Runners World article on calories burned per mile walking vs running

spartan_d

Azdak raised some great points.

Unfortunately, it's a safe bet that many people will completely misapply the information in this article. Joe Six-Pack and Jane Soccer Mom are likely to think, "Hey, great! All I have to do is walk and I can burn tons of calories," not realizing that this takes a pace that's pretty difficult to sustain.

That is, in fact, a common problem with recommending walking as exercise. Brisk walking can indeed be beneficial, but many people -- in an attempt to get some "exercise" -- simply stroll along at a leisurely pace. It's better than nothing, but it's also barely anything. Then articles like this talk about how it's *possible* to burn more calories through walking than running, and people are bound to jump to the wrong conclusion.

spartan_d

I think that the following quote from this article is relevant.

"Exercise lite," as the American College of Sports Medicine calls it, is good for sedentary folk. That is, most of us: only 10 to 15 percent of Americans actually exercise vigorously three times a week (American Council on Exercise, Personal Trainer Manual, 328). That means for most of us, anything is better than zilch, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in desperation, perceived that people didn't exercise because it sounded too hard. So they made it look sorta easy.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

spartan_d wrote: »

I think that the following quote from this article is relevant.

"Exercise lite," as the American College of Sports Medicine calls it, is good for sedentary folk. That is, most of us: only 10 to 15 percent of Americans actually exercise vigorously three times a week (American Council on Exercise, Personal Trainer Manual, 328). That means for most of us, anything is better than zilch, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in desperation, perceived that people didn't exercise because it sounded too hard. So they made it look sorta easy.

Only 10-15%? Well, then... I don't feel quite as bad when I exercise 4-5 days per week during slow work times and only 1-2 times per week during extremely busy times of year.