Should I be focusing on the length of time or the speed?

vikingchix

I started walk/running 12 days ago. I have a goal to get out there every day for 60 days....no excuses.

I am wondering if I should be focusing more on increasing my time (currently about 50 minutes) or decreasing the time and going faster? I am going about 3 miles every day.

For a consistent weight loss.....I would think that the time out there is more important than the speed?

I am at about a 16.5 minute mile....

laraeverhage

The distance covered is what counts toward your calorie burn. If you want to take less time to burn the same calories, work on going faster. If you work on going faster and covering more distance in the same amount of time, you'll burn more calories.

Lyssa62

GREAT question. My best friend and I always hear different answers on this. Anxious to hear responses.


ps our current time/distance is 3.18 miles *per google earth* and we walk that now in about 50 minutes. This includes 2 fairly steep hills that we hit twice.

Erin0164

Getting out there every day is what matters the most. I would say try and stick with the 50 minutes. After 60 days you will be going further in that amount of time and burning even more calories. Good luck!

Iceman1800

Google HIIT.

LorinaLynn

Endurance first. Speed will follow.

Just increasing duration of your running interval and decreasing the walk intervals will create a faster pace.

I wouldn't recommend running EVERY day, though, especially if you're just starting. Every other day is plenty, with cross training in between, and one or two rest days a week.

taylor5877

for fat loss, 1000 yards (like 10 100's or 20 50's) or so of sprints every day spread out for your needed rest would actually be better.

It's cardio that trains your body to conserve muscle almost like lifting.

I don't do it either, but I know it's really better.

Sabine_Stroehm

Getting out there every day is what matters the most. I would say try and stick with the 50 minutes. After 60 days you will be going further in that amount of time and burning even more calories. Good luck!

And 50 minutes is a very long time to run!!

Sarah_Wins

I so hoped this was going to be about something else.

californiagirl2012

A little bit of both. You only need 2-3 days a week of HIIT, the rest should be less intense. Your muscles need to heal too.

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chivalryder

If I were you, I would:

A) Do NOT go out every day, for 60 days, without rest. Go out at MOST 6 days/week, with 1 day rest. Even better would be to go out only once every other day, and go harder the day you do go out for a run. Remember, when you're running, you're actually damaging your body. It will only repair itself while you are resting. Without sufficient rest, your body won't be able to heal itself completely/properly, and you'll wind up injuring yourself. That will only set you even further behind. Only go out 6 days/week, or more, if you've built a serious base, and have been doing it for YEARS, not months.

Going faster will burn more calories over a set time/distance. Also, because you're pushing yourself harder, you'll be doing more damage, which will burn more calories to repair yourself. However, this goes back to my first point. Going too hard, too soon, and too much, will just result in injury, which will force you to stop running effectively, and completely destroy all the progression you've already made.

The best thing yo can do: Find a good book on running with a lot of information in it, and a weekly plan to build you up to a goal you want to achieve (5K, 10K, half marathon, full marathon, more, or doing one of the above faster than a previous time). Those weekly plans weren't just randomly thrown together. They were made and tweaked and offered to you because they work. Don't think you're a special snowflake that one of these plans won't work for, and do it your own way. You aren't different, and these plans will work for you. They'll also help prevent injury and overuse.

126siany

Endurance first. Speed will follow.

Just increasing duration of your running interval and decreasing the walk intervals will create a faster pace.

I wouldn't recommend running EVERY day, though, especially if you're just starting. Every other day is plenty, with cross training in between, and one or two rest days a week.

Wholeheartedly agree with this ^^

At first, just work on being able to go longer. For a very long time, simply increasing the amount of time or distance you can jog will indeed make you faster as your body becomes more efficient at running.

Also agree with putting some rest days in there, especially if you have more than 30 pounds or so to lose. It takes 6mos to a year to build up the muscle mass and bone density to safely absorb the shock of running. Folks who overdo it in the early days tend to get sidelined with an overuse injury like a sprain/strain or stress fractures.

Also keep in mind that the surface you run on makes a big difference to your body in terms of shock. Grass is the softest surface, then dirt, then asphalt, then concrete. So when you have the opportunity, run on more forgiving surfaces to protect yourself. (I'd say a treadmill is in between dirt and asphalt, as it has a fair amount of flex). I alternated treadmill and outdoor running for a long time and found my knees were much happier that way!

alysonw

Both to a degree but it will often be practical to increase the speed as otherwise your exercise might start to take up too much time. try to work on increasing the amount of time you spend running rather than walking, but as other people have said, doing it every day might be a bit excessive, maybe have a couple of days of just walking each week and try to build in a few hills, these will improve your fitness.

tadpole242

I started walk/running 12 days ago. I have a goal to get out there every day for 60 days....no excuses.

I am wondering if I should be focusing more on increasing my time (currently about 50 minutes) or decreasing the time and going faster? I am going about 3 miles every day.

For a consistent weight loss.....I would think that the time out there is more important than the speed?

I am at about a 16.5 minute mile....

Find the Activity MET (for example walking at 5mph) times your body weight in KG = Calories burnt per hour of activity.

https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/home


50kg person walking at 3.5 mph (MET 4.3) 50x4.3=215 calories per hour
50kg person walking at 5.0mph (MET 8.3) 50x8.3=415 calories per hour

So if you walk at 5mph for half an hour you’ll burn roughly 207calories.
Which means walking for one hour at 3.5 mph per hour for an hour would burn slightly more at 215 calories.

The best way is start slow, and build up to a good speed for 30 minutes, then extend the duration.

tamtamzz

I would agree with some of the others, do not run everyday. You will hurt yourself before you get any faster.

In the beginning I crosstrained. My cardiovascular fitness was way ahead of where I was in terms of running. I ran three times a week and kept in to about an hour. I focused on running and not walking at first, gaining endurance, then lastly, speed.

Some people recommended doing a HIIT work out. I know for me it was one or the other in the beginning. Now I can get away with doing both, but it takes away from my running and that's a sport I enjoy. I do it to lose weight, yes, but that's not the only reason. Once I reach my goal weight I will continue to run, and that's usually the case with most people who start running.

Go to Hal Higdon's site. He has a pretty good running program for different situations.

vikingchix

Thanks everyone for all the information! I will go out today and pick up a book on running. I know that my goal of 60 is a little excessive but....when my body is tired, I am walking more, about every other day, and then try to pick up the pace on alternate days. I guess I am trying to not allow myself an opportunity to slip back into old habits.

ahamm002

I disagree with endurance first. Speed won't necessarily follow because slow steady state runs can be very painful when you're out of shape.

To the OP, do a combination of HIIT and endurance runs. The intervals will get you used to running faster and will target fat. The steady state endurance will strengthen your heart and burn some extra calories.

ixap

I think some definitions are in order. HIIT = high intensity -' but what is "high" intensity?
In scientific literature I've seen this to mean anything form 80% of VO2MAX to 170% of VO2MAX. Those would be two vastly different workouts. They will feel different and have a different effect on the body.

For a beginner, I think it's fine to throw in some intervals to break it up a bit and challenge yourself. But I would keep even the higher intensity intervals below your lactate threshhold. NOT sprinting as fast as you can, NOT being breathless and gasping, NOT feeling like your stomach is about to cramp up at this point; just working a bit harder than in the lower intensity intervals.