Recently there was a big, brewing, heated debate in the exercise physiology lab here at the University of Minnesota.

We were trying to solve the age old question, "Which burns more calories, running or walking 1mile?"

Since they both cover a distance of 1 mile, they should be the same right?

Hmmmm, that does not seem to agree with what you would intuitively think though and feel during running a mile.

A quick literature search only turned up a few useful studies (1-3), and did not directly answer our question.

Geek Alert

The older studies used “Douglas bags” to collect the expired air, so when you look at the plotted data, you see distinct points (and not a whole bunch).

When you calculate the area under the curve (AUC for those researchers out there), it is not as accurate as the modern breath by breath metabolic cart analysis that gives you tons of data points and therefore a more accurate AUC.

Back to your regularly scheduled article…..

The Solution?

Time to hook up some grad students and test it out!

Data back from the University of Minnesota's lab on this day showed the following

Subject 1: Running vs Walking 1 mile

120 kcal used to run at 6 mph for 10minutes, 15 kcal EPOC (post exercise for 3 minutes)
93 kcal used to walk at 3 mph for 20 minutes, 4 kcal EPOC (post exercise for 3 minutes)

Subject 2: Running vs. Walking 1 mile
127 kcal used to run at 6 mph for 10 minutes, 15 kcal EPOC
74 kcal used to walk at 3 mph for 20 minutes 2.5 kcal EPOC

All testing was done using a Medgraphics metabolic cart using breath by breath analysis. The distance was the same for running and walking at exactly 1 mile.

Results of Calories Burned for Running vs. Walking

Look Mom, high intensity exercise wins again!

By running you can burn more calories in 1/2 the time AND you continue to burn more calories post session via EPOC.

EPOC stand s for Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption aka “Afterburn” by burning almost 4Xs as much (about 15kcal vs 3kcal).

Think of EPOC as how much you are burning AFTER the exercise to “put back what you burned.” The higher the EPOC, the more calories you burn sitting on your butt! Sign me up.

Summary

The take away, if you want to burn more fat you need to do some higher intensity work!

Yes, I know this is not “stat worthy” with an n = 2 and is at best a very very small pilot study, but try some interval work out and get back to me with your results. These limited results do match the current literature in regards to weight loss and fat oxidation (burning) (4,5).

Do some higher intensity work and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

References
1)Hall C, Figueroa A, Fernhall B, Kanaley JA "Energy expenditure of walking and running: comparison with prediction equations." Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Dec;36(12):2128-34.

2)Roberts TJ, Kram R, Weyand PG, Taylor CR. "Energetics of bipedal running. I. Metabolic cost of generating force." J Exp Biol. 1998 Oct;201(Pt 19):2745-51.

3) Srinivasan M, Ruina A ."Computer optimization of a minimal biped model discovers walking and running."Nature. 2006 Jan 5;439(7072):72-5. Epub 2005 Sep 11.

4) Hunter GR, Weinsier RL, Bamman MM, Larson DE. “A role or high intensity exercise on energy balance and weight control.”Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1998 Jun;22(6):489-93.

5) Talanian JL, Galloway SD, Heigenhauser GJ, Bonen A, Spriet LL. “Two weeks of high-intensity aerobic interval training increases the capacity forfat oxidation during exercise in women.” J Appl Physiol. 2007 Apr;102(4):1439-47. Epub 2006 Dec 14.