Which is healthier for you? walking or running?

Question

my father and i were disscussing this today. he said walking was healthier and i said running was. who's right? : /

Answer 1

Running burns more energy and builds more muscle. If that's what you mean by healthy then you're right. But some people can't take the strain of running. If you haven't gotten off your *** for 50 years, then if you try to run a mile you will have a heart attack, and I think we can all agree that's not healthy.

Answer 2

Neither (and yet both!). Both are forms of exercise and both can kill a person if done improperly or illadvisedly.
What matters is the person doing the exercise. An elderly or over-weight person could induce a heart attack from either, but running would be the more likely of the two to cause this. A young athlete trying to get fitter still would gain next to nothing from walking only, in which case running would be best.
So for your *dad*, walking probably *would* be 'better (since he's older than you), while running would be 'better' for *you*. Note however, that 'better' could also be defined as 'the least painful', in which case walking is likely to be considered the best for anyone of any age since it's the least strenuous.
And what if you're exercising on treacherous ground? I wouldn't think running on an icy surface, or on a cliff edge on a windy day was 'better' than walking carefully, would you? Lol.

Answer 3

I've haven't seen any evidence that there is much of a difference. Running is obviously more strenuous, which can lead to injury in certain circumstances. Yet it's more of a workout, so it will get the heart beating faster and the muscles working harder.

So I guess most people run if they can, and walk if they can't. There's good to be had either way.

Answer 4

Walking is less stressful on your joints alside from that they are probably equally healthy depending on your age. Getting your heart rate up and blood/oxygen moving through your body is the key but in older people walking may be the more healthy where younger people running may be the better exercise.

Answer 5

walking is healthier for older people, who dont have enough energy to run. So if you are young, running would be best, because you get more of a workout, but dont work it too hard. So technically you are both right.

Answer 6

Running burns more calories but its also more grueling on the body and joints. If you run on grass then thats the way to go.

Answer 7

WAlking is better for you if you are overweight. If you are overweight and try to run, you are totally hurting yourself. But if your in shape and skinny, either one is perfectly healthy.

Answer 8

Running might be harder on your joints and ligaments in the long run.

Answer 9

well i think that fast walking is best, running is hard impact on ur feet and spinal disks.