4.5mph is WALKING? Really?

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Beth720
Beth720 Posts: 661 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Well then I'm doing something wrong because it's running for me.

I bring this up because I have to put in "very, very brisk walking" as my cardio on my run days, but I AM running at 4.5. Actually I am running at 4.7mph for most of my run, but that isn't an option. It's 4.5 or 5.

Any chance the "middle mileages" can be added in?? And maybe just have it "moving" at the mph? I feel so accomplished when I'm at the gym, then I get home, enter it in here, and feel so bad because this site doesn't think I'm running at 4.5mph. :(
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Replies

  • TabiHerbalifeCoach
    TabiHerbalifeCoach Posts: 691 Member
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    I would suggest getting a heart rate monitor- one with a strap not just a watch you will get a more accurate calories burned, and be able to enter in your own work outs.
  • sabrinafaith
    sabrinafaith Posts: 607 Member
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    That sounds like a jog rather than a run. I would say 6 mph is running?
  • Beth720
    Beth720 Posts: 661 Member
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    Well, to me it's running. Not fast, but it's definitely not a walk.

    The site doesn't classify ANYTHING as "jogging".

    The monitor is in theory a good idea...but I hate things strapped to me. :(
  • jalara
    jalara Posts: 2,622 Member
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    I'm with you on this one! Walking ends at 4 for me!
  • LoriLou67
    LoriLou67 Posts: 173 Member
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    You won't even know the strap is there!
  • thedreamhazer
    thedreamhazer Posts: 1,156 Member
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    Don't let it get you down! I think that when you're in that area, you can choose to run or walk. For instance, I can walk 5mph, but I frequently choose to jog it because it's easier on my shins. The only difference, I think (don't count on me with this) is the impact level.

    So, you keep running and don't let the site tell you otherwise!
  • Beth720
    Beth720 Posts: 661 Member
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    I mean, if they'd classify it as "jogging" until 5 or 5.5mph (I've actually seen in running books that 5 is truly considered running as both feet leave the ground...though running books don't really specify between running and jogging in terms of technique), that would be fine!

    Also having it at all the increments would be awesome.

    Oh well.
  • sey719
    sey719 Posts: 8 Member
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    I mean, if they'd classify it as "jogging" until 5 or 5.5mph (I've actually seen in running books that 5 is truly considered running as both feet leave the ground...though running books don't really specify between running and jogging in terms of technique), that would be fine!

    Also having it at all the increments would be awesome.

    Oh well.

    In my mind "jogging" implies a leisurely pace. I'm not a fast runner, but when I'm out there pounding the pavement, there is nothing leisurely about it.
  • Mirabilis
    Mirabilis Posts: 312 Member
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    erm...

    doesn't both feet leaving the ground constitute...

    jumping jacks?

    :laugh:

    Mirii
  • Beth720
    Beth720 Posts: 661 Member
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    I think when they say both feet leaving the ground they mean as opposed to when you're walking and pick up a foot as the other goes down. When I'm up at 4.7-5mph I do notice that there is a split second where both feet are off the ground, so I get what they're saying. :)
  • CinthyNair
    CinthyNair Posts: 261
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    It could very well be an individual thing as well .. When i first started on the treadmill, I used to walk at 3mph and then up to 4-5 doing fast walk. Now I can walk really fast at 5mph, but when I up the speed to 5.5, I do a slow jog. Once I build my endurance, I would go higher than this. So I look at it as a phase. You can create your own exercise, and login the calories accordingly, right?
  • fudJy23
    fudJy23 Posts: 87 Member
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    I ignore the labels :) Running at 5.2 mph on the treadmill feels fast for me. I try to not let it intimidate me since I figure that everyone has a comfortable "leg moving" speed and mine just happens to be slower.
  • TCASMEY
    TCASMEY Posts: 1,405 Member
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    Running or walking the body mechanics are different. Pace is an individual thing especially when first starting out....if you go to fast you risk injury. I don't think for me I could ever walk at a 5 mph pace that is too fast for walking but I can run it for a bit. When I first started "running or jogging" 4 mph was really hard...now it seems to easy. Yes it would be nice for MFP's data base to cover everything for everyone but that seems impossible. Just be happy knowing you are getting your body up and moving. And yes if you want a more accurate calorie burn that is more specific to you, you need to get and HRM with a chest strap. Mine is so comfortable I forget to take it off sometimes. Get out there keep moving don't worry about the data base here! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!
  • jheller
    jheller Posts: 194
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    I totally agree with you. It seems this site thinks you have to go at least 5mph before its considered running. I "run" at 4mph now (up from 3.2 at the beginning of the year). I use my heart rate monitor so I know what I'm burning and put my own description in.
  • Squash97
    Squash97 Posts: 84
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    I just came accross the same problem! I was on a treadmill doing a jog at 4.5 mph, but couldn't log it! I am only 5'3" so I think it has to be more of a jog for those of us who don't have legs long enough to walk that. There's no way that I could walk it, my hips and shins would take a huge beating! It's much easier to pick my fee off the ground. I got a cheap hr monitor from walmart just to give me a general idea. I wish that it had a chest strap so that it was more accurate, but it gives me an idea of where I am. I jsut did my best to clock it on my wrist and entered the exercise manually! :) Hope you keep joggin!!!
  • hplvt
    hplvt Posts: 62
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    I had the same concern. I just went online and found a calorie calculator for my bmi with the mpr and time. It workes fine, so I log it as that. I can't run 6mph for an extended time, but I can do 4.5-5.5 happily for 45 min, I work up a great burn!
  • Beth720
    Beth720 Posts: 661 Member
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    I went by a sports store on my way to the gym today and got a HRM, so starting tomorrow I can have more accurate and personalized counts! (I had to do my run early and didn't have the chance to read up on my monitor before I did my run.) AND make my exercise say what I want it to for the description! :)
  • ilenem
    ilenem Posts: 25
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    I know what you mean about short legs! If i walk with my husband, I take 3 steps to his 2. And when my son was visiting we went for a walk and he's tall and long legged and I was doing 4 steps to his 2! His was just a leisurely pace while I was really working. Idefinitely think I was burning more calories than he was.
  • mhotch
    mhotch Posts: 901 Member
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    The fastest I can walk on the treadmill is 4.3. At 4.5 I am walking/trotting. I usually bump up the speed the 6.5 so I can run.
  • valeriebpdx
    valeriebpdx Posts: 499 Member
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    I have noticed if I am going between walking and running on a TM (don't usually use them, but I was in PT/rehab for a year with a running injury and running slower than usual, which is saying something 'cause I am NOT FAST), that it says there is a huge difference in calories burned between 4.5 and like 4.8. I don't know if that is just the machine assuming that at 4.5 you are walking not running, or if there is really some general intensity line between the two. It will be interesting to see what your HRM says--I have a feeling it has much more to do with how hard an effort 4.5 miles feels to you than how fast you are actually going. I personally cannot run at 4.5 miles per hour--that is definitely a walk for me--but I have fairly long legs so that probably makes a difference. Let us know what you find!

    p.s. I think running and jogging is more about what word is in vogue rather than some mph distinction. Everyone I know who runs thinks of themselves as runners, even at 12-minute miles. "Jogging" is so 1979.

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