Which is better - running or brisk walking

For weight loss and weight maintenance

The more calories you spend on exercise, the better your chances of losing weight. In this regard, running beats walking, at least - if you are limited in time.

Running at a speed of 10 km / h in 30 minutes will spend Calories burned in 30 minutes for people of three different weights / Harvard Health Publishing about 495 kcal, and a half-hour walk at a brisk pace of 6 km / h - only 135 kcal.

To burn the same amount of calories, you have to walk twice as long as you run.

In one study, P. T. Williams. Greater weight loss from running than walking during a 6.2-yr prospective follow-up / Medicine and science in sports and exercise, scientists analyzed data from 32 thousand runners and 15 thousand walkers over six years. It turned out that the latter spend half the energy and weigh more.

What's more, when the intensity and time of the workout were leveled, it turned out that the runners lost more weight and centimeters at the waist than those who preferred to walk.

In addition to physical activity, nutrition is also important for losing weight, and this is where running wins again. In one experiment, D. E. Larson-Meyer, S. Palm, A. Bansal. Influence of Running and Walking on Hormonal Regulators of Appetite in Women / Journal of obesity measured post-workout food servings in 18 women who walked or jogged, as well as hormone levels that affect appetite and satiety.

Despite the fact that the runners spent more energy on training, afterwards they ate even slightly less than those who walked. As a result, their group had a negative calorie balance (-194 kcal), while in the walking group it was slightly positive (+41 kcal).

Running reduces hunger after exercise and increases feelings of fullness after eating.

Thus, running is better for maintaining a good figure. But there is one important point: in order to lose weight and maintain weight, you need to do it constantly. Desirable - all my life.

If the thought of it makes you feel sick, there will be no benefit from training. Walking is easier to carry than running, practically does not cause difficulties, and together with conversations, music or audiobooks, it is generally perceived as entertainment.

At the same time, just 10 minutes of brisk walking will help you spend an additional 50 kcal, and an hour's walk will help you “work out” a small dessert.

For joint health

It is generally accepted that running puts more stress on the joints, which means that it is more dangerous for them than walking. Indeed, in a study by L. H. Colbert, J. M. Hootman, C. A. Macera. Physical activity-related injuries in walkers and runners in the aerobics center longitudinal study / Clinical journal of sport medicine with data from five thousand men and women found that it increases the risk of injury compared to walking.

Men who ran for more than half an hour a day were significantly more at risk of injury during training than those who exercised for less than 15 minutes. But walking in any amount was found to be safe for both sexes.

Even long and regular walks do not increase the risk of injury.

At least, this is true for traveling at a comfortable speed of about 4–5 km / h. But with fast walking, not everything is so simple.

In one study, A. C. de David, F. P. Carpes, D. Stefanyshyn. Effects of changing speed on knee and ankle joint load during walking and running / Journal of sports sciences with the participation of 11 amateur athletes, scientists tested how speed of movement affects joints. It turned out that brisk walking (7.5 km / h) provides the same outward rotation of the knees as running. And at the same time, it forces the legs to bend at the knees much more, which increases the load on the joints.

At the same time, running is not that dangerous either. Moreover, it can become a prophylaxis for N. E. Lane, J. W. Oehlert, D. A. Bloch, J. F. Fries. The relationship of running to osteoarthritis of the knee and hip and bone mineral density of the lumbar spine: a 9 year longitudinal study / The Journal of rheumatology of osteoarthritis, a thinning of the articular cartilage that leads to pain and stiffness.

Analysis by P. T. Williams. Effects of Running and Walking on Osteoarthritis and Hip Replacement Risk / Medicine and science in sports and exercise data from 74.7 thousand people showed that by running at least 1.8 km per day (12.4 km per week), people reduce the risk this disease by 18%. And increasing the running volume to 5.4 km per day - by 50%.

Walking with similar energy costs also helps reduce risks, but slightly less than running. What's more, scientists have found that runners are more likely to achieve the required activity level than walkers and weigh less. And being overweight is one of the major risk factors for osteoarthritis.

In other scientific works 1. U. M. Kujala, J. Kettunen, H. Paananen, T. Aalto. Knee osteoarthritis in former runners, soccer players, weight lifters, and shooters / Arthritis and rheumatis

2. J. B. Driban, J. M. Hootman, M. R. Sitler. Is Participation in Certain Sports Associated With Knee Osteoarthritis? A Systematic Review / Journal of athletic training acknowledges that amateur jogging is far from the most dangerous activity for joints. Football players, competitive powerlifters, elite long distance runners, and those who do not exercise at all are much more worried about.

Analyzed by E. Alentorn-Geli, K. Samuelsson, V. Musahl. The Association of Recreational and Competitive Running With Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta ‑ analysis | Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy / Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy of 114 thousand people found that only 3.5% of amateur runners suffered from osteoarthritis of the knee or hip, while in the group of non-athletic people, 10.2% suffered from cartilage thinning …

Unless you're doing crazy amounts of training, running won't kill your joints, but protect them.

And in order to avoid other possible injuries, it is enough to correctly select the load. For those who want to surely eliminate any damage or are already suffering from diseases of the musculoskeletal system, long walks at a comfortable pace are suitable - they will provide less stress on the joints.

For health and longevity

To maintain health, WHO advises Physical activity / WHO to engage in light activity for 150–300 minutes per week or medium activity for 75–150 minutes. In other words, you can walk 20-40 minutes every day or run 10-20 minutes and get the same health benefits from it.

In one experiment, E. Suter, B. Marti, F. Gutzwiller. Jogging or walking-comparison of health effects / Annals of epidemiology for six months of half-hour jogging 4 times a week or similar walks 6 times a week, men equally well lost weight and improved their endurance.

In another study, P. T. Williams, P. D. Thompson. Walking Versus Running for Hypertension, Cholesterol, and Diabetes Mellitus Risk Reduction / Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology checked the data of almost 49 thousand people over six years and found that, with similar energy expenditures, both running and walking equally well reduce the risks of hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and possibly coronary heart disease.

But at the same time, more intense training seems to prolong life a little better. In a large analysis, D. Lee, R. R. Pate, C. J. Lavie. Leisure-Time Running Reduces All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality Risk / Journal of the American College of Cardiology with data from 55 thousand people over 15 years found that regular running reduces the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases by 50%, and for any other reason - by 29%.

To live longer, you only need to run 50 minutes or 10 km a week. You can fulfill this norm both in 1-2 workouts and in 5 small sessions of 10 minutes each.

In another analysis, P. Schnohr, J. L. Marott, P. Lange, G. B. Jensen. Longevity in Male and Female Joggers: The Copenhagen City Heart Study / American Journal of Epidemiology data 17.5 thousand participants found that regular quiet jogging increases life expectancy in men by 6, 2 years, and in women by 5, 6 years.

Walks are also extended by W. Zhao, S. Ukawa, T. Kawamura. Health Benefits of Daily Walking on Mortality Among Younger-Elderly Men With or Without Major Critical Diseases in the New Integrated Suburban Seniority Investigation Project: A Prospective Cohort Study / Journal of epidemiology life, but it seems not so efficient. For example, in the analysis of M. Nagai, S. Kuriyama, M. Kakizaki. Impact of walking on life expectancy and lifetime medical expenditure: the Ohsaki Cohort Study / BMJ Open data 27,700 people walking for more than an hour a day increased life expectancy by 1, 3 years for men and by 1, 1 - for women.

There is also one study by P. T. Williams. Significantly greater reduction in breast cancer mortality from post-diagnosis running than walking / International Journal of Cancer, which compared the effects of running and walking on survival in women with breast cancer. And here the first one turned out to be the absolute winner.

After checking the data of 986 participants, they found that with similar energy expenditures for walking and running, the latter reduced the risk of death about five times more effectively. However, there is only one study, and more information is required for specific conclusions.

Given the similar benefits for endurance, weight, and heart health, it can be assumed that walking will help extend the lifespan of healthy people just as effectively as running. At least if you spend the same amount of energy on classes.