Running vs Walking
Summary –
Walking is low impact and can be done everyday, and even twice a day. A short walk after meals could help regulate blood sugar levels. Running is harder on the body, has a higher risk of injury, and your body needs recovery between running days.
Walking allows you to stay in your aerobic zone. It can take months of steady running before you’ll be able to run at an aerobic intensity. Staying in your aerobic intensity range improves cardiovascular health and fat metabolism.
Running will burn more overall calories per minute, but if you’re above your aerobic intensity most, if not all, of those calories will come from carbohydrates. Running is necessary if you’ll be doing any running events, and can be a great way to advance your overall fitness while improving bone density when not overdone.
If you’re unable to find 30 minutes a day to dedicate to your health and fitness, then you should probably assess your life choices and priorities.
Get outdoors and get moving, my friends!
Article: Running vs Walking
Running –
The idea that you need to walk before you can run is an important concept. If you’re planning on starting to run, or you’re already using running for either ongoing fitness, or training for an event, you should take into consideration the pros and cons of running verses walking.
If you ramp up your running faster than your body can adapt, you run the risk of accumulated impact loads potentially leading to a variety of joint, muscle, and bone injuries. To use running in a healthy manner we literally need time to get up to speed. You’ll need to gradually ramp up to running, and should avoid running on consecutive days until you’ve been running regularly, and injury free, for a significant period of time.
If you haven’t been running on a regular basis for awhile, or are returning from a lower leg injury, I suggest easing back into running through a gradual progression of alternating between walking and running. Start with a steady 20-30 minutes walk 3-5 times a week. After a few weeks of consistent walking start a gradual progression of adding running (1-2 times per week) in a format similar to this outline.
Break your walk/run into 5 minute segments.
Start with walking 3 minutes, running 2 minutes.
Progression moves to
Walk 2 minutes, run 3 minutes.
Then to walk 1 minute, run 4 minutes.
Then to a steady 20-30 minutes run.
You can also walk for a minute every 10 minutes of running.
Depending on your circumstances this progression from walk/run, to full run, should be spread over 4-8 weeks.
The effort will feel hard, to very hard, when you start running for the first time, or return to running after some time off. It can take a few months of regular running progression to reach the point where you can run, even at a very slow pace, while remaining within your aerobic intensity range. If you’re huffing and puffing you’re well above your aerobic zone 2. For new runners the pace at which they can remain mostly aerobic can be 10-12 minutes per mile pace. This is accomplished through more of a shuffling step that is somewhere between walking and running, and can feel very slow. Don’t be tempted to keep up with others, or increase to a full run too quickly. We all must do what’s best for us, and our health goals. If your goals include avoiding injury, and improving your cardiovascular health, be patient and ease into running through a gradual program based on consistency and repetition. Faster isn’t always better.
As your aerobic pace increases to more of a running pace you’ll want to pay attention to how your foot is making contact with the ground. When we walk our heel will strike the ground first and we will roll onto our mid-foot and then push off from the ball of our foot. When we run, if we land on our heel first we will greatly increase the impact on our body. This impact results in a brief deceleration. During this deceleration our organs, and joints are all subjected to significant impact loads. These repeated deceleration impacts not only slow our pace down, and waste energy, they also take a toll on our body, and therefore should be avoided.
There are several good books that specialize on mid-foot running, that address things like good posture, avoiding up and down oscillating, and placing your feet underneath your body mass rather than out in front of you, so I won’t go into the technique here. They are, however, critical elements of correct running form that should be learned by anyone seriously considering implementing a running routine into their life.
In addition to challenging our cardiovascular system, running will also place stress loads on our bones and internal organs. This makes it imperative that we don’t overdo it, and that we allow adequate time between runs so that the body is able to go through the restorative process of healing the damage done from running. If we get too ambitious, or go from lots of running to no running and back to running, we can load up too much physiological damage, and the body won’t be able to keep up. This is when things like lower leg stress fractures, knee joint, and hamstring attachment injuries can happen. If you are susceptible to lower leg injuries you may be better off sticking with walking, or running in a pool while wearing a floatation device around your waist. At the least, you should select softer surfaces for most of your running. Running tracks, and dirt trails, are good options over concrete.
Selecting an appropriate running shoe is critical. We all have slightly different needs in how our shoes need to function, and support us. This is based on things like our arch height, and whether our feet roll in, or out, (pronate, or supinate) as we move through our running motion. Shoes are also available in high cushioning or low cushioning configurations. Get your shoes at a store that specializes in running where someone watches you run in different shoes. It may be helpful to find a location that offers slow motion video analysis of your running gait. There may be a charge for this service, but it’s worth it to help prevent potential injuries. Get the correct shoes before you start running! Running shoes also will wear out before they look worn out, so track the miles you use them, and don’t try and make them last longer than recommended.
If you do start to sense a potential injury, don’t try and run through it. Ignoring our body when it’s trying to alert us of an issue is a very bad habit. Often, it’s something we need to address in our running technique, or muscular imbalances. It may also be that you’re ramping up your running faster than you body can keep up with. I’ve seen very fit cyclists try and apply their cardiovascular fitness to running, and take off on a very ambitious running program. Their fitness will alloy them to run further, and faster, than their body can tolerate the impact, and they often end up with a lower leg injury. Listen to your body, my friends.
Walk the Walk –
Walking is a natural movement that doesn’t take a lot of preparation, or practice. You can just go out and walk. If you have a history of lower body, or hip injuries, you may want to visit your favorite physical therapist to ensure you’re addressing those weak points in your system. Increasing any usage of an already stressed, or dysfunctional system, can quickly exacerbate the problem. This is even more important for those planning on moving up to running.
Walking through local parks, and wooded trails, can also move your mind away from daily chores, and calm your mind into a more relaxed place. It is also helpful to walk after meals. Even a 10 minute walk after eating can help regulate blood sugar levels.
Walking isn’t complicated, and doesn’t take a lot of preparation, or planning. Good shoes, and comfortable clothing is all it takes. Start with 10-20 minutes after meals, and add duration based on available time. If you do a 20 minute walk, followed by 10 minutes of core work and stretching 4-5 times a week you’ll be on your way to a healthy habit.
Focus on maintaining good posture while walking, and keep the pace easy to moderate to start. As you build consistency you can start to increase your walking by increasing the distance, or pace. You can also do a morning, and evening walk. If you want more challenging walks you can add hills, and even a weighted pack or vest. It only takes about 4-8 pounds to create a bit more load bearing to your walking, and a slight increase in cardiovascular challenge. If you’re building up to a backpacking hike you can gradually add more weight, but for just general cardiovascular health 4-8 pounds is adequate.
As you build up your walking program try adding hiking to your routine. There are beautiful places around most areas within driving distance that offer hiking with nice views and scenery. The addition of exploring new areas can make walking more rewarding.
Whether it’s walking, or running, the time away from screens, and sitting, along with the cardiovascular benefits, will have a positive impact on your physical and mental health. If you’re unable to find 30 minutes a day to dedicate to your health and fitness, then you should probably assess your life choices and priorities. Taking care of our health needs should be at the top of our to-do list.
Take care of yourself, my friends.
Thomas