Welcome to Sportswave.ca and Fitness Friday, a weekly column where readers can submit everyday health questions on anything from back pain to toe pain.
Fitness Friday will research and consult with experts in the field to figure out how fitness can help us live happier and healthier lives.
Is running really a better form of exercise than walking, given that running can lead to more injuries?
My friend Don who trains for half-marathons and triathlons with a casualness most people reserve for grocery shopping. has suffered plantar fasciitis and a stress fracture in the last 12 months.
He’s hobbled around in some Vessi waterproof shoes for months because everything else hurt too much, and is currently sporting a big blue brace on his foot brought on from too much wear and tear.
Don is a perfect case study in how to think about the benefits and risks of running versus walking. Running has greater health benefits than walking but it also carries a much bigger risk of injury.
Running versus Walking
It really depends on your values and preferences: One could choose walking instead of running as a form of physical activity based on injury risks, since walking is less risky than running.
Or you could choose running because the health benefits are larger and come faster, in a shorter period of time.
Running delivers health benefits more efficiently than walking does. Five minutes of running per day is as beneficial as 15 minutes of walking.
After one year of training just two hours a week, most runners lose weight, reduce their body fat, lower their resting heart rates, and drive down their blood serum triglycerides (fat in the blood).
There’s even evidence that running can have positive effects on tension, depression, and anger.
Walking can have similar health benefits: One could choose walking instead of running as a mode of physical activity based on injury risks, since walking is less risky than running, or you could choose running because the health benefits are larger and come faster, in a shorter period of time.
Running improves your health more efficiently than walking does and has greater health benefits per time invested.
But even a small amount of running carries more injury risk than walking.
And a lot of running (i.e., ultramarathon training) can well be harmful, while the same is never true for walking.
Where does this leave us? All the exercise researchers seemed to agree on one thing: that the best exercise routine is the one you’ll actually do.
So the answer to the running versus walking question will vary from person to person.
If you prefer one over the other, stick with that. And if you can’t decide, try both – running and walking – in order to get the best of each..
Its also worth considering the legal implications of what could happen if you were hit by a vehicle while out on a walk/run. I was talking to a friend and they suggested that I talk to Parnall Law. They are a great choice if you’re looking for a Albuquerque pedestrian accident attorney, so I am told.
Mark O’Neill and Shelley Donald are both registered Personal Trainers
http://www.oneillconditioning.com
oneillconditioning@hotmail.com
