According to a walking calorie calculator I used-
Weight 172lbs Distance walked 1 mile
Pace Duration Calories
Slow (2.5mph) 24 minutes 98
Normal (3mph) 20 minutes 96
Fast (3.5mph) 17 minutes 100
Very Fast (4mph) 15 minutes 102
Even though you burn more calories per minute the quicker you walk, walking slower takes a longer amount of time to travel the same distance so it equals roughly the same amount of calories burned?
Edit: thanks for your responses! I was aware running burns more calories per mile than walking the same distance due placing greater demands on the body/being far less efficient, I was specifically interested in walking speeds alone over the same distances?
Personal anecdote; I’ve managed to lose a significant amount of weight over the past 6 months walking 5 miles daily at a very brisk pace (4-4.5 mph average), today due to fatigue I took it easy, walked a lot slower at 3-3.5mph, felt less fatiguing but obviously took longer amount of time, a good trade off if it means I can walk at a more leisurely pace some days and burn roughly the same amount of calories over the same distance. 🙂
In: Physics
Running burns more, and it does it faster.
Significantly? No. So if you’ve got the time to walk around for hours, you’ll be pretty well off.
Same while doing the activity at least that’s what the general scientific consensus is. However the after burn if calories once you are done is much higher if you run.
Guys, what about E= 0.5mv^2?
They are technically the same as others have said. You’ll burn more calories per minute running but you can walk much longer than you can run. If overall calorie burn is the goal, running is more time efficient BUT the human body is amazingly well adapted to walking long distances with virtually no fatigue. So although you may burn more calories on a run, you’ll also be wiped out after vs the same amount of calories on a longer walk. Once you get used to long walks, you can burn tons of calories walking and will be left with virtually no fatigue.
The short version is no.
Walking involves a significant use of momentum. When you lift your rear leg your torso pulls it forward and, like a pendulum, it swings in front of you. Yes, you aid this process using your muscles, but a lot of the work is done by the time you’ve reached walking speed. This minor amount of effort is not enough to force your body into a state of exertion, but does burn calories.
That doesn’t cut it with running. You need to push hard on the ground to maintain your speed against the air resistance. You need to pull your leg forward to make sure it gets in front of you fast enough to catch your weight. You need to swing your arms to counter angular momentum. This exertion forces your heart and lungs to work harder to make sure your muscles get enough oxygen.
anything above or bellow your normal speed will burn more calories per mile walked.
People tend to walk at their most efficient biomechanical speed.
Estimating calorie burned is basically guesswork but it should be somewhat the same although likely moving faster increases the calorie/distance slightly mainly due to higher heartrate.
I’m thankful that I will burn more calories getting my ass off the couch and walking than I would if I sit there. At the end of the day, it’s better to move
Energy is force times distance so mass only matters indirectly, unless you go up and down or speed up and slow down, it’s all about friction, which is dependent on speed. Running is far more bouncey and so a running human is more efficient because they recycle the bounces into forward motion, like a rubbish kangaroo. Walking faster is not more efficient and so takes more energy overall, and more power because you do the same work in less time.
For the purpose of your walks, you can consider them to be the same calories burned per distance, the actual variation is negligible for an average person tracking their calories. I have a 3.5 mile walk through the park that I can do in an hour, if I jog I can do it in 30 minutes. Roughly same amount of calories burned, just got it done quicker with a jog. (And yes there are other benefits to running vs walking, but for calorie tracking it’s whatever.)
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