Running v. Walking

[Jetter2]

Something REALLY peaked my interest today.

My gym has ass loads of Carido equipment, from eliptcals, to bikes, stairs, everything.

They have about 30 treadmills, most of them are 1 of 2 brands.

The first brand is a normal treadmill, but it has a much "bouncier" surface on it, this is the one I usually jog on.

The other one is a Treadmill that has all kinds settings and programs, they both have heart rate monitors.


So Since I started working out again, I would finish my workout with 10-20mins jogging on the bouncier tredmill.

Today I got on the robo-crazy treadmill, and did the "fat burn" program. It took in my weight, age, and calculated my target heart rate of 130 which is supposed to be 65%...

In any case, I burned as many calories(actually a few more) doing my brisk walk in the fat burn mode as opposed to just jogging....how is this possible? The Treadmill I used today was crazy, it continually monitored my heart rate and would adjust the incline to keep it there, but I didn't even feel tired after it...was I really doing much carido?


So my question is, for losing weight is this just a simple matter of doing what burns more, or is there something going on behind the scenes I am not seeing?

[desperate housewife]

thats very interesting. i would assume that because the incline is changing you are essentially working harder to maintain that heart rate and therefore burining more calories

[cabezon]

fat burning is a lower heart rate than cardio. I am continually trying to slow down because I get my heart rate up too high to do aerobic work.

Plus, who knows how either of these companies are estimating the calories burned. I am willing to bet one guesses high to please people.

[Sportsmedjosh]

Originally Posted by Jetter2

In any case, I burned as many calories(actually a few more) doing my brisk walk in the fat burn mode as opposed to just jogging....how is this possible? The Treadmill I used today was crazy, it continually monitored my heart rate and would adjust the incline to keep it there, but I didn't even feel tired after it...was I really doing much carido?


So my question is, for losing weight is this just a simple matter of doing what burns more, or is there something going on behind the scenes I am not seeing?

To find out what you are using as an energy source we use something called RER or RQ, which looks at o2 vs co2. It is collected and measures, the range is from .07 to 1. closer to .07 means all fat is being used while 1 means all carb. Though there are some considerations to look at while doing this, such as hyper ventiliation.

But to answer your question, programs on cardio machines take infomation that is collected from RER, RQ, Vo2 max studies and use an equation that will help determine where you should be if you are at a certain point in HR, age, weight.

Its close but it's not dead on. There are three sources of energy your body uses
ATP CP
lactic acid (anaerobic)
aerobic

each gets it's energy source from a different system and takes a different amount of time for them to kick in. It's also important to know that fat burns in the flame of a carb meaning if you don't have enough carbs your body will not use fat effic. If you have a prolonged cardio session at a low intensity your body will tend to use more fat as an energy source since fat (lipids) yield the most amount of energy per gram (9).

[Jetter2]

Originally Posted by Sportsmedjosh

To find out what you are using as an energy source we use something called RER or RQ, which looks at o2 vs co2. It is collected and measures, the range is from .07 to 1. closer to .07 means all fat is being used while 1 means all carb. Though there are some considerations to look at while doing this, such as hyper ventiliation.

But to answer your question, programs on cardio machines take infomation that is collected from RER, RQ, Vo2 max studies and use an equation that will help determine where you should be if you are at a certain point in HR, age, weight.

Its close but it's not dead on. There are three sources of energy your body uses
ATP CP
lactic acid (anaerobic)
aerobic

each gets it's energy source from a different system and takes a different amount of time for them to kick in. It's also important to know that fat burns in the flame of a carb meaning if you don't have enough carbs your body will not use fat effic. If you have a prolonged cardio session at a low intensity your body will tend to use more fat as an energy source since fat (lipids) yield the most amount of energy per gram (9).

I was waiting for ur reply, thx for the info!

[shawnyboy]

the incline setting can sometimes burn just as much calories as running at a 8 mile per hour pace..i usually walk on the highest incline for 10 minutes, then run out the last 25-30 minutes...a very nice option

[LoveGuinness]

I acutally want to try what you are currently doing Shawnyboy because I heard that walking on an incline is really good for your butt and thighs.

[Sportsmedjosh]

The big thing to remember is to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume, what substrate your using isn't that big of a deal.

[shawnyboy]

exactly, walking on incline burns around the same amount of calories..which is quite suprising because me personally, i exert more energy while running for 10 minutes rather than walking on an incline for 10 minutes...the incline walk also works your calves realllly good.

[cabezon]

Think about it, a calorie is a measure of energy used. moving a 195# body up an incline takes more energy than moving it horizontaly. However, it takes more of my potential chemical energy to run fast than it does to run slow. a nice jog is very energy efficient, and I am able to run 26 miles in four hours vs walking up a mountain in 4 hours, but only travelling 5 miles.

I used to work on the 9th floor of a hospital, the first six flights of steps were easy, it was the last 3 that were killer.

When training for the marathon, I had to run long distances. now for the 5K I run shorter faster runs. If I were looking to burn fat, I'd be doing circuit workouts. I have a feeling that once you become more fit, you will not get your heart rate up high enough by walking the incline.