Calories burned running vs. walking

Al77
Al77 Posts: 47
edited September 20 in Fitness and Exercise
Hello!
Ok so I recently signed up for a 9K roadrace. I've never been much of a runner, mainly because cardio has never been my strong suit. I'm in week 2 of Insanity and I just ran almost a mile and a half without stopping. Probably a personal best for me! I know its not much but I'm super excited. Did I mention its 30 degrees and freezing rain AND I have bad asthma? ;)
Anyway, my question is this...my pedometer says I burned LESS calories running than I do walking. Granted it wasn't much time difference, but I'm pretty sure my heartrate was through the roof! What's up with that? Is that right?

Replies

  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
    Did you strap slip while you were running? Mine does that and when that happens the readings will be incorrect. ):
  • Edestiny7
    Edestiny7 Posts: 730 Member
    I have read that you burn more calories walking. If your heart rate is too high, above your cardio zone, you are anaerobic.
  • bella71
    bella71 Posts: 4
    I thought that the body burned roughly the same amount of calories running or walking. Try using the exercise calculator on this site. Also, a 9K is so ambitious! I know you'll do great. I am training fora 5K in June. I'm using the Couch to 5K program, and I'm at the end of week 5.

    Good luck!
  • swopeswick
    swopeswick Posts: 43 Member
    Not a chance that is right... you burn WAY more calories running than walking. As sniffles said, your strap must not have been aligned properly. I run approximately 25 - 35 miles per week and have been going at it hard for about a year and can tell you the harder you exercise (being that running or walking faster), the more you will get your heart rate going, and the more calories you will be burning.

    Very nice job on running the mile and a half non-stop... keep at it and before you know it you'll be cruising through 3, 4, 5 miles!
  • crystal_sapphire
    crystal_sapphire Posts: 1,205 Member
    If you walk/run the same distance, you'll burn the same amount of calories for the most part. However, if you say run for 30 mins versus walking for 30 mins, you're definitely going to burn more running because you've gone a longer distance than you have walking in that time frame.
  • thumper44
    thumper44 Posts: 1,464 Member
    OMG - These answers are......


    You will burn A LOT MORE calories running than you do walking.
    I thought this would be common knowledge? your heart rate should be a lot higher when running than walking.

    OP said your PEDOMETER says that you burned less calories.
    I'm not 100% sure, but that is meant for walking, (step counter), as it reads your strides for walking.

    Get a HRM to calculate proper calorie burn for any exercise.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Generally, running is a higher Heart rate and muscle exertion activity, and as such burns more calories. What you are probably confused about is the concept of percentage of calories burned from fat.

    Once you reach a certain point above resting heart rate (usually around 60% MAX HR) the % of calories burned from fat starts to go down, this doesn't mean you burn less, it just means your body uses more carbohydrate and sugar calories. The TOTAL calories burned for a specific time period is usually higher running (unless you are doing a VERY slow jog vs a VERY fast powerwalk) but it's all subject to how hard you are working.

    I.E. if your heart rate is higher during a hard walk than a slow jog, you'll burn more calories during the hard walk. A pedometer is not a great way to measure calories burned unless it is a very sophisticated one that also calculates electrical impulses from the heart and in that instance it's really just an HRM that also counts steps.
  • NOLA_Meg
    NOLA_Meg Posts: 194 Member
    Obviously there are some misconceptions about each. Someone posted this article the other day and it is very informative and based on actual studies.

    http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304-311-8402-0,00.html
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