best way to run or jog to burn fat

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frankos72
frankos72 Posts: 11
in Fitness and Exercise
Assuming that distance and time are the same, which of the 2 following would burn the most calories or more importantly reduce fat.

1. A nice steady jog

2. Alternating between running and walking. I'd say run for 2 to 3 minutes, walk for 1 and repeat.



Thanks!
«1

Replies

  • frankos72
    frankos72 Posts: 11
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    Bump.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    #1 will burn more but not by a whole lot.
  • timboom1
    timboom1 Posts: 762 Member
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    #1 if it is a one time thing. However, if you have a certain amount of time to spend I would do the second. I assume because you had the same time and distance in the question you would be doing the runs faster, increasing the amount of running vs. walking every couple of workouts will get you to more calories for the time in short order and many more calories in the long run.
  • Jynus
    Jynus Posts: 519 Member
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    calories burned by either would be for the most part comparable. Neither burn fat though. fat is burned from diet. you burn fat when your calorie intake is less than your calories used. exercise burns calories.

    and if your goal is to reduce fat, cardio does nothing more than just eating less does. if your goal is exercise for optimal fat loss, you gotta hit resistance training. not cardio.
  • pweinzap
    pweinzap Posts: 8
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    #1 will burn more but not by a whole lot.

    Scott is right. You'll also burn more fat during #1. This is due to the exponential relationship with the amount of "carbs" that are burned as a function of exercise intensity. #2 has you running faster for parts of the run and thus you'll burn a higher percentage of carbs and a lower percentage of fat during the run. This is the reason why going out too fast in a marathon is a bad idea (from a fuel standpoint).

    SwgD5.jpg


    As far as weight loss goes, it's a moot point. The calories all come out in the end regardless of what percentage of carbs/fat/protein you burn during the run.
  • cordianet
    cordianet Posts: 534 Member
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    I'm going to disagree with the above posters, at least if in #2 you are running really fast. The reason it matters is that if you alternate fast running (think sprints), with recovery periods, you are doing what's called "interval training" Feel free to Google it, but I think you'll find that interval training can help boost your aerobic capacity, and more important for our discussion here, can actually increase your metabolism over anything you'd get from the steady state run.
  • katemme
    katemme Posts: 191
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    I'd go for a nice log run.

    The other day I wondered about burning calories while running. On my 10 mile run I burned 810 ish and on my 5 miler I only burned 320 some. My pace for my 10 miler was about 30 seconds slower than my shorter run.
  • Mustangsally33
    Mustangsally33 Posts: 63
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    bump
  • AliciaBeth78
    AliciaBeth78 Posts: 437 Member
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    I have to disagree.... HIIT burns way more calories than staying at a nice steady pace. The fat percentage comes from the calories so therefore you are also burning more fat.
  • Nikki_42
    Nikki_42 Posts: 298 Member
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    calories burned by either would be for the most part comparable. Neither burn fat though. fat is burned from diet. you burn fat when your calorie intake is less than your calories used. exercise burns calories.

    and if your goal is to reduce fat, cardio does nothing more than just eating less does. if your goal is exercise for optimal fat loss, you gotta hit resistance training. not cardio.

    That seems confusing. If you exercise, you burn calories, if you burn calories, you lose weight. If you eat less, you lose weight.

    Cardio would help tone up a little more than just eating less. (not better than some other options, but still better than just eating less)
  • TaintedVampyre
    TaintedVampyre Posts: 1,428 Member
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    I did really well on the running/ walking alternate, extending the running time every week and minimizing the walk time.
    If you're listening to music during your activity try the sequence of run one song/walk two songs and extend it to run 1/5 songs etc..

    Here's a link of the routine I used to lose a lot of weight one summer:

    http://bit.ly/w4Oi
  • lkpta
    lkpta Posts: 6
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    cardio is not the same as "just eating less". cardio helps rev up your metabolism for HOURS after the actual exercise, so you burn while you exercise and you also get the after effects of the faster metabolism. and if you make exercise a regular part of your life, eventually your metabolism will stay higher than it was originally. very true that resistance training will help burn even more calories though. muscle requires more calories to sustain itself, so if you have more muscle mass, your resting metabolism will be higher.
  • hwibowo
    hwibowo Posts: 18 Member
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    Assuming that distance and time are the same, which of the 2 following would burn the most calories or more importantly reduce fat.

    1. A nice steady jog

    2. Alternating between running and walking. I'd say run for 2 to 3 minutes, walk for 1 and repeat.



    Thanks!

    It really depends on the intensity (heart rate) you put to either method. If you can sustain steady jog with 70-85% of your max heart rate and you are not aiming to increase your pace (min/mile), go for it. If not, do #2 but make sure you increase your heart rate to 85-95% when you run. However, #2 will be harder on your joints, back, etc. since you are pushing yourself more than steady jog.

    In my case, I run steady (w/o stopping) for 6 miles with 85% of my max HR, I burn around 1800cals. But if I do interval training to increase my pace for 3 miles w/ 90% max HR, I burn around 1300cals. Both depend on temperature and humidity. So my interval training would burn more calories. However, I cannot sustain brutal pounding on my joints and back.

    I would suggest to get a heart rate monitor to achieve max potential training/exercise result. It's not that expensive.

    Hope that helps.
  • ummommyme
    ummommyme Posts: 362 Member
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    I have to disagree.... HIIT burns way more calories than staying at a nice steady pace. The fat percentage comes from the calories so therefore you are also burning more fat.
    Neither of her choices are considered HIIT. The second choice is interval training though.
  • lee3978
    lee3978 Posts: 274
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    But with HIIT you are burning calories way longer after you've completed your work out.
  • strongwilled
    strongwilled Posts: 35
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    both run and jog will burn same calories but run burn calories more quicker than jog.... jog will eventually burn in long distance to reach the run calories yea run is the best way if you want to burn quicker in short time:indifferent:
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Assuming that distance and time are the same, which of the 2 following would burn the most calories or more importantly reduce fat.

    1. A nice steady jog

    2. Alternating between running and walking. I'd say run for 2 to 3 minutes, walk for 1 and repeat.



    Thanks!

    It's a false comparison. Both workouts can contribute to increasing overall fitness and endurance, which allows you to work longer and harder, which burns more calories, which contributes to a caloric deficit, which helps with weight loss.

    You should not choose--include both in your routine.
  • AliciaBeth78
    AliciaBeth78 Posts: 437 Member
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    I have to disagree.... HIIT burns way more calories than staying at a nice steady pace. The fat percentage comes from the calories so therefore you are also burning more fat.
    Neither of her choices are considered HIIT. The second choice is interval training though.

    Are you joking? High Intensity Intervals... getting the heart rate up to a high intensity level (running), slowing down to lower intensity level (walking or slow jogging) repeat?
  • mandapanda_
    mandapanda_ Posts: 2
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    Interval training (#2) is extremely effective when you're trying to loose weight. One time I lost 7 pounds from doing that on the elliptical machine at the gym, and I'm hoping I can pull myself together from being lazy and do it again.

    Btw I'm new. Hi everyone. :'D
  • dizzy_dreamer
    dizzy_dreamer Posts: 1
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    When you exercise, it doesn't matter what KIND of calories you burn but the OVERALL amount of calories you burn.

    Some people think that low-intensity workouts are better because you burn more fat calories. And one would think if you're burning more fat calories you would lose more fat. However, this is untrue.

    With higher intensity workouts one actually burns more fat calories in total. Though the percentage of fat calories you burn is lower.

    Here's an example:

    Sally walks for one hour. She burns 250 calories. Out of those 250 calories, 140 calories are from fat.

    Rosie does interval jogging and walking and burns 500 calories. Though, 225 calories are from fat.

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