Walking vs running

itsallgood11

I love running but I also am worried it will make my leg muscles bulk up more. Should I walk instead of run?

spiriteagle99

When I was hiking my legs were bulkier than after I started running. Look at marathoners - long lean legs.

BrianSharpe

You may get leaner as a result of losing body fat if you're restricting calories and have more definition in your legs but no one "bulks up" by accident. Putting on any appreciable amount of muscle takes lifting heavy stuff and a caloric surplus.

Running is also superior to walking in respect to cardiovascular fitness and, if losing weight is one of your goals, burns roughly double the number of calories per mile than walking unless you're race walking at speeds higher than 5mph. Personally I do both, I walk every day but will go for longer walks on my non-running days.

jjpptt2

Probably not. To some extent, "bulky" is a matter of preference and optics, so what I consider bulky may or may not be the same thing as what you consider bulky. So in that sense, you'll have to watch things and evaluate as you go whether or not you're happy with what you see and how you feel. But ultimately, gaining actual size requires, among other things, a calorie surplus. So if you aren't eating a surplus, you won't gain noticeable size from running.

cwolfman13

I've yet to meet a runner outside of sprinters with appreciable leg muscle mass.

huntersvonnegut

I’ve done both and in my experience there was no change

itsallgood11

Trying to slim thighs but gain muscle in glutes. Usually I eat around 1000-1200 calories a day

DancingMoosie

You can't bulk while in a deficit...

janejellyroll

First, if you're only eating 1,000-1,200 calories a day, I wouldn't run at all. That isn't enough food to support an active lifestyle. Not only will this keep you from being a successful runner, it will also prevent you building any muscle in your glutes.

Second, look at serious runners. If running built bulky leg muscles, you'd see it on marathoners. Running *uses* leg muscle, but it isn't going to add muscle weight. That sort of change requires resistance training, more resistance than running is providing.