When is Walking Better Than Running?

 

Walking
Image: active.com

Barry Baldwin, a former bus operator in New York City, received numerous awards and certificates in recognition of his safe service with the New York City Transit Authority. In his free time, Barry Baldwin stays active by walking five miles a week, on average.

Both running and walking are great forms of exercise that promote stronger bones among active individuals, along with healthier hearts and lower body weights.

For people who want to burn a lot of calories, running is usually the better choice between the two activities. The reason for this is because running burns almost double the calories as walking. For example, a person who walks for 30 minutes burns about 150 calories, while someone who runs for 30 minutes burns over 350 calories.

However, walking is better than running in most instances aside from that. Although running burns more calories, it also works the heart more. At first, this seems like a good thing for improving heart health. But in reality, this additional strain stretches and overwhelms the heart, particularly when people run for an hour or more without stopping. Over time, this changes the heart and increases the long-term risk of cardiovascular issues.

Beyond that, running is a much higher-impact activity than walking. When walking, people only experience 1.5 times their body weight as pressure; this triples with running. Supporting the extra body weight pressure weakens the joints and often leads to pain. It also stresses the legs and joints, and also increases the risk of osteoarthritis and other injuries.