What, you don’t know what Plogging is? Well, it’s a fairly new term that originated in Sweden. The word plogging fuses "plocka" and "jogga," meaning "picking (up)" and "jogging" in Swedish. Being as “Eco-Friendly” as the Swedes are, they combined these words to come up with another benefit besides becoming healthier when going out on a run, they pick up roadside trash and turn their solo run into a social event.

This new fad is gaining ground in the United States. After all, haven’t you frowned while your out there on a run and see a discarded coffee cup, or a soda or six-pack ring lying on the ground as you pass by? An avid runner, Colin Cooley co-founder of Wicked+, a creative and communications agency formed the plogging group Wicked+ Run Club as a way to bring together a group of local runners on a weekly basis and do some good. For their part, they pick up litter along their local beaches.

You too can participate in this new way to help the environment and “Mother Earth” at the same time. And yes, on this one day a week, your time and distance is probably going to drop off quite a bit, but everyone needs a “rest-day” when you can get out there and just enjoy a jog, instead of a fast-paced run. And why not ask a few friends to join you like Mr. Cooley did and pick a route that you know could use some care-taking attention. If you contact your local environmental agency, they may be able to supply you with bags to deposit the trash that you pick up along the way and coordinate a drop-off point where the agency can follow you at a later time or day and pick up what you have collected.

And there really are other fitness related benefits to beginning a running day of plogging. From a medical standpoint, plogging (or how about ‘plalking’, which would be walking and picking up litter) naturally emulates human body mechanics,” says Dr. Barbara Bergin, an orthopedic surgeon. “Our prehistoric ancestors walked long distances, and from time to time, would bend over to pick up fruit and nuts and bugs from the ground to eat.”

Plogging is multitasking in its best form. Dr. Bergin also notes the stretching benefits that the plogging may provide. “Bending overstretches the back, buttocks, hamstrings, and calves. Plogging is multitasking in its best form. And since your working a possible new route and probably depositing your bags of reclaimed litter from the day’s outing. You want to make sure you and your friends know just where you are in relation to the trail and your pickup/drop-off point.

If your friends are “game” once your free and clear of your bags of captured trash. There’s no reason you can’t make the distance back to your vehicles into a “Best Time” run. And using a GPS enabled running watch like the Garmin Forerunner 630  will let you know just where you are when you are. And this type of Smartwatch can be your constant fitness companion keeping track of all your important stats so that they’re available to you when you want them. And if you’d like to pick up the pace a bit more from your slower pace when you were picking up that trash, the Forerunner 630 provides you with advanced running dynamics¹ including ground contact time balance, stride length and vertical ratio. When your all participating in this Plogging adventure you can all upload your data to Garmin Connect and compare each other’s performance.

So are you ready to get your Plogging team together and do your eco-part to beautify your running route? Go ahead, get your friends involved and I bet your all going to feel pretty good about yourselves once your all sitting back in your cars with that satisfied smile on your faces.

Your Plogging companions here at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com!