Losing weight via exercise alone is difficult because you need to burn 3,500 calories just to lose one pound. Running and walking, though, are two of the best ways to lose weight. Dieters lose muscle and fat, but exercisers lose fat and gain muscle, according to “The Complete Guide to Walking.” Running is the best exercise for short-term weight loss, but walkers’ weight loss is often long-lasting. It’s important to formulate running and walking plans so you have goals and don’t risk injury.
Significance
You lose more weight running than any other exercise, according to surveys by the Harvard Heart Letter and the state of Wisconsin. You will burn 1,466 calories if you run 10 miles in one hour and weigh 190 pounds, the Harvard publication reports. Walkers burn only 500 calories if they walk four miles in an hour and weigh 200 pounds, according to “The Complete Guide to Walking.” However, 160-pound people who walked 35 minutes daily for 15 years weighed 18 fewer pounds than nonwalkers, according to Harvard Men’s Health Watch.
Consideration
Walkers can compensate for losing fewer calories per workout by exercising more often. You are far less likely to get hurt if you walk than if you run. This is because runners “strike the ground” with at least three times their weight on each stride, while walkers hit the ground with less than 1.5 times their weight, “Guide to Walking” author Mark Fenton wrote. Runners couldn’t exercise an average 11 days during a 28-week University of Colorado research program because of injuries. Walkers missed 1.5 days.
Factors
How long, how often and how intensely you exercise are the biggest weight-loss factors. The average runner burns more calories than the average walker; you burn more calories when you work harder, according to “Guide to Walking.” Heart rate measures effort. You can lose more weight if you walk five miles four times weekly while your pulse is 150 heartbeats per minute than if you run two miles two times weekly while your pulse is 100 heartbeats per minute.
Running Plan
You should walk before you begin a running program, according to Dr. Kenneth Cooper, who has written 18 exercise books. Cooper recommends walking two to three miles three times weekly for three weeks and alternating walking and jogging during the fourth and fifth weeks. You should then jog two miles four times weekly during your program’s sixth and seven weeks, 2.5 miles four times weekly during the eighth and ninth weeks and three miles four times weekly after that.
Walking Plan
Cooper has different walking plans for younger and older people. If you’re 30 to 50 years old, you should walk two miles three times weekly during the first two weeks of the plan, two miles four times weekly during the third and fourth weeks, 2.5 miles four or five times weekly during the fifth through seventh weeks, and three miles four or five times weekly after that. Older people should also eventually walk three miles four times weekly, but they should increase their distances more gradually than younger people.
References
- "The Complete Guide To Walking"; Mark Fenton; 2001
- "Controlling Cholesterol"; Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper; 1989
- "Start Strong, Finish Strong"; Kenneth H. Cooper, Tyler C. Cooper, William Proctor; 2007
- Harvard Heart Letter: Calories Burned in 30 Minutes for People of Three Different Weights
- Harvard Men’s Health Watch: Walking Your Steps to Health
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