Walking Is More Effective For Fat Loss Than Cardio

Have you ever gone to Disney World, eaten nothing but churros & Mickey Mouse ice cream, and came home weighing less than when you left? It’s because you walked like 10 miles! And you were probably wearing a backpack the whole time, carrying a kid half the time, and pushing a stroller everywhere.

Here’s the thing: running burns more fat than walking. Anyone telling you that “walking at a 12-15 degree incline at 3.2 speed burns fat faster than running” is either dumb, lying, or both. What if I walk at a 16 degree incline? Does that diminish my fat loss? Do you see how silly that sounds?

The calories (& therefore fat) that you burn during any exercise is related to how hard you’re working. Work harder, burn more fat. So, clearly, we burn more calories running than walking.

I would argue that walking is better for fat loss than traditional cardio, because burning fat is not the same thing as losing fat.

We can burn fat all we want, but, if we eat it all back, then we won’t be in a calorie deficit - which is the ONLY way to lose fat. Our activity needs to support our calorie deficit in order to lose fat.

Here are 4 reasons why walking is better for fat loss:

1. Walking has a lower barrier to entry than running

Walking doesn’t require different shoes or clothes. You don’t even have to leave your house. You can walk around your house in the middle of reading this email. In fact, do it. I’ll wait.​

2. Walking doesn’t cause a hunger spike

We don’t often finish a casual walk and think “man, I’m starving!” That’s not always the case for a run. We can also get into the “I earned this donut” mentality after running. We burn more calories running than walking, but it’s only slightly more and we’re less likely to be famished after a walk. If we can burn a large portion of the calories without making it harder to keep our nutrition under control, then that’s a win.

3. Walking is lower impact than running

For many, steady-state running can be tough on the joints: knees, ankles, hips, & back, in particular. Especially if you’re trying to lose some weight, the impact of running can be a bit harder on those joints. Walking is much more accessible and much friendlier on the joints.

4. Walking is easier to fit into your life than running

We don’t often go for a 5 minute run, but we can go for a quick 5 minute walk around the office or our yard in between calls. With busy lives, the ability to fit movement into our daily schedules is huge for being consistent. For fat loss, it’s better to walk everyday than run a couple times per week.

​Let me be clear, I'm NOT saying:

Cardio is bad for fat loss.

It is not bad at all. Cardio is beneficial for fat loss, but it’s not the MOST beneficial. Walking & strength training are higher on the priority list. If you’re walking and lifting regularly and have extra time to do cardio, then go for it. It absolutely burns more calories. Just make sure that doesn’t impact your ability to eat in your calorie deficit.

Running (or cardio) is bad for your health.

Every study ever shows that cardio is incredibly beneficial for your health, particularly heart health and preventing cardiovascular issues (heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolisms, etc.). You should absolutely do cardio for your health. It’s just not the most efficient strategy for fat loss.

Walking burns more fat than running.

I said this from the very beginning: running burns more calories than walking, almost universally. But walking is much easier to add into your daily life, burns almost as many calories, and doesn’t get us into the mentality that we deserve that brownie. If you like to run, run. If you like the Peloton, ride. But anybody selling you on a “workout to burn belly fat” is full of crap. The only way to lose fat is to be in a calorie deficit while eating enough protein.

The two sides to the calorie deficit equation are calories you eat and calories you burn. We want the calories burned to be higher than the calories eaten, so we want to increase our calories burned everyday without making it harder to keep our calories eaten in check.

Walking is the best of both worlds: it burns calories without making it harder to eat them back and you can do it, literally, right now. Combine that with strength training and you’re absolutely getting the most bang-for-your-buck for fat loss. Cardio is wonderful for your health, but it is an inefficient way to get lean.

I recorded an entire podcast episode on the importance of walking for fat loss as part of my “Building Blocks Of Fat Loss Series”.