Most people think that exerting yourself more during a workout will lead to greater weight loss. So by that theory, running is better for weight loss than walking.
However, some are making compelling cases for reasons to walk your way to weight goals rather than run.
“If your goal is exercising for overall health and to improve your longevity, then walking is ideal,” Cardiologist James O’Keefe told Prevention.
One of his studies shows that while those who run or jog faster than 7 miles per hour most days have the same risk of death as sedentary individuals, while those who jogged or walked slower than that had a lower risk of death than sedentary individuals.
“Light and moderate joggers have lower mortality than sedentary nonjoggers, whereas strenuous joggers have a mortality rate not statistically different from that of the sedentary group,” the study’s conclusion found.
Walking or slow jogging for 1 to 2.5 hours per week can lower your risk of death by 25 percent.
“We’re not meant for sustained levels of exercise for long periods of time,” O’Keefe says. “After 60 minutes of intense physical activity, like running, the chambers of your heart begin to stretch and overwhelm the muscle’s ability to adapt.”
According to Steth News, running can also increase the stress hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol causes you to be hungrier since you lose more calories. Walking doesn’t produce cortisol the way running does so you won’t crave food more.
Running can also do damage to your knees and joints, especially if you’re overweight.
Walking does, however, help you to produce serotonin and dopamine which makes you feel happy and can encourage you to live a healthier lifestyle. Steth News also argues that walking is a better way to burn calories.
“If you walk at least 30 minutes every day, you will get the benefits that many people believe they can get when they run daily. Walking can burn calories, although in smaller amounts,” the website says.
“Unlike what many individuals think, burning fewer calories is much better, especially if the amount of calories you lose is more balanced. This is the case with running and it is therefore viewed as a much healthier option.”
Running may also put you at risk for something called “microtears.”
“The increase in blood flow to your heart leads to microtears,” O’Keefe said. “It’s not a big deal if you do it once or twice. They’ll heal in a few days. But when you do this over and over again for many years, it causes stiffness and scarring in the heart that can accelerate aging and contribute to congestive heart failure and atrial fibrillation.”
So, you may want to slow down next time you go for a run.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
