Walking vs. Running

Walking would probably burn more calories if you can go for a longer period of time.  If you can only run for 15 minutes and burn 100 calories, you might be better off walking for 45 minutes and burning 150.  In general though I'd say start at a speed that is comfortable for you and move up there from there.  Its really easy, particularly if you're on a treadmill, to just increase your speed by 0.1 each time you run/walk.  You won't even notice the marginal increaes but after a few weeks you'll really be cruising.  Hope that helps. 

Great advice, Phil1021!

I've also heard that you can burn more calories by walking then running in short intervals. I used to run and swim years ago and miss that  'zone' I used to get into after 15 minutes. I think I might inspect my running shoes and organize my sweatshirts/warm up pants for some nice long walks this week.

As a retired army fella, I would definitely recommend walking and enjoying what nature offers us as you walk.  My knees have terrible arthritis and my doc says it can be partially attributed to the amount of running I did while spending 30 years in the army.  I also have a bike which I alternate walking one day and riding the next. Seems to keep me fit and maintain somewhat of manly figure - lol:)  Good Luck

It's true that one major downside of running is how quickly it wears down your body. Extremely hard on the joints especially. Walking and biking are less taxing on your body.

Ben

Both are effective at burning calories.  One piece of advice:  run/walk more often, but for less distance/time than you think you should.  this will prevent burnout and nagging injuries, especially in the early going.

 

Minute for minute, running will burn more calories, but of course if you only run for 15 minutes vs walk for 45, it's not comparable.  

 

Also, don't forget the importance of stretching.  It will improve flexibility and help prevent injuries.

I have been advised that walking for 45 minutes is better than running for 15 minutes because it is more fruitful to have your heartbeat at a constant higher level for about 45 minutes than to have it up for a short time.

I agree with Phil, I usually increase my speed as well as my time gradually, it helps because small increments can be easily ignored.

The most effective method, in my opinion, is to vary your heart rate during your workout.  The best way to do this is to walk for 5 minutes run for 2, walk 5 run 2....you can play around with the ratio and determine what works best for you.  This method (high intensity interval training) is successful in raising your resting metabolic rate throughout the day.  Another trick is to do your cardio either first thing in the morning (before eating) or after a weightlifting workout.  Both rely on fat for energy as opposed to buring the meal you just ate.

In good health,

Chris

I have also heard a good way to burn calories is to do interval training.  Meaning, walking very quickly for a few minutes, then, slow down a bit for a couple of minutes, and so on.  I do this running on the treadmill sometimes, and it does seem to help.  Also, walking on a treadmill set on a super steep incline is an amazing way to burn calories!  Oh, but it will make you sweat!

Ben - 

Julie is right..walking on a steep incline is a great way to lose weight.  It just so happens that Sears carries a treadmill that inclines 40 degrees!   The incline is one touch so you can vary the incline to accomplish the interval effect quite easily.

Search for "incline trainer" on sears.com to learn more...

In good health,

Chris

Ben, you are getting some really good advice and I just want to chime in and see if I can answer your original question.  By the way, I work in marketing for the company that supplies Sears with most of thier fitness equipment and I am a former personal trainer (NASM).  There was once a movement that tried to preach that moderate intensity exercise such as walking actualy burned more calories than heavy exercise.  This was just a misunderstanding of data.  You see some physiologist proved that moderate activity burned a "higher percentage" of fat calories than heavy activity.  A bunch of people interpreted that to mean that you burn more calories with walking than running.  Let me try to explain with some really crude numbers what the data really showed.  If you performed really heavy exercise for 10 minutes like running, you would burn a really high percentage of carbs like 85%, the rest would be a small percentage of fat (10%)and a bit of protien (5%).  However, you would be burning a whole bunch of calories overall - like 100.  Now if you did 10 minutes of walking, the percentage of calories burned would be more like 70% Carbs, 25% Fat and 5% Protien, but you would have only burned 20 calories.  So on the surface it would appear that the fat calorie burn went from 10% to 25% which would mean that walking is better.  Well, do the math and you learn something different.  Running burned 10 fat calories and walking burned 5.  Plus, running burned a lot more carbs, which if not burned through activity can end up on your waist.  I hope that explains it for you.  Now, if you are serious about losing weight, you should be working out as long and and hard as your body will allow.  That's just the cold hard truth, and that is why we make products for Sears that have great cushioning and products that use inclines to get the intensity up without bone jarring effects.  Check out the  Incline trainer and ellipticals with Power Ramps.

Take care,

BHowe

Hi ... I have no idea your age or health ... so all things being equal ... if your goal is to burn calories, running is your best option (see Iconguy above).  I lost 15 pounds in 1991 while I was running (I am not attribting all the weight loss from the running) ... I am 43 now and weigh less than I did in high school ... I eat three squares a day including snacks ... the bottom line is:  I EAT WHATEVER I WANT, WHENEVER I WANT ... I also run 30 miles a week ... think there might be a connection?  I eat (an enjoy) a plant based diet with as many whole foods as reasonable ... good luck

 

For an aerobic workout, a minimum of twenty minutes at your aerobic target heart rate should be maintained.

Whether running or walking, your largest muscles (leg) are being used.

To boost your heart rate into its aerobic zone, moderate use of your arms (swinging light weights) can be tremendously advantageous.

This is why many of the Sears equipment comes with forms of arm exercising devices (poles, weights, etc.).

I have a special arm exercise technique, called merchandise stocking.

And, them tools can be HEAVY...

    Years ago I used to be just an avid jogger, I ran between 20-30 miles a week, then as I got older, I turned to fast pace walking and weight lifting, Then my wife needed to lose some weight, and she began slowly, and it took some months, but now she is running quite regularly and the weight has come off very nicely.  We both find that interval training is very helpful, that is when you walk fast for a spurt, then you begin running, and keep going back and forth between the two.  My wife has now been competing in some 5K races and she finds this very motivational.  We both now believe that in order to lose the most weight, that running is the best way, we use a combination of the two.

I heard swimming was a better workout than running or walking and not has hard on your body. Is there any truth to this?

I walk about 6 miles a day... feel free to drop me a line and I'd be happy to share with you how I do it and what I use for motivation.

hi there i am new,  am starting to get into the get back to fitness, any ideas how i can start???

Start out by walking.  Even if its just a 10 minute walk at first -- soon you'll build up the ability to walk for 30 minutes, an hour and more!

It's the little things that add up.  I highly recommend you get a MP3 player (doesn't have to be an expensive iPod) so you have some workout "companion".  It makes the time go by much quicker with music or podcasts playing.

Drop me a line anytime and I'll be glad to help keep you motivated!

 

Hey rstinnett-You are so awesome to offer up words of motivation.  Have you recently gotten into exercising, or has that always been something you have done?

I used to walk a lot up until I was about 26 when I got caught up in the "drive everywhere" lifestyle.  That lifestyle ballooned my weight up to a ridiculous 350lbs!  I decided that I wanted to do something about it, and my doctor told me that pills and fad diets aren't the answer.  He told me to simply start walking.

So I did.  Not far at first, but I built up over time.  My iPod is my trusty companion that keeps me motivated -- I love to listen to Leo Laporte and his tech broadcasts.  Pretty soon I was walking over 5 miles a day!

Nike then came out with the Nike+ for the iPod which uses a sensor in your Nike shoe to keep track of how far you are walking/running, how fast, how many calories you burn, etc.  It's a gadget that helps keep you motivated because you can set goals for yourself, challenge others, etc.

So nowadays I'm down below 300 (thank goodness) but still want to take off another 60-80lbs.  I've dropped over 50 so far and I've been very happy with the progress. 

The thing is I'm not starving myself and I'm enjoying what I eat -- I had a wonderful blueberry and bananna frozen yogurt shake a few minutes ago!  I just make sure that my diet is balanced (if I'm going to have Mexican tonight then I'll have a salad for lunch -- without all that fattening dressing!) and that I keep walking, walking, walking.

Now I do live in a small town along the Missouri river so I am very lucky that I can get out and walk all around town.  This town was designed for walking!

But the biggest thing for everyone is motivation.  A lot of people fail because they give up and have no motivation to continue.  It's a shame.  So I offer anyone and everyone the opportunity to help keep them motivated -- together we can do it!

 

What an inspirational story!  You keep at it, and I know you will hit that goal.  I have wanted to get that Nike+ accessory.  It sounds like the perfect thing for a walker/runner.