slow jog vs walk

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LuLuRunner1
LuLuRunner1 Posts: 329 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a path that I take that is a 2 mile loop that is up and down steep inclines. When I have recreated it on the treadmill the hills are about a 10 and take about 2 to 3 minutes to walk up them at a fast pace. I have done the HRM and got what I believe is a good calorie burn indication. I typically will jog the straights & downhill & walk (hard & fast) uphill. In doing so, I am doing the 2 mile loop in 24 minutes. Today, I started jogging and just kept jogging, I actually jogged all of it, even uphill! (I am so proud of myself!) My time, though was the same 2 miles in 24 minutes.

Should I continue trying to jog the entire thing to increase my time, or should I continue with the intervals of jogging/walking, but at a faster pace? Does that make sense?

Replies

  • Legalchica
    Legalchica Posts: 462
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    keep jogging it. time will decrease and you will just have to find a longer route!! go you!
  • calderst
    calderst Posts: 222 Member
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    I'd say it probably depends on what your goals are. If you are trying to increase speed, intervals (run hard then walk to recover) are great. If you're trying to build endurance to increase your mileage, keeping it slow and steady is great. If you're just starting out with jogging, maybe mix it up throughout the week-- speed intervals one day and then steady jog the next time you go.
  • nomena
    nomena Posts: 165
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    I would keep jogging! And maybe do some hill training to work up your speed on the hills. My old cross country coach always said that you want to be able to keep the same pace on hills as on flat stretches. When you reach the top of the hill, you shouldn't need to accelerate to reach your 'normal' pace.
    I know you can do it!
  • lawtechie
    lawtechie Posts: 708 Member
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    Don't push TOO hard, but do what you can do. Either increase the time, or distance or speed but not more than two of them at once. How about jogging more than you walk and see how you feel from there.
  • calderst
    calderst Posts: 222 Member
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    Oh and I should probably mention-- when I do sprint/walk intervals, I usually end up with about the same time as I would had I been doing a moderate steady jog for the same mileage. Not sure if there's any science behind that but that's typically how it works out for me.
  • JustEllieK
    JustEllieK Posts: 423 Member
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    Intervals for jogging and walking together are a lot better *correction* if you want to lose weight faster and help your body more.
    http://www.hiittraining.net/
  • akashicisis
    akashicisis Posts: 6
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    Jogging and running are harder on the knees. Studies show that if you run 2 miles full tilt you will burn the same calories as if you walk it - basically it requires x number of calories to move your body from a to b regardless of the method. The benefit of running vs walking is that it raises your heart rate which means that you keep burning calories afterwards for a short while where you don't so much with walking. Also, it obviously takes you longer to walk. If it took the same time to walk and to jog the same course, maybe your heartrate didn't register any difference?

    The running vs walking thing can be contentious. If you walk half an hour and run half an hour obviously you burn more running. BUT you've also travelled further. If you then walk to the end of the course you ran you will have burned the same calories, but you will have been exercising for a longer time. If it takes you the same time to run/jog and to walk the same distance you're not really burning anything extra. Just putting strain on your joints.

    Of course, if you're looking for benefits other than calorie burn you should listen to someone who knows more about that. IE not me.
  • love22step
    love22step Posts: 1,103 Member
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    I suggest you continue to jog and just decrease your time. Was there a difference on your HRM reading when you jogged the whole thing? Which method burns more calories? I'd choose that one. I used to pass a lot of joggers by just walking fast (10 min. miles), but I felt like I burned more calories when I jogged, even if it was at the same pace. I'm not sure, though, because I didn't have an HRM at the time.
  • jdhosier
    jdhosier Posts: 315 Member
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    The best thing to do is keep it interesting so you will keep doing it. Whatever that is, the important thing to do is keep moving. Jogging is better from the standpoint that you actually work more muscles because you bounce up and down. Jogging and walking the same distance don't actually burn the same number of calories.You are using more muscles when you jog (wait, I already said that).

    The interval training is excellent because you are training your body to become a more efficient butter burner. Someone else posted a URL for interval training. That is good.

    Bottom line, do whatever to keep moving. Make it fun so you will keep doing it.
  • LuLuRunner1
    LuLuRunner1 Posts: 329 Member
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    Thank you for all of your replies. I am limited on the amount of time that I have to work out as I do it on my lunch, so ultimately, my goal is to go further in the same amount of time. When I walk it, I am able to keep a steady pace going up the hills and I do notice that my HR is about the same at the top of the hill as it is after jogging approximately the same distance.

    I didn't check my HRM today other than for time, so I may have to check that out. Alot of times I will make the track twice in an hour, although today I did not have the time to do it, I had another errand that I had to do.

    I'll keep tracking and see how it goes. I just didn't know which would be better for me all the way around.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Oh and I should probably mention-- when I do sprint/walk intervals, I usually end up with about the same time as I would had I been doing a moderate steady jog for the same mileage. Not sure if there's any science behind that but that's typically how it works out for me.

    I've noticed the same thing.

    It depends on what your goal is. For overall weight loss, keep doing what you're doing. If you want to increase your distance and maybe do some 5k races, running those hills is going to pay off big-time.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I have a path that I take that is a 2 mile loop that is up and down steep inclines. When I have recreated it on the treadmill the hills are about a 10 and take about 2 to 3 minutes to walk up them at a fast pace. I have done the HRM and got what I believe is a good calorie burn indication. I typically will jog the straights & downhill & walk (hard & fast) uphill. In doing so, I am doing the 2 mile loop in 24 minutes. Today, I started jogging and just kept jogging, I actually jogged all of it, even uphill! (I am so proud of myself!) My time, though was the same 2 miles in 24 minutes.

    Should I continue trying to jog the entire thing to increase my time, or should I continue with the intervals of jogging/walking, but at a faster pace? Does that make sense?

    In this case, you could actually still do both for awhile. A balanced workout program should include different kinds of routines. So you could do an easier walk/jog workout one day, a more sustained continuous run another, and maybe even an occasional day where you run harder up the hills and do different walk/jog combos on the flats.

    This would hold until you get to the point where you can consistently do the entire loop at a steady run.

    Then it will be time to start working on doing it twice ;-)

    Great job so far.

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