Walking vs. Running: Physical activity is essential for all who want to lead a healthy and prosperous life. And all kinds of physical activities like walking, running, swimming, etc. are good for our health. These are another form of exercise which helps us to burn calories and improve our fitness.
Although there are arguments about which one, especially between walking and running, provides the maximum physical benefits, people love these activities. Some prefer walking as it is a low impact exercise while others like running to intensify the workout.
Walking vs. Running
The decision varies from person to person. Hence, we need to know some additional factors regarding walking and running, if we have a fitness goal to reach.
Runners like the intensity of their workout. And walkers consider their activity is better for joint health. But if weight loss is our goal, which forms of exercise should we prefer walking or running. Here is some useful information about walking and running, which may help you to decide.
The necessity of cardio
Walking and running are both cardiovascular exercises. It helps you lose weight or keep a healthy fitness. It also increases stamina and boosts your immune system. Besides that, it can help you manage chronic conditions and strengthens your heart. Overall, cardio exercise plays an essential role in keeping you healthy.
Not only it is beneficial to our physical health, but also it is good for our mental health. Study shows that people who do 30 minutes of moderate exercise three times a week can reduce anxiety and depression.
Researchers also say that it is not necessary to workout 30 minutes to experience these benefits. Walking for 30 minutes can result in the same mental health.
Is walking better than running?
Although walking can provide the same benefits of running, running burns double the number of calories. For example, if you run five miles per hour, you can burn up to 600 calories while walking will help you to burn 300 calories at the same amount of time.
As you know, if you want to lose weight, you have to burn approximately 3,500 calories to lose one pound. And it can be one of the reasons for choosing running than walking.
In case you are new to exercise, we recommend you walk as it can help you get in shape. And you may know that walking is accessible for nearly all fitness levels. It can provide you more energy overall.
But if you can do the high-intensity workout, you may get benefited from running. To get the best result, you need to make a proper schedule for running. And in this way, you can boost your caloric expenditure
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Also, you need to keep in mind that running isn’t the best weight loss workout for everyone. However, you should try to run slowly by taking enough breaks, because when you tend to run fast, there are several possibilities to get yourself injured.
Speed and power walking vs. running
Speed walking means walking at a quick step, usually when you walk at three mph of speed. And at that time, your heart rate is elevated. As a result, blood circulation gets gradually developed to make you more active. In this way, you can burn more calories than walking at your usual pace.
On the contrary, power walking means walking at speed three mph to 5 mph. Some walkers reach speeds of 7 to 10 mph, though. It can burn a similar number of calories as running. Hence, for an effective workout, you should try pace training.
And you need to increase your speed for two minutes at a time, and then you can slow back down. Although speed walking can’t help you burn as many calories as running, it can be an effective workout for your overall fitness improvement.
Walking with a weighted vest
Workout enthusiasts often try the technique to burn more calories effectively. They walk with a weighted vest so that they can intensify their workout. If you are willing to follow the method of walking, we recommend you to stay safe.
Try to wear a vest, which is no more than 5 to 10 percent of your body weight. And if you are searching for an alternative way to lose weight, you can try interval walking. For that, you need to pick up the speed for a while before slowing down. Also, you can try walking with light dumbbells in each hand.
Incline walking vs. running
Incline walking refers to walking uphill. It is also useful as running. It enables you to burn more calories at an incline than just walking on a flat surface. To try incline walking, you need to look for a hilly area.
If you don’t find anything like this near you, you may try walking on an incline on the treadmill. Then, you have to increase the incline by 5, 10, or 15 percent at a time to practice walking.
Benefits of Running
Studies show that people can burn 30% more calories by running instead of walking. Besides that, it engages people to do high-intensity workouts. And so, they can burn extra calories.
That’s why Americans prefer running more than walking to tone their body muscles and stay fit as well as healthy. If you need to burn calories in less time, you can go running.
Benefits of Walking
Due to less intensity, walking allows you to experience less stress on your muscles and joints. Again, you can burn the right amount of calories by walking. And most people can comfortably walk for an hour as it is relaxing than running. So, you can add walking in your workout schedule.
Benefits vs. risks
Although running is an excellent way to lose weight, it is a high-impact exercise. And we know that high-impact workouts can be dangerous for our body than the low-impact exercises. Again, over time, runners are often found most of the time in injuries such as stress fractures, shin splints, ITB friction syndrome, etc.
That means runners have a much higher risk for injuries than walkers. However, if you’re a runner, you should take the necessary steps to stay secure. You shouldn’t increase your mileage too quickly.
Final Words
There is no clear winner in the debate between walking and running. Both activities offer benefits of weight loss and improved health. The best weight loss workout is the one you do regularly. And the most important fact is the consistency, whether you are walking or running.
You should go out almost every day of the week. No matter what your pace, tie up your shoes, and follow the trails. If you want to lose more weight, try to take intervals while walking. In this way, you will increase the intensity of your workout and burn more calories.
Even you can also schedule more than one walking session a day as the activity is not too tiring. And if you like to run, you should hit the road as long as your joints remain healthy. We hope you enjoyed the article and understand some essential facts regarding walking and running.
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