When Walking Burns More Calories Than Running

A writer from Runner's World magazine got to wondering about burning calories while walking versus running. Her experiment discovered something interesting about the two cardio activities.

Wearing a heart-rate monitor she ran on the treadmill at 6 different speeds. Then after a brief rest she repeated the experiment walking this time. She discovered that as the pace exceeded 5 mph, or a 12-minute mile, walking became harder than running as shown by her heart rate. Admittedly, walking above 5 mph is very difficult, but if it is easier on your joints don't feel bad that you are not running with the others. Walking at fact paces "forces your body to move in ways it wasn't designed to move," thus increasing internal friction.

Obviously, faster running burns more calories but walking is still a great way to burn off calories. The point is to do something that challenges you without leaving you exhausted. Check out the RunKeeper app for your iPhone to track your speed and calorie burn for your exercise. Read the full article for most interesting ruminations on calorie burn and exercise