4.5mph is WALKING? Really?

gingajoy

If you think you're running, then you're running! And I am pretty sure you're burning a lot more than if you were just walking. I run often at about 5 miles per hour and there is no question that I am not running. I have short legs!

teebeegeebee

Hi

In my opinion it doesnt matter wether you enter it as a walk or a run - good for you for doing the effort.

I use this website and i check it against the machines at my gyms calorie burnt screen, usually within 5 calories, these are what I use against my workout on here so if i burn 300 at the gym thats what i enter and I change the screen to say the same
when I go for a walk/run outside I use endomondo or sportstracker on my phone to keep a record and do same check

the website is www.freedieting.com and its under their tools section and is called a calories burnt calculator and there is also the following on the site to explain:-

How Accurate is the Calories Burned Calculator?

This calculator uses the latest figures from the Compendium of Physical Activities - a publication from the Arizona State University, that revises figures every few years.

Each activity has a MET (metabolic equivalent of task) that attempts to measure the energy cost of activities. These METs are then applied against your base metabolic rate at rest.
Not an exact science....

It is far from an exact science as these amounts are derived from a large sample of people (and are therefore an average).

The main issue is body composition (see the body fat calculator for more). Calorie expenditure will vary depending on the ratio of body fat to muscle or lean mass.

I trust these figures more than those returned here on mfp as they seem to skew all the time.

Cait_Sidhe

I think it depends on the length of the person's legs. I'm only 4' 10 1/2", 4.5mph is running to me. But to someone taller, that might be walking briskly.

soldiergrl_101

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.

5.0 should be running, technically its different for everyone but 5.0 is a good place to start. If you are running at 4.0 its just because your body is building up to it. as your strides get longer and your endurance gets better 4.0 will be walking, 5.0 will be jogging then eventually 6.0 will seem mild because you will continue to get faster if you do it correctly. a great program I like on the treadmill is intervals run 1min at 5.0 then run 1 minute at 8.0 then drop back down to 5.0 do this routine consecutively for ten minutes. This will get you faster and build endurance.

kelli543

I can see this is an old thread, but this is a discussion I see coming up over and over again on lots of dieting and fitness websites. I can never understand why people (often people who run a lot) want to classify what anyone else is doing as not running. If you think you're not walking (and the action is totally different) then you ARE running! Pace is irrelevent. There are times (big hills for example) when I could walk faster than I could run - my body knows the difference between the two! Look at the contortions the speed walkers put themselves through not *not* run - the world record for 20k is 1:24:51 (just googled this, WOW) which is much MUCH faster than my fastest run pace but it is still considered a walk!

I just deleted all the speed zone labels in my Garmin training centre as it has my normal 10k/h speed down as a fast walk and my target race pace as a slow jog - so disheartening! Now they are all called zones 1-9 and I don't care any more.

What ever you are doing, get out there an keep doing it, ignore the labels and just keep getting yourself fit.

saschka7

I walk at 4 mph (unless I'm just out for a leisurely stroll) and I've been called Superwoman because of it, but then I have really long legs and a long stride. I would think 4.5 would be reserved for those 'power-walkers' you see at the mall sometimes who make you want to smother a giggle because they look jet-propelled. I know I don't look...unusual... when I walk at 4. I should think only a small percentage of walkers could do 4.5!

Some of the treadmills at my gym have presets for walk, jog and run--and they are set at 2 mph, 4 & 6 respectively. I think 2 is way too slow of a walk and 4 is excruciatingly too slow for a jog for me...but it's all a matter of what a person can handle. You're certainly not the only one who thinks 4.5 for walking would be too fast!

FromHereOnOut

You can create your own cardio exercise and name it exactly as MFP does, but put the speed that you go, i.e. 4.7mph, as long as you have some idea of the per minute calorie burn. (Or you can name it whatever you want...but if you want it to look like the MFP database, just use similar wording.)

Make the exercise and put in 1 minute and put the calorie burn for 1 minute. It will remember that and from then on it will extrapolate based on the minutes you put. Or, if you always go for a certain amount of time (like 20 minutes), put that in first with the 20 min burn and it will remember it and it will also extrapolate every time you put in something different (like 40 min will be double).

kaybeau

I too have this issue walking at 4mph I run at a measly 4.7 over long distances. So walking it is!!

chartwells253

I would suggest you have your treadmill checked out, because I highly doubt anyone could walk at 5.8 think you speed must be off.