Walking speed vs walking time

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I wouldn't obsess about it too much....the difference in calorie burn between 2 MPH and 2.5 MPH is going to be pretty negligible.
  • ashleyisgreat
    ashleyisgreat Posts: 586 Member
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    Warning: I have no real evidence other than my own anecdotal evidence. Also, I'm totally out of shape, so walking gets my HR up pretty quickly. This might not apply to people who are fit. Haha.

    When I wear my HRM, my calorie burns are not much different if I am working harder (unless it's significantly harder). Example: if I am walking at a moderate pace and my HR is 140, I will burn 300 or so cals during a 35 minute walk. Now, if I pick up the pace and walk pretty fast and my HR is 165, I might burn 330-350 cals during a 35 minute walk. Even though I feel like I am working a lot harder and walking a lot faster, the calorie burn is pretty much the same. It is even less significant the longer my workouts are. An hour at that first pace and I might burn 550 cals, and at the second pace it might be 600. So, even though the time is nearly doubled, the extra calorie burn isn't.

    I have been wearing a HRM for over 3 years and this is my experience.
    The fact you think you burn 300 calories in half an hour of walking pretty much invalidates everything you said. You're burning less than half that in actuality. Prob closer to 60-90.

    That said your results are expected for a hrm because of how they use their formula. Hrm does not know oxygen consumption. It guesses. It assumes a linear relationship between hr and o2 due to being unable to know otherwise. But the fact is the relationship is not linear.

    If you want to measure calorie burn per mile you need to be hooked up to equipment that measures oxygen consumption.

    Bummer. Luckily I only eat back some of my exercise calories, so if I think I burned 300 cals, I will usually eat 100 of them. Good thing, I guess, if it's that inaccurate. I knew that machines and HRMs weren't accurate, but that seems monumentally wrong. When I walk on a treadmill for 35 mins and I enter in my info, it sometimes says I am burning over 400 calories! My HRM usually gives me a number around 300. Crazy how off these things can be.
  • EszterNZ
    EszterNZ Posts: 51
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    Hello all,
    I use Runtastic app for my fitness walks, and I'm stumped.
    If I walk 30 minutes at 2.0 mph I burn about the same calorie amount as when I walk 30 minutes at 2.5 mph. Shouldn't I burn more calories if I'm walking faster?

    Thanks

    Hey I found that runtastic pro doesnt handle "walking" very well. Even when I walked for an hour, it gave me the same calories as if I did 30mins. Try endomondo.. I use that and its always more realistic.
    Making sure the GPS works correctly is good too :)

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