Running Vs. Walking For Losing Fat

Aerobic exercise can help you burn the calories and fat necessary to lose weight and improve your health. Walking, a moderate-intensity form of exercise, and running, a high-intensity form, can both help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that you get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise each week.

Caloric Deficit

To lose weight, your body must reach a state of caloric deficit. To achieve this state, you need to burn more calories than you consume through food and beverages. Your body will then draw on stored fat for energy, causing you to lose fat. You can create a calorie deficit by burning calories through exercise and reducing the number of calories you eat each day. For each pound you want to lose, you must burn 3,500 calories more than you consume. Thus, to lose weight at a rate of 1 pound per week, you'll need to create a daily calorie deficit of 500 calories. Running and walking can both help you achieve this deficit.

Calories Burned

Because running is a higher-intensity form of exercise than walking, you will burn more calories during a run than during a walk of the same duration. One hour of walking at 3.5 miles per hour can burn about 277 calories for a 160-pound adult, 346 calories for a 200-lb. adult and 414 calories for a 240-lb. adult, the Mayo Clinic calculates. One hour of jogging at 5 mph can burn 584 calories, 728 calories and 872 calories for adults of the same respective weights; one hour of running at 8 mph can burn 986, 1,229 and 1,472 calories for adults of the same respective weights. The number of calories you burn by running or walking will vary according to your weight, the duration of the workout and the intensity of your effort.

Fat Burned

Your body burns fat when oxidation occurs in your muscles during an aerobic workout. Fat oxidation, or fat burning, occurs the fastest during low- to moderate-intensity aerobic workouts, according to research published in 2002 in the scientific journal "Praxis." Though low-intensity forms of exercise such as walking may burn fat more quickly during a workout, you will burn fewer calories during a low-intensity workout than you would during a high-intensity running workout. The total number of calories you burn during a workout will affect your weight and fat loss more significantly than the amount of fat you burn.

Considerations

Consult your doctor before you begin a new walking or running exercise program. Adults with frail joints or osteoporosis may not be able to run safely. Walking, a lower-impact form of exercise, can provide a safe alternative for these individuals. For children, teens and adults without osteoporosis, however, weight-bearing exercises such as running can help build bone density and prevent osteoporosis, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

Benefits

Walking or running regularly can improve your health in many different ways. In addition to helping you maintain a healthy weight and body-fat percentage, regular exercise can reduce your risk of diabetes, heart disease, metabolic disorders and some cancers. It can also help you sleep better and improve your mood, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note.