In spite of the fitness trends that come and go, walking and jogging continue to endure as two of the most popular forms of exercise. These activities have several benefits, among them the fact that you can do them anywhere and anytime without spending a penny. But there's a lot of confusion about how walking and jogging stack up against each other when it comes to burning fat and losing weight. While neither activity is better than the other, each has distinct advantages depending on your personal goals and lifestyle.
The Fat-Burning Factor
Low-intensity exercise like walking does indeed burn a higher percentage of fat than jogging and other high-intensity activities, according to Dummies.com. However, this doesn't mean that walking helps you lose more weight than jogging. Jogging burns significantly more calories when done for the same amount of time as walking, and burning calories is what truly matters for losing weight. The fact that walking uses more fat calories and jogging uses more carb calories doesn't really affect weight loss, as your body will still burn your fat stores to provide energy for your workouts.
Calories Burned
The main difference between jogging and walking for weight loss is that jogging is more intense, and therefore burns more calories per minute than walking. To burn equal calories, a walking workout must be longer than a jogging workout. To give you an idea of the calorie difference, a 160-lb. person burns 584 calories jogging at 5 mph for 60 minutes, while that same individual burns 277 walking at 3.5 mph for an hour, reports MayoClinic.com.
Choosing The Right Exercise
When it comes to burning calories, jogging has a slight edge over walking; when compared by the mile, walking burns about 25 percent fewer calories, according to Maurice Puyau, an exercise physiologist with the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine. But whether you prefer walking or jogging, either form of exercise can help you lose weight. If you find jogging uncomfortable, taxing or unsuitable for a medical condition, walking is a good substitute. Keep in mind that it's far more important to choose an exercise you can keep doing long-term than it is to force yourself to do one that has a slight calorie-burning advantage.
Weight Loss
If you're trying to lose weight, aim to walk for 60 minutes or jog for 30 minutes on most days of the week to burn significant calories. If you enjoy both walking and jogging, you can do them on separate days, or incorporate both into a single workout by alternating one to two minutes of jogging with two to three minutes of walking. As your workouts start to feel easier, increase your speed or distance, or try incorporating a few hills into your route to keep your body challenged.
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