Calories Used by Walking & Running
Walking and running are both good ways to burn calories as part of a weight-loss or fitness plan. While running will usually burn more calories per hour because it is faster, walking provides a low-impact form of exercise that people of all ages and fitness abilities can enjoy. Determining how many calories you will use walking and running depends on your weight, speed and the kind of walking and running you are doing.
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Slow Walking
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According to the calculator at the Calorie Lab Web site, a person who weighs 150 lbs. can expect to burn about 68 calories per hour walking at a pace of less than 2 miles an hour on level ground. This is the speed of walking you might expect to do when shopping at the mall.
Fitness Walking
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As you increase your speed, you increase your calorie burn. A 150-lb. person walking 3.5 miles an hour on level ground can expect to burn 190 calories per hour. If you get up to 5 miles per hour, you can expect to burn 476 calories per hour.
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Running vs. Walking
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Your speed matters more than whether you are walking or running. According to Calorie Lab, a person walking a brisk 5 miles an hour would burn the same amount of calories as a person running 5 miles an hour. If you run a faster, 7 miles an hour, though, you will burn 714 calories per hour.
Surface
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The surface on which you walk or run will affect how many calories you burn. A 150-pound person who walks 3.5 miles an hour on a level surface will burn about 190 calories an hour. However, someone who walks uphill at that same speed would burn 340 calories per hour.
Considerations
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The more you weigh, the more calories your body has to burn to move from point to point. According to NutriStrategy.com, a 130-lb. runner can expect to burn 472 calories an hour, while a 190-lb. runner would burn 690 calories per hour. Similarly, a 130-lb. person would burn about 207 calories during an hour of walking, while a 190-lb. person would burn 302 calories an hour doing the same activity.
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