Walking vs. running: Weight loss, heart health, and more

Walking and running are both suitable forms of exercise for weight loss and heart health. The benefits and risks depend on a person’s goals and current level of health and fitness.

While both activities allow a person to burn calories, lose weight, and lower their risk of heart disease, there is much debate over which is better.

Read on to learn more about the benefits and risks.

Benefits of cardio

Cardiovascular exercise is also known simply as cardio. It often uses major muscle groups in the body, gets the heart pumping faster, and increases breathing rate.

Walking and running are both types of cardio.

Cardio exercises offer numerous health benefitsTrusted Source, including:

• burning calories and fat for weight loss
• lowering cholesterol
• helping prevent or manage health conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease
• strengthening the heart
• improving sleep patterns
• lowering stress
• increasing stamina
• improving mental health by reducing anxiety and depression
• increasing bone density
• boosting the immune system

One studyTrusted Source examined the benefits of exercise for mental health and found that 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, such as brisk walking, was enough to reduce anxiety and depression, alongside its other health benefits.

Which is better for burning calories?

Walking and running provide similar health benefits, but running has a calorie-burning edge over walking.

According to the American Council on Exercise, a person who is 160 pounds burns approximately 15.1 calories per minute while running. In contrast, a person of the same weight burns around 8.7 calories per minute walking.

The number of calories a person burns while walking and running depends on several factors, including:

• body weight
• duration of exercise
• the intensity of the activity

Running burns more calories per minute than walking. However, walkers can still burn the same number of calories by doing so for longer.

However, depending on a person’s goals, walking and running can still offer the same benefits.

Which is better for heart health?

Both walking and running are suitable for losing weight, boosting mental health, and improving overall health.

One study published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular BiologyTrusted Source concluded that walking and running reduced the risk of hypertension, high cholesterol levels, coronary heart disease, and diabetes.

However, the study did not directly address whether walking or running could benefit heart health and cardio.

Another report by the American Heart AssociationTrusted Source states that brisk walking at least 150 minutes per week is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Walking vs. running to reduce belly fat

Studies have found that storing a lot of fat in the midsection is associated with the risk of diseasesTrusted Source, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Whether choosing walking or running, exercise can help a person reduce their belly fat.

One studyTrusted Source found that regular aerobic exercises, such as walking, reduced belly fat and helped people manage obesity.

Walking and running help burn calories in the body, but they also help reduce belly fat, depending on the intensity of the exercise.

However, running may help reduce belly fat more effectively. One studyTrusted Source in 27 middle-aged females with obesity found that those who participated in high-intensity exercise training lost significantly more belly fat than those who did low-intensity exercise or no exercise training for 16 weeks.

Scientists need to perform more research comparing the effects of walking and running on belly fat reduction.

For example, a 2018 review found that low-intensity exercise was more effective in reducing abdominal fat, while high-intensity training had a bigger effect in decreasing overall body fat.

People who want to lose belly fat should consider speaking with their doctor, who can help them determine the best exercise program and diet for their needs.

Benefits and risks

While running and walking offer various health benefits, including maintaining a healthy weight and improving heart health, they may also come with risks.

There is a higher risk of injury with running than walking. This is because running is of higher intensity and puts more stress on the body — the joints in particular.

One studyTrusted Source found that walkers have a lower risk of injury, while runners have a high risk.

Some of the most common injuries associated with running include:

• fractures
• soft tissue injuries
• shin splints

For runners, it is crucial to take steps to reduce the risk of running-related injuries.

If a person has concerns about exercise-related injuries, they could consider walking instead, which offers similar health benefits to running, with a reduced risk of injury.

Those with arthritis, heart disease, or other chronic health conditions who are considering running should consult their doctor first.

Summary

Depending on a person’s goals, walking and running are appropriate forms of exercise. Both can help people maintain a moderate weight and improve their heart health, mental health, and more.

No matter which form of exercise a person chooses, they will see positive results with regular participation.

For those starting a fitness journey, walking might be a more suitable choice since it involves low or moderate intensity. However, for people whose goal is to burn more calories, running may be more appropriate.

How many calories do you burn by walking?

The number of calories the body burns while a person is walking varies depending on a range of factors, including body size and walking speed. Walking also offers a variety of other health benefits, such as reducing the risk of heart disease.

The body uses energy from food and drinks to sustain bodily functions and perform physical activities. Calories are a measure of how much energy the body receives from particular foods or drinks.

When a person consumes more calories than they burn, the body stores this excess energy as body fat. When the body needs more energy than it can get from the calories it consumes, it burns the stored body fat for energy. Regular physical activity is a good way of maintaining a healthy amount of body fat.

While other forms of physical activity can be time-consuming or expensive, walking is convenient and free for people who can do so. This article discusses how to calculate the number of calories the body burns while walking, and some of the other benefits that walking has to offer.

Calories burned while walking

The number of calories that the body burns during any activity will depend on a person’s basal metabolic rate (BMR) and the intensity of the activity, measured in metabolic equivalents (METs).

The formula for this is:

Calories burned = BMR x METs ÷ 24 x duration of activity in hours

It is possible to use this formula to calculate how many calories the body burns by walking.

To do this, it is first necessary to understand about BMR and METs.

BMR

Basal metabolism refers to a series of life-supporting processes that the body constantly carries out, such as breathing. The body burns calories to support these processes. The rate at which the body does thisTrusted Source is the BMR.

The BMR varies between people. It is difficult to calculate precisely as it depends on several factors, including genetic factors that are difficult to measure. But it is possible to estimate BMR using sex, body size, and age.

The formulae to estimate BMR for males and females are:

Males:

BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds (lbs)) + (12.7 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

Females:

BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in lbs) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

METs

METs are a measure of how much energy the body is using for a given activity.

When a person walks, the speed at which they are walking speed will determine the number of METs.

For example, walking at a slow pace of 1.7 miles per hour (mph) equates to 2.3 METs per hour. Walking briskly at a speed of 3 mph equals 3.3 METs per hour.

Making the calculation

Pulling all this information together, it is now possible to calculate how many calories the body burns while walking.

For example, a 40-year-old male who weighs 195 lbs and is 69″ (5’9″) in height will have a BMR of 1,885.2. If they walk at a brisk pace for 1 hour, they will burn 259.2 calories. This is because:

BMR (1,885.2) x METs (3.3) ÷ 24 x duration of activity in hours (1) = 259.2 calories

Comparison with other types of exercise

Using this formula, it is possible to calculate how many calories the body burns during any activity.

The METs for some other types of exercise are as follows:

Type of exercise	METs
Hatha yoga	3
Weight training, 8 to 15 repetitions of various exercises	3.5
Cycling, casual pace of up to 10 miles per hour	4
Jogging	7
Rope jumping	10

For example, a 50-year old female who weighs 160 pounds and is 64″ (5’4″) tall will have a BMR of 1,416.8. If this person jogs for 1 hour, they will burn 413.2 calories.

BMR (1,416.8) x METs (7) ÷ 24 x duration of activity in hours (1) = 413.2 calories

Other benefits

The United States government recommend that healthy adults engage in at least 150 minutesTrusted Source, or 2.5 hours, of moderate-intensity activity every week. Moderate-intensity activity can include any activity of 3 to 6 METsTrusted Source.

Brisk walking is an excellent way of sticking to these guidelines. Unlike some other types of activity, walking is generally free and accessible to people who are able to do so. It is a relatively low-intensity form of exercise, so it is suitable for people who are unable to engage in more vigorous forms of exercise.

Walking is also easy to fit into a typical day for most people. For example, walking to work or taking a walk during a lunch break for 30 minutes every day will lead to at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity every week.

Regularly walking at a brisk pace can have many health benefits, includingTrusted Source:

• lowering blood pressure
• reducing high cholesterol
• reducing the risk of heart disease and diabetes
• strengthening bones and muscles
• improving fitness

Takeaway

• In addition to physical health benefits, increasing physical activity through walking may also benefit mental health. Research has found that physical activity could be beneficial for a range of mental health conditions, including anxietyTrusted Source and depression.

  Walking is a beneficial way to burn calories — the amount each person burns depends on their age, sex, and how rapidly they walk. Moderate-intensity exercise, such as walking, can provide a range of health benefits.

• Source - Medical News Today