Can Tai Chi Replace Walking?

When considering whether tai chi can replace walking, purpose is of utmost importance. Tai chi obviously would not be an option for walking around your home or office, but for physical fitness, it might be an adequate, or better, substitution in certain situations.

Calorie Burn

If your primary reason for exercising is to lose weight, you want to analyze the calories burned by any specific workout choice. According to NutriStrategy, a 155-pound person burns about 280 calories in an hour of tai chi. The same person would burn approximately 300 calories in an hour of brisk walking.

Resistance Training

Resistance training builds muscle strength and endurance. A walking workout includes some resistance training for your legs, but its focus is on cardiovascular development. Tai chi training, by contrast, focuses on building muscles through body-weight positioning during a session. If your focus is on building strength, tai chi can replace your walking workout.

Core Exercise

Core exercise has become increasingly popular since the early 2000s, owing to its importance to most body motions. Walking will peripherally involve your core as you hold yourself upright with the muscles of your waist, stomach and back. Tai chi twists and pushes the muscles of your core, providing a focused core workout that is an efficient replacement for walking.

Safety and Impact

Walking is a low-impact exercise, but it does include setting your weight repeatedly on the joints of your ankles, knees and hips. This can cause stress on those joints and lead to repetitive stress injuries. Tai chi is an even lower-impact exercise that includes setting your feet down carefully with each step. If you have problems in your leg joints, replacing walking with tai chi isn't just possible -- it's recommended.