According to Power Walkers World, people in Western societies are steadily becoming more overweight and sedentary. Regular exercise is essential to health maintenance, weight loss and improving your overall fitness. Both power walking and running or jogging provide good aerobic exercise, which can improve your circulation, cardiovascular fitness and the strength, tone and flexibility of your muscles. Power walking is typically performed at between 3 and 5 mph, which is a comparable speed to jogging. However, the techniques and weight-loss effects of power walking are not identical to those involved in running.
Calories Burned
The calories burned in power walking are comparable to those burned by running or jogging. According to the CSG Network's calorie burn calculator, a 150 lb. person walking at a pace of 4.5 mph for one hour would burn approximately 307 calories. A walking speed of 4.5 mph is very fast and is considered a power-walking pace. By comparison, the same 150 lb. person jogging at 4 mph on a level surface would also burn approximately 307 calories. Running at a pace of 5 mph does increase the calories burned significantly -- for a 150 lb. person running at this pace would burn 545 calories per hour. If you are trying to lose weight by burning excess calories through exercise, running will burn calories more quickly than power walking.
Technique
Jogging at 4 mph burns the same number of calories as power walking at 4.5 mph, even though the jogging speed -- and therefore distance covered -- is less. This is because jogging involves lifting your feet completely off the ground, whereas power walking typically keeps one foot on the ground at all times. Running and jogging requires extra energy to get your feet airborne before each foot stroke. The extra energy burned by running in comparison to power walking is derived partly from the up-and-down motion inherent in jogging. In power walking, the motion is more purely forward than up and down.
Impact and Injury
Power walking is a lower-impact sport than running or jogging. Because power walking is derived from the natural action of walking, it places less strain on your body and joints than running does. The commonly known running injury "runner's knee" is much more likely to occur if you run or jog than if you power walk. If injury prevents you from running over a period of time, power walking may be better for weight loss because you are less likely to lose exercise time due to injury.
Motivation
Both power walking and running have pros and cons in terms of motivation potential. Because weight loss through exercise requires a regular time commitment and completion of regular workouts most days, you will be most successful with the exercise form that you find most enjoyable. If you enjoy running, this will motivate you and you are likely to lose weight more quickly because of the faster calorie burn associated with running. Additionally, popular running races and events -- from a 5K to a marathon -- can motivate you to measure your progress and achieve your goals. However, if you do not enjoy running -- or if you find it painful and likely to cause injury -- you may be much more motivated to power walk and to lose weight consistently this way.
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