Running v walking: Which is better for long-term health?

Both running and walking are beneficial physically and mentally, but there’s a clear winner. Photo / Johnny Milano, The New York Times

Walking is among the world’s most popular forms of exercise, and far and away the most favoured in the United States. And for good reason: it’s simple, accessible and effective. Taking regular walks lowers the risk of many health problems including anxiety, depression, diabetes and some cancers.

However, once your body becomes accustomed to walking, you might want to pick up the pace, said Alyssa Olenick, an exercise physiologist and postdoctoral research fellow in the energy metabolism lab at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

If you can nudge even part of your walk into a run, it offers many of the same physical and mental benefits in far less time. But just how much better is running? And how can you turn your walk into a run?

Why walking is good for you

When considering the health benefits of an activity like walking or running, there are two connected factors to keep in mind. One is the workout’s effect on your fitness — that is, how it improves the efficiency of your heart and lungs. The second is the ultimate positive outcome: does it help you live a longer life?

The gold standard for assessing fitness is VO2 max, a measure of how much oxygen your body uses when you’re exercising vigorously. It’s also a strong predictor of life span, said Dr Allison Zielinski, a sports cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute.

Even doing a small amount of activity — like taking slow steps throughout the day — somewhat improves VO2 max compared with staying completely sedentary, according to a 2021 study of 2000 middle-aged men and women. But bigger benefits come when you begin walking faster, which raises your heart and breathing rates.

If you’re working hard enough that you can still talk but not sing, you’ve crossed from light to moderate physical activity. Studies suggest that moderate activity strengthens your heart and creates new mitochondria, which produce fuel for your muscles, Olenick said.

What makes running even better

So how does running compare with walking? It’s more efficient, for one thing, said Duck-chul Lee, a professor of physical activity epidemiology at Iowa State University.

Why? It’s more than the increased speed. Rather than lifting one foot at a time, running involves a series of bounds. This requires more force, energy and power than walking, Olenick said. For many people first starting out, running at any pace — even a slow jog — will make your heart and lungs work harder. That can raise your level of effort to what’s known as vigorous activity, meaning you’re breathing hard enough that you can speak only a few words at a time.

US federal health guidelines recommend 150 minutes to 300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, like brisk walking, or half as much for vigorous activity. That might suggest that running is twice as good as walking. But when it comes to the key outcome of longevity, some studies have found running to be even more effective than that.

In 2011, researchers in Taiwan asked more than 400,000 adults how much vigorous exercise (like jogging or running) and moderate exercise (like brisk walking) they did. They found that regular five-minute runs extended subjects’ life spans as much as going for 15-minute walks did. Regular 25-minute runs and 105-minute walks each resulted in about a 35 per cent lower risk of dying during the following eight years.

Those numbers make sense, given running’s effect on fitness. In a 2014 study, Lee and his colleagues found that regular runners — including those jogging slower than 6mph (9.6kmh) — were 30 per cent fitter than walkers and sedentary people. They also had a 30 per cent lower risk of dying over the next 15 years.

Even though he’s an enthusiastic proponent of running, Lee suggested looking at walking and running as being on a continuum. “The biggest benefit occurs when moving from none to a little” exercise, he said.

Whether you’re walking or running, consistency matters most. But after that, adding at least some vigorous exercise to your routine will increase the benefits.

If you’re working hard enough that you can still talk but not sing, you’ve crossed from light to moderate physical activity.

How to start walking, and then running

Running does have its downsides. It’s high-impact and hard on your connective tissue.

Researchers have debunked myths that running will always wreck your knees, but short-term injuries are more common in runners than walkers. Easing into walking first allows your body time to adapt, which in turn reduces risk, said Dr Bella Mehta, a rheumatologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

In fact, even experienced runners who take a break should gradually build back up. “It’s always better to start or increase an exercise programme by going slow and low,” Zielinski said.

If you want to try running for the first time — or return to it — try this progression.

Step 1: Add steps

Increase your step count, Lee said. If you haven’t been exercising at all, begin by trying for an extra 3000 walking steps per day, at least a few days per week.

Step 2: Slowly pick up the pace

Set aside 10 minutes for brisk walking three to four times per week, Olenick said. Aim for an effort level of 3 to 5 on a scale of 10. Gradually increase the duration, until you can stay on your feet for an hour.

Step 3: Sprinkle in running

As you gain fitness, you’ll notice you must walk even faster to reach moderate intensity. Once this happens — usually after about a month or two — start adding in run-walk intervals. Warm up with a five-minute brisk walk. Then alternate a minute of jogging with three minutes of walking. Repeat this three to five times through.

Step 4: Try running continuously

Each week or two, increase your running interval and decrease your walking time, until you’re running continuously.

Check with your doctor first if you’re being treated for heart disease or another chronic condition, or if you have symptoms like chest pain, Zielinski said. You might need to undergo a stress test or other evaluation before being cleared to do vigorous activity.

Those who can’t run (or don’t want to) can turn up the intensity in other ways, Olenick said. For instance, add a few hills to your walking route, and push the pace as you climb them. You could jump on a trampoline or try a HIIT workout, on land or in the pool.

Best of all is to mix and match — brisk walking or other moderate-intensity exercise on some days, vigorous workouts on others, taking more steps on days when you can’t squeeze in a workout.

“Get a little bit of everything” each week if you can, Olenick said. “It all adds up.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Written by: Cindy Kuzma

Top photograph by: Johnny Milano

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