Which burns more calories?

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dccardew
dccardew Posts: 11 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
If 2 people, say Brian and Bill go for the same run. 5 miles for example. Brian runs it in 40 minutes, Bill runs it in 1 hour. Who has burned more calories? Brian because he ran faster, or Bill because he was running for longer?

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  • jennypapage
    jennypapage Posts: 489 Member
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    impossible to know.what are their heights and weights?.the taller and heavier you are,the more you burn.who is fitter? if one has been ruuning for years and the other for weeks/months,the latter will burn more since their body is still adjusting,heart rate will be higher ,etc. if they have 100% the same stats, then i'd assume the person who ran faster burned more because his heart and muscles will have worked harder.the difference in burned calories won't be very big though.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,566 Member
    edited September 2016
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    From what I read, what plays a role in calorie burn is the distance and the weight. If you look at basic school physics then the energy expenditure of an object being moved over the same distance is equal for equal sized objects (neglecting friction of both objects have a different shape). Based on that a man of about the same age and same weight as Usain Bolt would burn about the same calories as Bolt over a 400m sprint, even if he needed 3 times the time. Of course there are some differences.

    If we assume that the non-Bolt runner has less muscles and more fat than Bolt then he would possibly use a tiny bit less energy, though this might only play a role for BMR and not the net calories used for running. Is Bolt able to run more efficiently and use less energy than the other person, or is he mainly able to mobilize more energy for his sprint? I've not looked into that.

    I've also seen some papers discussing that the energy expenditure does relate to speed, namely that it's slightly higher at a lower and a higher speed and a bit lower in a mid speed. But the differences aren't big, and I suppose what counts as high, mid and low is very individual. To keep it simple I would probably assume weight and distance are the only variables that count, and for the same of running I'd use weight in pounds * distance in miles * 0.68 (I think) and for walking use the multiplyer 0.3
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,224 Member
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    They burn about the same.
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
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    It depends on how much each one weighs, and their stride length, I believe. No two burns will be the same, even if they ran alongside each other.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    The primary factors are weight moved over distance.

    Once you get to a running speed beyond a slow jog / plod running efficiency differences aren't really significant.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Not enough information.

    If you & I each leave for work at the same time, which of us will get there first? Same thing, you can't answer. Depends on how far each of us have to travel, method of transportation, traffic jams, etc. Calories burned depends on the person (gender/size) as well as the exertion level. Time is only one component. Not to mention, the person who runs 40 minutes still burns SOME calories the other 20.


    dccardew wrote: »
    If 2 people, say Brian and Bill go for the same run. 5 miles for example. Brian runs it in 40 minutes, Bill runs it in 1 hour. Who has burned more calories? Brian because he ran faster, or Bill because he was running for longer?

  • ashjongfit
    ashjongfit Posts: 147 Member
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    Depends on the weight and height of both and the effort with which they ran. Sort of reminds me of if train A left the station at 7am and was going west at 40mph... LOL
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »
    Not enough information.

    If you & I each leave for work at the same time, which of us will get there first?

    I have a helicopter.....................
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    Captain Kirk gets there first, via transporter.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    But what if I work from home? And you have to find somewhere for your copter to land?
    trigden1991 wrote: »
    StaciMarie1974 wrote: »
    Not enough information.

    If you & I each leave for work at the same time, which of us will get there first?

    I have a helicopter.....................

  • oolou
    oolou Posts: 765 Member
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    dccardew wrote: »
    If 2 people, say Brian and Bill go for the same run. 5 miles for example. Brian runs it in 40 minutes, Bill runs it in 1 hour. Who has burned more calories? Brian because he ran faster, or Bill because he was running for longer?

    All other things being equal (bodyweight, fitness level, terrain etc), in theory they should have the same calorie burn.

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