People crave to be active. Being a lazy slug and sitting down all day gets really old, and you know it’s bad for you every time you do it. But all of that sitting has increased your chances of forgetting about exercise and continuing your trend of sitting on the couch.
The next logical step for these kinds of people is to take up regular walking. It’s fun, easy, and you get out of your seat for a good 30 minutes or so. It’s perfect, right? Wrong.
While walking is certainly better than sitting around doing nothing, it actually is one of the least productive forms of exercise for increasing your heart rate, losing calories, and generally getting in shape.
It is Not Active Enough
In order to get in healthy shape, you need a combination of exercise and great food. You can always add in a good diet, but exercise can’t be as easily skipped. And unfortunately, walking simply will not cut it if it’s your only form of exercise.
According to recent studies on the benefits of walking, you will only burn 90 calories per hour of walking compared to the 550 calories per hour burned when running. That difference is massive, and is the reason why you won’t get in shape or healthier just from walking.
With such a wide gap in regard to calories burned, it should be obvious that you need to incorporate several forms of exercise in your life.
You don’t need to completely remove walking from your life, but running wouldn’t hurt you.
Your Heart Needs Differences in Beats Per Minute
In order to obtain a healthy heart and enhance your overall health, your heart needs to fluctuate in beats per minute. If your heart is pumping at a steady pace and never going beyond 110 beats per minute or so, you’re unable to clear out fat deposits in your ventricles, leading to heart attacks and strokes.
People who run or exercise vigorously often see heart rates at around 160-180 beats per minute, effectively flushing out all of the junk that you don’t want stuck inside your heart.
In addition, these same people are more likely to choose healthier foods because of their active lifestyle, further reducing the instances of heart attack and stroke.
So if you’re looking for a healthier lifestyle, walking will not get you there alone.
