Is Walking Better Than Going to The Gym for Weight Loss?

At my gym in Martinsville, I often receive questions about walking and its effects on health, fitness, and weight loss. For example, lots of people wonder whether they can lose weight just by walking, rather than lifting weights. My response is usually something like: you should lift weights at the gym and walk - they are both beneficial and work best when used together.

Here are two important benefits of exercising with dumbbells, barbells, and other types of resistance at a gym that are hard to achieve solely through walking.

First, walking has a small effect on bone-mineral density. Most of my clients at Strength School gym in Martinsville are in their 50s, 60s, or 70s. Thus, bone density, especially for my female clients, is critical for health. Walking can improve bone-mineral density, but only to a small degree in most people. In addition, walking does not improve bone density in the upper extremeties, such as the arms and shoulders, along with the spine. Lifting weights at a gym, on the other hand, can dramatically improve bone density. I have had several female clients reverse a clinical diagnosis of osteoporosis into osteopenia through weight lifting.

Second, walking is difficult to make progressively harder over time. You can walk farther, you can walk more frequently, and you can walk on more difficult terrains, such as up hills and through uneven trails in the woods. However, walking tends to provide the same type of stimulus to the body over and over. Exercising with weights at a gym or with a personal trainer, conversely, provides thousands of options for progression and stimulus to the muscles, joints, and bones. For example, at Strength School we use dumbbells, kettlebells, several types of barbells, sled walking, cable machines, resistance bands, and much more during our workouts. With each type of equipment, there are dozens - sometimes hundreds - of varieties of exercises available. That enables me, or any other personal trainer, to constantly challenge our clients. Walking just does not have the same opportunities for progression and challenge.

Those limitations also make walking an inferior choice for weight loss, compared to going to a gym and lifting weights. A well-structured, resistance-based exercise program will help burn more calories than walking (for equal periods of activity) and increase the basal metabolism for many hours after the workouts, compared to walking. So, is walking better than going to the gym for weight loss? No . . . but I recommend both activities to everyone who is able to participate. Walking is a fundamental human movement, and increasingly, humans are walking less and less.

-Shane