Will walking or biking be a more beneficial way to commute?

sarahahum

I potentially will have a full-time job at my alma mater soon. I just graduated a few weeks ago. When I went to school, I usually took two buses out of laziness on the way there, and one bus on the way home. But if I get this job, now that I'm trying a lot harder to lose weight, I really want to start burning some calories during my commute.

The university is 1.3 miles from my apartment, with a slight hill in both directions.

Would it be more beneficial to bike (about 7 minutes) or walk (26 minutes)? Biking would probably burn more calories per minute, but it would be for a significantly shorter time period.

I also don't currently have a bike so it'd cost some money to get one if that winds up being the more beneficial option.

Advice?

davemunger

Walking will use more calories, but take longer. If you biked for the same amount of time (just added on some extra miles) that would be better than walking.