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Running vs. Walking - Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should

By Chris Gray

There are expert studies that would argue that running is king, but just as many, if not more, of late that argue the opposite and say walking is clearly the front runner.

As a leading expert in the fitness game with over 15 years of experience mastering the art of fat loss not only with my own body but also with hundreds of personal clients, I have found that without a doubt brisk walking stands alone as being number one for fat loss.

Results may vary some but, the numbers don’t lie and I have years of client analysis, measurements, and body transformations documented to prove my case.

Just this week The Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts did a study reviewing how brisk walking for an hour daily can reduce your genetic influence towards obesity.

“In our study, a brisk one-hour daily walk reduced the genetic risk towards obesity by half,” said Qibin Qi, Ph.D.

So let’s get clear...

Commit yourself to a one hour walk daily and cut your genetic risk in half, that also means that all the related disease’s caused by being overweight are also cut in half.

WOW! Does anything else need to be said....? I’ll take that!

I believe this controversy between running and walking stems from a lack of understanding or knowledge on how the human body works and the correct way to lose fat.

I can see why people are confused. It just seems logical that running would be better than walking, right?...you breathe faster, your heart pumps faster, you sweat a lot, etc. Walking on the other hand, not so much, right?...when you finish a walk you just don’t feel like you did enough. You feel like you need to run so you’ll lose weight faster.

Here’s the secret...Don’t strive to lose weight, strive to replace fat with muscle!

Losing weight includes losing muscle which is the biggest mistake you could ever make. Muscle is your biggest ally in the fight against fat! So, you not only want to prioritize retaining every ounce of muscle you have now, but gain even more muscle if possible. Muscle is what I call the control center for the metabolism. Those who have more muscle will have a higher metabolism, and even at rest will burn more fat.

You must understand that running has a tendency to break down and sacrifice muscle, and in the case of someone trying to lose fat it’s not worth the risk because you need to retain every ounce of muscle you have.

Not only that, if you are overweight, even if by just a few pounds, running will put you at risk for an injury. For every pound you're overweight, you're adding four pounds of pressure on your knees and six pounds of pressure on your hips.

I have clients right now who are paying for a decision they made to run months later, because they caused themselves injury. Remember, just because you can doesn’t mean you should!

You must clearly identify your priority. Do you want to be a runner, or do you want to lose fat? Which is it?

What I tell my clients is this, once they have accomplished their fat loss, improved conditioning, strength, and flexibility then is the appropriate time to take up running.

About the Author:

Chris Gray has been in the fitness industry for over a decade now where he has made his mark as one of Delaware’s top trainers and club owners. Along with his many certifications Gray is also a best selling fitness author and is considered an expert in his field.

Gray’s latest co-authored book “3 Steps To Your Best Body In Record Time” hit the Best Seller’s list in 5 categories which resulted in his induction into the Academy Of Best Selling Authors.

Gray is also a regular contributor to multiple publications, most recently featured in USA Today Magazine, but it’s his experience that truly sets him apart from most making him the true expert in his field.

Chris started playing football at age 8 and continued competitively through college and into the semi-pro leagues for 4 years. Gray also an established bodybuilder and strength competitor, he has truly has made his mark in the sports. He has also competed nationally with an elite team of professionals in the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge competing in 3 World Championships on featured on ESPN.

His very unique kettlebell training center located in Dover Delaware, is literally changing lives using techniques and equipment never before seen by most.

After years of witnessing people struggle every day to lose weight and get in shape Gray realized that most gyms and fitness programs set people up to fail right from the start by not providing them with all of the key elements needed to achieve success. It’s the failure to provide these tools that results in most people’s failure to accomplish their fitness and health goals.

Gray and his team have made it their mission to provide life changing results with their highly sought after training methods as seen in the Delaware State News, Dover Post, Wilmington News Journal, USA Today Magazine, and ESPN.

At Punch Kettlebell Gym Dover, Chris Gray and his team use integrity as the backbone of their life changing program, ensuring to provide all the essential tools that most programs miss and offer guaranteed results or your money back!


www.punchgymdover.com
www.doverpersonaltrainer.com