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I told you that I had gone Nordic walking twice a week and zone 2 jogging once a week for my cardiovascular exercise, but I tried doing a different version last week. I did zone 2 jogging four times a week. This is what Dr. Peter Attia does as what he thinks is the optimal cardio exercise and I wanted to see how hard it would be.
It was manageable. I thought it would be much harder but I could do it. I suppose I got used to jogging after doing it once a week. Because of this gradual shift, it didn’t feel as hard as I expected.
I discovered two things.
1, Jogging is quite different from Nordic walking in terms of workload. You feel you have done a lot more cardio workouts, and if you are aiming for cardiovascular fitness, jogging might be better.
2, Nordic walking has more meditative functions. You can meditate while jogging, too, once you are in the jogging flow, but not in the beginning. You still need to pass the first 20 minutes of running. It isn’t as strenuous as before now that I am used to jogging, yet, it isn’t as relaxing and meditative as going Nordic walking.
Therefore, if you prioritize cardiovascular fitness, zone 2 jogging is better, but if you prioritize mindfulness with the morning sun, you can pick Nordic walking.
Since I do both of them around sunrise time, I get to absorb the morning sunlight. That is good for both exercises but meditation with the morning sunlight is fabulous, and that is something to consider.
The best thing again is to do both. You can alternate the two if you do them four times a week, or two days of NW and one day of zone 2 if you do them three times a week.