walking outside vs treadmill

shortntall1

I do 3 miles on the treadmill at 3mph or a little more for an hour. I went outside and walked 2.7 miles at a good clip and Im more tired doing that..Its mainly flat with a few little inclines..do you think I burned more calories walking outside? My legs certainly got more tired (it was entirely on hot top).

jgnatca

I think you use a whole bunch of different little muscles outdoors from the uneven terrain. I like it better.

Me, I run outdoors but the few times I tried running on an indoor track I was tired a lot faster. It's different; different muscles are activated.

shortntall1

good point

Mr_Knight

shortntall1 wrote: »

I do 3 miles on the treadmill at 3mph or a little more for an hour. I went outside and walked 2.7 miles at a good clip and Im more tired doing that..Its mainly flat with a few little inclines..do you think I burned more calories walking outside? My legs certainly got more tired (it was entirely on hot top).

Generally you'll need to add 1-2% incline to the treadmill to simulate "real world" effort.

AllanMisner

Think of it like this:

The treadmill has a belt that is moving, so you just lift your leg, put it forward and belt has moved (not the ground). Outside, you have to actually pull your bodyweight forward. Also, even small changes in terrain are going to place additional stresses on additional muscles. So, yes, walking outside uses more energy than walking on a treadmill, but don’t go nuts on the logging. Ten percent of a small number is a small number.

shortntall1

gotcha ty!

pcrucifer

In my experience it works both ways. When I have been running on the treadmill, running outside is harder. When I have been running outside, the treadmill is harder. Different muscles.