Let’s be honest: Some days, dragging yourself off the couch to go for a run feels pretty much impossible. Before you surrender to your remote, try going for a brisk stroll instead: Walking may reduce the risk of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes as much as running does, according to a new study published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
Researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory asked 15,045 walkers and 33,060 runners between the ages of 18 and 80 to report their walking or running distances, as well as the paces they kept, so that researchers could calculate their energy burn. At the beginning of the study, which lasted more than six years, none of the participants had been diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. At the end of the study, researchers found that walking was as good as (and sometimes even better than!) running at preventing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes. The key? Walkers had to expend the same amount of energy (aka, burn the same amount of calories) as the runners to see the same results.
Brisk walking slashed the exercisers’ risk of high cholesterol by 7 percent, high blood pressure by 7.2 percent, heart disease by 9.3 percent, and diabetes by a whopping 12.3 percent. Compare that to the numbers for running, which cut the risk of high cholesterol by 4.3 percent, high blood pressure by 4.2 percent, heart disease by 4.5 percent, and diabetes by 12.1 percent.
Since walking and running target the same muscle groups—just at different intensities—they come with similar health results when you compare overall energy burn, says Paul T. Williams, PhD, lead author and a scientist in the life science division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. One caveat to keep in mind: It takes about twice the amount of time to expend the same amount of energy walking as you would running, says Williams. So if you’re strapped for time, running is still the way to go.
Previous research has compared the benefits of walking and running in terms of time spent exercising—and given running the edge. But Williams says distance is a more accurate way to measure each workout’s benefits. “No matter how many breaks you take, three miles is three miles,” he says.
Get walking today with these tips and exercise routines:
Pick Out the Perfect Pedometer
photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock
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