Jogging is a high-impact exercise that can lead to injuries if you are out of shape or if you overtrain. Walking is a heart-healthy way to build your cardiovascular endurance in a low-impact movement. Low-impact exercise places less of a demand on your joints. Various health journals support the idea of walking over jogging.
Benefits Of Walking
Walking provides many health benefits without paying the price of damaging your joints. Walking, when performed at a long duration and a moderate intensity, offers the same benefits of jogging. Walking builds muscular endurance and promotes weight management. Walking helps to reduce your risk for certain health problems like stroke, heart problems and even diabetes. You should walk at a level that allows you to break a sweat and keep your heart rate up to receive walking benefits.
Weight Loss
The "Journal of the American Medical Association" published a study in 2003 which indicated that moderate-intensity aerobics like walking may provide weight-loss benefits equivalent to vigorous-intensity exercise in overweight people. This 12-month study examined the effects of moderate and vigorous exercise on overweight women, having some women perform moderate exercise at a high duration and others perform vigorous exercise at a moderate duration. The results revealed that vigorous and moderate activities provided the same benefits.
LIve Longer
The "International Journal of Epidemiology" published a study in 2010 which found that light-intensity exercise reduces risk of an early death, especially in previously sedentary people. The study revealed that being active at a moderate intensity, like walking, for 30 minutes a day, five days a week reduces your risk of mortality by 19 percent. Walking strengthens your cardiovascular system and reduces your risk of health complications.
Considerations
If you are looking to add intensity to your walking routine, choose to train on hills. Walking uphill builds more muscles in your lower body because there is greater resistance used to get uphill. You can also choose to increase the speed of your walk to find more of a challenge or add on an extra mile.
References
- "Journal of the American Medical Association"; Effect of Exercise Duration and Intensity on Weight Loss in Overweight, Sedentary Women: John Jakicic; 2003
- "International Journal of Epidemiology"; Non-Vigorous Physical Activity and All-Cause Mortality: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies: James Woodock; 2010
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