Running vs walking: what the studies measured for energy, time, effort and load

Walking and running both move you a mile; they don't cost the same to do it. Two lab studies had people cover the same 1,600 m (about a mile) both ways and measured the energy with a gas analyzer. A third matched the speed instead of the distance. This page covers what they found, the load under the foot, what the studies didn't test, and how to choose or mix the two. Walking uphill against jogging is its own question, on the 12-3-30 workout.

Running vs walking at a glance

Kilocalories are converted from the studies' kilojoules (1 kcal = 4.184 kJ) and rounded.

Where running came out ahead

• More energy over the same distance. In Hall 2004, 24 participants walked at 1.41 m/s (about 3.2 mph) and ran at 2.82 m/s (about 6.3 mph) for 1,600 m on a treadmill. Running required more energy, 481 against 340 kJ, and a subgroup that repeated it on a track got almost the same numbers, 480 against 334 kJ.¹ That's about 40% more for the run on both surfaces.
• More after the session, too. In Wilkin 2012, 15 women and 15 men of average fitness, average age about 22, walked 1,600 m at 86 m a minute and ran it at 160 m a minute. During the exercise the walk used about 373 kJ and the run about 471 kJ. Counting the 30 minutes of recovery afterwards, the totals were about 463 and 664 kJ.²
• In about half the time. At those speeds the walk took about 18.6 minutes and the run 10, worked out from the study's distance and speeds.² If minutes are what you're short of, the run covers the same mile and more energy in less of them.

Where walking came out ahead

• Less load under the foot. In Kaplan 2014, 75 adults without symptoms, aged 19 to 72, walked and jogged over the ground while a sensor system measured the load under the foot. It averaged about 112% of body weight walking and about 201% jogging over the ground; jogging on a treadmill was about 175%.³ That's a measured force, not a prediction about anyone's joints. Low-impact training covers what the word means.
• A very fast walk cost more than a run at the same speed. In Makino 2022, 34 university students, 18 men and 16 women, walked and ran on a treadmill at the same speeds, rising every minute. Running's energy cost rose in a straight line with speed; walking's rose more and more steeply. Above about 92% of each person's fastest walking speed, walking used significantly more energy than running at the same speed. In the study's typical example that meant 8–10 km/h (about 5 to 6.2 mph); the women's fastest walk averaged about 7.7 km/h.⁴ Near your fastest walk, walking is the harder option, not the easier one.
• The body settled sooner. In Wilkin 2012, energy use was back to resting 10 minutes after the walk and 15 minutes after the run.²

Wilkin's authors called both "acceptable activities" that raise energy use above rest and meet the American College of Sports Medicine's energy guidelines.²

How each felt at the same speed

In Makino 2022, the men rated their breathing and their legs as working harder walking than running at every matched speed, and the women rated their legs harder walking at every speed.⁴ At the slow end, heart rate was lower walking than running in both men and women; near the fastest walking speeds the men's heart rate was higher walking.⁴ So once a walk gets fast enough to feel awkward, breaking into a jog is the easier way to hold that speed.

What these studies didn't test

All three are single-session lab studies in small groups. None followed anyone over weeks, so none of them measured fitness gains, body weight or body fat, and this page makes no claim about any of those. Hall 2004 and Wilkin 2012 compared one walking speed with one running speed, and Makino 2022 tested university students only. Your own walk and run may be faster or slower than theirs.

How to choose, or mix them

As a practical guide, not a finding:

• Starting from nothing: walk. It's the one you can do today, every day, at a pace where you can still speak a sentence. The World Health Organization's guideline is 150 to 300 moderate minutes a week, or 75 to 150 vigorous, counted across everything you do.⁵
• Short on time: run, or walk-jog. The walk-jog session on the treadmill workout page builds from one-minute jogs.
• Want a harder walk without running: add a hill or a treadmill incline. The 12-3-30 workout has the numbers.
• Lifting too: walks fit around leg day more easily than hard runs. Cardio and lifting covers the order and spacing.

If you have pain, an injury or a medical condition, stop and ask a doctor or a physical therapist.

Common questions

Does running burn more calories than walking?

Over the same distance, yes, in both studies that measured it: about 115 against 81 kcal for 1,600 m on a treadmill in Hall 2004, and about 113 against 89 kcal during the exercise in Wilkin 2012 (converted from kilojoules).^1,2 At the same speed near the fastest walk, Makino 2022 found the reverse: walking used more.⁴

Is running better than walking for weight loss?

None of the studies on this page followed anyone's weight; they measured energy in one session, so this page makes no weight-loss claim. Walking and steps covers walking alongside food.

Is a brisk walk as hard as a slow jog?

It can be harder. In Makino 2022, near the fastest walking speeds walking used more energy than running, and the men rated walking harder on breath and legs at every speed.⁴ Walking used significantly more only above about 92% of each person's fastest walking speed; over a full 1,600 m in Hall 2004, a walk at about 5 km/h cost less than the run.^4,1

Treadmill or outside?

In Hall 2004 the energy for 1,600 m was almost the same on a treadmill and a track, for the walk and for the run.¹ Treadmill vs outdoor running has the rest.

If you'd rather have the week planned

Walking or running is a small decision next to fitting either one around lifting, work and the rest of your life. Coaching is the version where your workouts are built around the days you actually have, and a weekly call looks at the week you just had and rebuilds the next one around what's coming. Coaching for a week that doesn't hold still explains how that works, and apply is the first step. Otherwise: walk 20 minutes three times this week, and swap one walk for a walk-jog next week.