Time/distance question - treadmill vs. outdoors

RespectTheKitty
RespectTheKitty Posts: 1,667 Member
edited December 1 in Fitness and Exercise
OK, so something I noticed. I seem to be able to walk/run at better speeds outdoors than on the treadmill.

For example: usually at the gym I walk/run on the treadmill for an hour, and the display says I've done about 3.5 miles when I'm done. This past Sunday, I walked (just walked) for an hour, and did 4.6 miles in the same time! I am putting in the same amount of exertion for all my workouts, so I'm curious as to why there's such a discrepancy in distance.

The way I see it, it could be one of several things:
1. The treadmill is inaccurate
2. The Google Fit app I use to track outside is inaccurate
3. It's harder to cover the same distance on a treadmill than outside
4. I really AM working harder outside, which doesn't feel like it

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    On the treadmill you're locked into one speed unless you move the speed around yourself or are using a program that changes the speed for you. When you're outside, you can speed up and slow down without having to put thought into it. In general, I think it's easy to get going and walk faster outside without realizing it because you have more to distract you--talking to a friend who is walking with you, seeing interesting scenery, feeling a nice breeze, etc.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    I run faster outdoors than I do on the treadmill, probably simply because I set the speed at my training pace on the treadmill and then just stay there, but am free to push myself harder without realizing it outdoors. That combined with possible inaccuracies in either the treadmill or my app would be enough to explain it.
  • gnarlykickflip
    gnarlykickflip Posts: 49 Member
    4.6 miles walking in an hour sounds really fast to me. Maybe your app is off? I usually do a 5k walk in an hour, so maybe I'm just slow haha.
  • RobinvdM
    RobinvdM Posts: 634 Member
    4.6 is a very fast walk, at my peak I barely made 4 and def knew I was working harder than on a treadmill. Is the path you walked able to be driven? Take your car and get an estimate that way. Does your app break down the details so you can see if your GPS skipped and sped you up? (Mine will do that a lot when I go for my nature walks- it clocks me at 6mph sometimes- I WISH!) Good luck figuring it out!
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
    gnarlykickflip wrote: »
    4.6 miles walking in an hour sounds really fast to me. Maybe your app is off? I usually do a 5k walk in an hour, so maybe I'm just slow haha.

    It's quick but not really fast. My wife walks 5ks in 40-45:00
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Yes, I was also thinking that 4.6 mph for outside sounded really fast. 3-3.5 mph is probably more likely, which is consistent with the treadmill. Of course, I'm short, but 4 mph is a very brisk walk for me and more than that and I am tempted to start running -- it's a hard speed to keep up just walking and would be noticeably faster than 3.5. I find that to be the case on either the treadmill or outside.
  • RespectTheKitty
    RespectTheKitty Posts: 1,667 Member
    gnarlykickflip wrote: »
    4.6 miles walking in an hour sounds really fast to me. Maybe your app is off? I usually do a 5k walk in an hour, so maybe I'm just slow haha.

    This is kind of what I'm thinking, because I feel like there's no way I could cover 4.6 miles in an hour, especially since the treadmill estimates my walking at 3.5-3.6 miles per hour.
  • blues4miles
    blues4miles Posts: 1,481 Member
    scorpio516 wrote: »
    gnarlykickflip wrote: »
    4.6 miles walking in an hour sounds really fast to me. Maybe your app is off? I usually do a 5k walk in an hour, so maybe I'm just slow haha.

    It's quick but not really fast. My wife walks 5ks in 40-45:00

    Walk? Or walk jog?
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited April 2016
    I can walk 4 mph but 4.6 would be more than a walk for me. Kind of that weird in between walk and run zone.
  • wonko221
    wonko221 Posts: 292 Member
    RespectTheKitty wrote: »
    gnarlykickflip wrote: »
    4.6 miles walking in an hour sounds really fast to me. Maybe your app is off? I usually do a 5k walk in an hour, so maybe I'm just slow haha.

    This is kind of what I'm thinking, because I feel like there's no way I could cover 4.6 miles in an hour, especially since the treadmill estimates my walking at 3.5-3.6 miles per hour.

    Set the treadmill to 4.6 mph, and see whether you can walk it comfortably, or have to run to keep up.

    Be sure to try it on a few different treadmills, if possible, to make sure it's not a calibration issue on one machine.

    In doing my c25k this morning, i was expected to run 1 mile in 10 minutes, then walk 1/4 mile in 3 minutes. I didn't quite make a mile in ten minutes, or 1/4 mile in 3 minutes walking. But it occurred to me that the walking pace is a 12-minute-mile, or 5.0 mph. So apparently c25k thinks 5 MPH is a walk, and 6 MPH is a run! (i don't let the distances/speeds worry me, i just focus on making the proscribed time)
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    edited April 2016
    blues4miles wrote: »
    scorpio516 wrote: »
    gnarlykickflip wrote: »
    4.6 miles walking in an hour sounds really fast to me. Maybe your app is off? I usually do a 5k walk in an hour, so maybe I'm just slow haha.

    It's quick but not really fast. My wife walks 5ks in 40-45:00

    Walk? Or walk jog?

    4mph isn't that fast, it's only a 15 minute mile.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    blues4miles wrote: »
    scorpio516 wrote: »
    gnarlykickflip wrote: »
    4.6 miles walking in an hour sounds really fast to me. Maybe your app is off? I usually do a 5k walk in an hour, so maybe I'm just slow haha.

    It's quick but not really fast. My wife walks 5ks in 40-45:00

    Walk? Or walk jog?

    4mph isn't that fast, it's only a 15 minute mile.

    Depends on height and how good you are at fast walking vs. jogging. I bet for many it starts getting easier to jog as you go over 4 mph.

    That said, there's a big difference between 4 mph (15 min miles) and 4.6 (13 min miles) when trying to stick to a walk.
  • EddieP50
    EddieP50 Posts: 192 Member
    I tried Google Fit on my phone and compared it to SHealth and Pacer and found it to be counting a lot more steps than the other two. Google Fit and SHealth don't have a setting for your stride in inches. I don't think Pacer did either. I uninstalled Pacer and Google Fit. I have FitBit now. I also have Map My Fitness installed. It will track your walks, runs, hikes, cycling, etc and uses GPS to log your real distance.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories