program of interval training, which combined periods of high-intensity exercise with periods of low-intensity recovery. Bowerman believed that this approach could help his runners achieve greater levels of fitness and endurance.
In conclusion, the history of jogging owes much to the contributions of Arthur Lydiard, Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper, and Bill Bowerman. These pioneers of fitness and exercise helped to revolutionize the way we think about running and exercise, and their legacies continue to inspire people around the world to take up jogging as a way to improve their health and fitness.
Honorable mention: We'll include the famous quote from the movie Anchorman, "I believe it's jogging. Or yogging, it might be a soft J. I'm not sure, but apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It's supposed to be wild." -Ron Burgundy
Lace up some kicks and go for a jog today.
Keep going.
