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Health TopicsFitnessWalkingBenefits of Walking
question

Do I burn more calories by running or walking?

Dr. Mike Clark, DPT
Dr. Mike Clark, DPT on behalf of Sharecare Fitness
Fitness
answer
Generally, running will throw more calories into the metabolic fire than walking- for a few reasons.  First – when you run, you are requiring the body to recruit more muscle faster, which requires more energy.  Second, the higher the intensity of your activity, the higher your heart rate rises, the more energy that is required to sustain the activity both during and after the exercise session is complete.  However, there are a few caveats to this. If you are running consistently, your body adapts to the stress placed upon it – so over time, running at the same intensity level, for the same distance or duration, will allow the body to perform the activity while expending less calories doing so.  With this in mind – you have to continue to shake up your program – and keep it from becoming a “routine.”  The more you challenge your body in different environments, the more calories your body will expend trying to “adapt” to that new challenge.  So whatever routine you perform – whether you walk, run, swim, bike or row – remember to shake things up in your program rotating low, medium and high intensity workouts every week.
Wendy Batts
Wendy Batts on behalf of Sharecare Fitness
Fitness
answer
Given equal duration, running burns more calories because you are simply working harder. For example, 20 minutes of running will burn more calories than 20 minutes of walking.
With that being said, choose the type of cardio that best fits you. It’s more important to do cardio that you enjoy than it is to try and find the “perfect” exercise. So if you would rather walk for 30+ minutes instead of run for 15, chances are you can burn the same or even more calories walking just because you are more likely to complete it and do it again. Remember, there is no steadfast equation where ‘X’ minutes of walking is equal to ‘Y’ minutes of running. How many calories you burn depends on how hard you are working overall and how accustomed your body is to the exercise.
Dr. Michael Roizen, MD
Dr. Michael Roizen, MD
Internal Medicine
answer
It depends how long you’re running or walking, how quickly, whether there’s an incline, and how much you’re moving your arms.  Bottom line, both can burn a lot of calories.  If you’re getting 10,000 steps a day easily, you don’t have to feel obligated to start running.  Instead, you can burn more calories by adding hills, increasing the incline, speeding up, and shooting for more steps.
Todd Townes - Sharecare Fitness Expert
Todd Townes - Sharecare Fitness Expert on behalf of Sharecare Fitness
Fitness
answer

A runner and fast walker, both at a speed of 12 minutes per mile burn the exact same calories per mile and calories per hour.

National Academy of Sports Medicine
National Academy of Sports Medicine
answer

Whether you burn more calories by running or walking is determined by your intensity level and time spent doing each activity. However, if you are only examing the amount of calories burned per minute, then you will burn more calories per minute running than you will burn walking. Running burns more calories per minute because of the greater intensity required to deal with the demands of the increased ground reaction force. Ground reaction force is the amount of force the ground reacts to based on how much your body is exerting on it. For example, simply standing still places less force on the ground than walking, and walking less than running. However, if you look at caloric burn from a cummulative perspective, than the caloric burn is based on the duration and intensity at which you walk or run. For example, if you have not yet worked your way up to running, and therefore can only run for a short amount of time (10 minutes), you will not be able to burn as many calories as you would by walking for 45 minutes at a moderately intense pace.

HealthCorps
HealthCorps
answer
It is actually true that you can burn as many calories and lose as much weight by walking as by running, but it will take longer. The National Walkers’ and Runners’ Health Studies initially concluded that if you want to lose weight you should run, not walk. But researchers at Duke University took the studies’ conclusions and decided to re-visit some of the findings. These researchers concluded that walking 11 miles a week yielded the same amount of calories burned as jogging 11 miles a week. But it took the walkers, on average, an extra hour per week to achieve the distance and the calorie burn equivalent to the joggers. The research seems to suggest that intensity does not make a difference, as long as you spend enough time burning an equivalent number of calories. So, you can decide if you would rather walk (taking longer) or jog.

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Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs.