Is walking or running better for women?
Just because running is physically more demanding, there is a common misconception among people, that it is somewhere better than walking, especially for women.
But I would disagree to it.
Walking is not only better; in fact, it is 10 times better when compared to running or gymming for women!
Belly Fat in women can be the result of stress, hormonal imbalance, sedentary lifestyle, uncontrolled appetite, chronic disease or some injury.
Walking perfectly tackles all these solutions and contribute majorly when it comes to losing weight.
How?
Here’s how Walking Helps women lose weight & Belly Fat:
- Running decrease Stress hormone (Cortisol). Increased Cortisol causes central obesity. Walking helps reduce cortisol, whereas running can increase physical stress.
- You’re less hungry after walking. Walking doesn’t change your hunger levels. Whereas running increase your hunger levels leading you to eating more.
- Walking won’t wreak havoc on your reproductive hormones. Running can affect the reproductive hormones in females, whereas walking doesn’t disturb these hormones. Walking is very easy on your reproductive hormones and is yet beneficial.
- Walking prevents bone loss. Walking not only prevents bone loss, but on top of that, also prevents muscle loss. Walkers impact the ground at 1.5 times their body weight with each step, whereas runners impact the ground at 3 times their body weight. Walking works your bones and muscles against gravity, inhibiting bone loss and prolonged maladies.
- Walking can become a part of your everyday life / it’s more sustainable and needs less recovery time. Walking can be done on daily basis, as it’s very sustainable and easy to adapt, whereas you need rest in intervals if your run regularly. Walking is also comparatively easier on your bones and joints, which leads to less chances of soreness in the body, leading to consistency in walking regularly.
OTHER BENEFITS OF WALKING OVER RUNNING!
- Walking is fun! It is a fun activity to perform. It is not only good for your health, but at the same time for your mental health. It helps in upliftment of mood and reduces the chances of depression, stress, and anxiety.
- Walking is good for mental health. Elaborating the above point, as said it is equally beneficial for mental health. It can help and serve the body by enhancing memory & concentration.
- Good for the heart. Walking is good for your heart muscles. Whereas if you run more, it can exert stress on your heart muscles, leading to inflammation and increase of free radicals in the body, which ultimately leads to oxidation of the nutrients and toxicity sometimes.
- Increases immunity. Walking has a beneficial effect on the immune system. Excessive running leads to compromise in your immune system.
- Less stress on the joints. Running is a vigorous activity that places a lot of stress on the knee joints and the lower back.
- Running can lead to more injuries than walking. Running exerts more pressure on the body when compared to walking, and hence has more chanced of resulting to an injury. The most common running-related injuries include:
- Patella Femoral knee pain syndrome.
- Shin splints.
- Achilles’ tendonitis.
- Iliotibial band syndrome.
- Plantar fasciitis and stress fractures of the metatarsals and tibia.
Researchers compared data from two studies of 33,060 runners and 15,045 walkers. For the same amount of energy used, walkers experienced greater health benefits than runners.
The effects on participants, who were aged 18 to 80, were observed over a period of six years.
| Disease/ Disorder | Risk reduced by Walking | Risk reduced by Running |
| Heart Disease | 9.3% | 4.5% |
| High Blood Pressure | 7.25 | 4.2/5 |
| High Cholesterol | 7% | 4.3% |
| Diabetes | 12% | 12% |
For all those, who say “NO PAIN NO GAIN”, are now proved wrong by this research. Don’t make your mind rigid for something until you go through the authenticated, tried, and tested facts and figures.
Now, we know walking is better for women, and we can make it more useful by application of simple techniques.
How to Improve Result from Walking?
- Use proper gear. Being comfortable while you walk is the foremost thing you need to ensure which can include wearing right and comfortable walking shoes, and clothing that increases your efficiency while walking.
- Maintain good posture. Straight back and neck should be there while you walk. Make sure you don’t hop.
- Brisk walking. A stroll is slower than a brisk walk, which averages roughly 3 miles per hour. If you can still converse but not sing the words to a song, you are walking briskly. You may increase your stamina, burn extra calories, and improve the health of your heart by walking quickly.
- Incline walking. By increasing the strain while walking uphill, you can boost your heart rate without running the danger of making an existing ailment worse. Walking on an incline also burns more calories when compared to walking without an incline.
- Interval training with walking. Mix Brisk & moderate intensity walk in order to maintain and boost your stamina and endurance.
- Add weights to burn more calorie. Adding weights while walking obviously results in more calorie burning.
- Include Strength training twice or thrice a week. Combining strength training with walking is a golden piece for females, as this can execute the maximum of beneficial results.