RUNNING AND MAXIMISING CALORIE BURN

laurajcrampton
laurajcrampton Posts: 71
in Fitness and Exercise
I am running for 30mins 4x a week at the moment (I've gone from doing no exercise to this, my next step will be 5x a week!) and I run 3km on the treadmill in this time (including a 5minute warm up walk and cool down), and on average, burn 200 calories a time (5ft 4, 64.5ish kg).

I'm not the fittest person alive, and so usually break up a fast run, running for as long as I can each time, with a fast walk to help get my breath back, and then run fast again. Today, I ran for a moderate speed, a little slower than usual, but ran for a much longer time without needing to stop to walk and regain my breath...

What is more effective for calorie burn? I still burnt 200cals today... But is there more benfit over one way or the other?

Thanks! :-)

Replies

  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    This is just a suggestion, so you can take it or leave it, but running more than 4 times a week can be hard on a beginner.

    Instead, have you considered increasing your time/mileage during your current runs?

    As far as calorie burn goes....I typically burn about 100 cals per mile, whether I'm walking or running. The difference is just in how long it takes me. So, I'm not sure how to help you there. Maybe do a day of interval training?
  • laurajcrampton
    laurajcrampton Posts: 71
    It's time that's the problem, I have lectures and the gym is busy after lectures, and is often booked out by the sports clubs :-(
    I will bump up my time in the gym next week, I'll just have to get up a little earlier! I just don't want to over-do it when my body isn't used to it.

    I might have a play around in the gym at the weekend and try and work out what's better for me...
  • jennaworksout
    jennaworksout Posts: 1,739 Member
    From personal experience I find incline speedwalking burns more calories than running...but if you would rather run, intervals for sure and different inclines should boost calorie burn.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    It's time that's the problem, I have lectures and the gym is busy after lectures, and is often booked out by the sports clubs :-(
    I will bump up my time in the gym next week, I'll just have to get up a little earlier! I just don't want to over-do it when my body isn't used to it.

    I might have a play around in the gym at the weekend and try and work out what's better for me...


    I would think adding a 5th day would lead to "overdoing it" - whereas adding 2 minutes of time to each run every week would probably be a smaller way to increase your running/fitness. Once you get an amount of time you can't increase anymore, then start increasing your speed.

    And look into HIIT training or interval training for the treadmill - it's a great way to improve your fitness and running speed.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    From my experience, it tends to be distance that governs calorie burn. You burn the same over a mile whether you walk or run; the difference is in how long you have to exercise for and whether you get your heartrate into cardio range.

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