Running can help you improve your physical fitness and manage your weight, but your body needs rest days to recover from these high-intensity workouts. Whether you're training for a race or running solely to burn extra calories, you can make the most of your days off by choosing activities that give your running muscles a break. Walking makes an ideal activity for your running rest days.
Factors
Training programs for runners typically include three to five runs per week, depending on your goals and experience. Incorporating one to two rest days per week gives your running muscles time to recuperate, which helps you improve your running, reduce your risk for overuse injuries and avoid burnout. But running rest days are also opportunities to incorporate cross-training activities, such as walking, swimming or bicycling, that work different muscle groups.
Calorie-Burning Potential
Running at 5 mph works off roughly 8 to 15 calories per minute, depending on your body weight. If you run an average of four hours per week, you can burn approximately 1,900 to 3,600 calories weekly. By walking on your off days, you can burn an additional 300 to 400 calories per hour. However, if working out every day makes you feel fatigued or physically drained, you may want to schedule a true rest day once a week. In this case, you can still supplement your runs with walking workouts on other days.
Workout Schedule
One way to build a running program is to follow a 5K training schedule for beginners. Or, depending on your fitness and running history, you may want to schedule your runs for every other day and plan to walk on alternate days. The main thing is to build your fitness by gradually increasing the intensity and duration of your workouts. Although you burn more calories per minute running than walking, you'll likely be able to walk for longer periods of time than you run, which will help you boost your calorie deficit.
Considerations
Cardiovascular activities such as running and walking are effective calorie-burning workouts. However, you can also burn calories with strength-training exercises using free weights or your body weight as resistance. Variety in your workout program can help you build lean muscle and burn more calories. Making small changes in your eating habits -- such as cutting back on your portion sizes or reducing your caloric intake by 250 calories per day -- can also help you establish a more significant calorie deficit. Check with your doctor before starting a running program, particularly if you have a history of heart or orthopedic problems.
References
- Jeff Galloway: Walk Breaks?
- Washington Running Report; Enough Rest to Make You Stronger; Dale Guilford; April 2000
- MayoClinic.com; Exercise for Weight Loss: Calories Burned in 1 Hour; December 2009
- MayoClinic.com: 5K Run: 7-Week Training Schedule for Beginners; April 2011
- MayoClinic.com; Strength Training: Get Stronger, Leaner, Healthier; June 2010
- American Council on Exercise: Trimming Off the Fat
- American Council on Exercise: Ready to Run?
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