While rehabbing a leg injury I have been doing a lot of walking and preparing to run again. The injury may limit my future running so I decided to look deeper into walking and the benefits of this aerobic activity.
- Walking can be done on all he same terrain as running so muscular / structural benefits re the same.
- Many races allow for walkers as long as you maintain a pace that will allow you to finish within the set time limits
- Walking usually puts less stress on the body and therefore may be pursued for later in life for most “runners”.
Walking burns calories and builds muscle in much the same way as running…..walk/run faster and burn more calories per hour//mile. Looking at basic numbers for folks concentrating on health and fitness as well as weight maintenance the math is equivalent.
In very general terms for very “general” people— Running will burn 100 calories per mile. Walking on the other hand or flip side of the same hand…. will burn 60-75 calories per mile.
The most important factors impacting calorie burn are bodyweight, body fat and effort level. There is a minor gender difference as well. A 200 lb. person at a an easy speed (2-4 mph) can burn 106 calories, a 300 lb. person might burn 160 cals.
The same 2 people might burn 127 and 190 calories at 4-6 mph.
This article has some good total calorie vs. body weight vs. effort level while walking.
The following article has great info on walking for fitness.
So grab your shoes and get walking.