Walking vs Running – What’s Best for You?

When considering the argument for walking vs running for weight loss, there are a number of factors to consider. Let’s make this easier by listing all the pro's and con's of walking vs running.

Walking vs Running Pro's and Con's

Running Pro's

• It’s a very quick way to get fit 

• It’s comparatively cheap to do 

• It’s relatively simple, you don’t need any particular skills or talents 

• You’ll get a real high after finishing your runs 

Running Con’s

• It’s often too over facing for beginners and anyone who is overweight 

• It places a large amount of stress on the joints of the ankles, knees, hips and lower back 

• You’ll need to buy a good pair of quality (often expensive) trainers 

• Most people don’t enjoy the feeling of pushing themselves out of their comfort zone that far. 

Walking Pro’s

• You can walk anywhere and at anytime. 

• If you’re struggling to fit in a walk one day, it’s very easy to build up your steps by walking around the house 

• You don’t need any specialist equipment 

• Your walking workout starts the moment you leave your front door 

• You don’t have to get sweaty or work too hard 

• You can work at different intensities depending on how you feel. 

• It’s a really enjoyable type of exercise that is also very sociable 

Walking Con’s

• It’s thought of as being ‘too easy’ 

• You need to be consistent to see any results 

• The fitness improvements won’t always be as quick as with other sports 

Whenever you’re comparing walking vs running you should also think about your past experiences of exercise and what you actually enjoy or hate about it.

If you love pushing yourself to the limit then you might automatically think that running is the only option.

However this is simply not true!

You could consider using level 4 power walking or just briskly walking up a steep incline on a hill or a treadmill instead.

I guarantee if you walk as fast as you can on the steepest incline you can use that you’ll be shattered at the end of it, if that's what you like.

When comparing walking vs running in terms of which is the most effective one for you to use to lose weight, then I suggest that you look at it this way...

Most people would run maybe a couple of times a week as a beginner and they’d be lucky to run a maximum of 5 minutes in total. This would burn off around 150 – 200 calories.

However if they instead went for a daily walk for 30 minutes at a time they would burn far more calories, up to 1400 per week depending on how fast and what terrain was walked over.

So there are many reasons to consider before deciding on walking vs running, it’s not just the obvious answer that you might at first think.

To find out how you can use walking for weight loss AND start improving your fitness levels at the same time so you have more energy, lose weight and feel great then go check out this page - walking for weight loss for more details.