Last week I messed up my knee running on my treadmill and since I still wanted to do cardio I decided to walk instead. I plugged in my wireless Nike+ sensor into my sneakers, started the Nike+ app on my iPhone and started walking from the start of Salem Mubarek Street in Salmiya all the way down to Electrozan which is at the very end of it, picked up an iPod Shuffle and then walked back. I was walking at a moderately fast pace and once I got back home I ended my session on the Nike+ app and checked the results (screenshot posted above).
Now I’m not sure how accurate the Nike+ app is, I doubt it’s very accurate but it should be somewhat accurate and if it is then I burned around 600 calories walking for nearly 2 hours. I thought that was pretty cool since when I run on the treadmill at home I usually run just 30 minutes before getting bored and tired. By the end of the 30 minutes I would have burned around 200 calories if I’m lucky, most probably less than that even. Walking on the other hand I can do for much longer periods of time and without getting either tired or bored.
Since I live right on Salem Mubarek Street I’m going to start walking on my days when I don’t have gym instead of running on the treadmill. I should burn more calories that way and I prefer walking in Salmiya over running on a treadmill facing a wall. But since I’m not a fitness expert maybe if Fahad reads this post he can add more information on how accurate my Nike+ is and if walking actually burns that much calories.
36 replies on “Walking does the body good”
yeah I get bored on the treadmill too
Cajie might be able to shed some light on its accuracy he uses it extensively for his marathon running. Your pace is not too bad considering it was a casual walk.
Hmm..
https://www.associatedcontent.com/article/290652/walking_may_burn_more_calories_than.html ..
Gotta test this ..
-ope the knee heals soon. Knee injuries are irrritating and prolong for a bit, take care. No better exercise than walking.
Hi Mark.
You have to calibrate Nike+ sensor in order to obtain accurate measurements. It won’t be difficult. Just pick up the route for your next workout length of which you already know. Then walk this distance with Nike+ in calibration mode for walking, then run same distance with Nike+ in calibration mode for running. That is it.
Also since your goal is to get rid of some fat % it would be right way to go with walking, than with running, because body will consume energy produced from fat after half an hour load and you won’t “burn” your muscle as fuel during exercise if your heart rate will be in zone 1 (112-140 bits per min)
I found these rocker shoes good: https://www.rynamerica.com/.for walking expeditions, burning more calories etc. Don’t know if you tried these.
Found these @ Nasser Sports @ 25 KD or so 2 years ago, and have had a good experience till now.
The sensor is pretty accurate. For this distance, I would say give or take about 200 meters.
Hope your knee gets well soon. While walking is good for old people, you are just as likely to get bored with walking regularly – especially in our lousy weather conditions.
Keep in mind that you burn 100 calories per hour just sitting around watching TV so you would have burned around 200 calories just doing nothing during this time. So your actual calories burned due to the exercise are around 450.
The advantage of running is what happens to you AFTER you finish the exercise. You keep burning calories at a higher rate for upto 48 hours.
https://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0846/is_8_21/ai_83911021/
You should probably read “Born to Run” by Christopher Mcdougall.
I think walking on real ground beats anything on a treadmill. Try walking in the flatest shoes you have.
There is some evindence that you can only run with a ‘heel-strike’ in shoes with lot of padding, and that this style of running is problamatic for many.
Running bare-foot or in flat shoes forces the runner to use a forefoot ot midfoot strike, which may cause less injuries.
Anyway heal fast.
Just in case anyone is interested in reading read Christopher McDougall’s book: https://tinyurl.com/3nzzabv
Though come to think of it, an audio version of his book would have been easier to listen to while running 🙂
i dont know why people still insist on using the treadmill, it does more harm than good, and it burns less calories than other cardio machines.
the name eludes me, but those “walkers” that look like ski’s are very useful. I do an hour and more on that at the gym and the calorie burn is @ 700~800.
i’m no trainer, but i suggest ppl use these cardio machines instead of treadmills.
just sayin’.
It is not just about burning calories. Treadmill Running or normal running is called a Weight-bearing exercise. Why is that important? Weight-bearing exercises improve your bone tissue and help avoid the onset of bone-related diseases.
If you are a healthy person and can run, Run!. And avoid all those fancy looking machines at the gym.
The word you’re looking for is ‘Elliptical’ or a cross trainer. I switched from treadmill to cross trainer since my flat foot was giving me a lot of ankle pain. After I get my insole inserts made I’m going back to running/walking.
true, nothing beats actual running as a sport, but if ur in the gym and wanting to exercise, id much rather jump on a cross-trainer than a treadmill.
they may have those benefits you said Cajie, but the repetitive slam of your foot on the treadmill may lead to ankle dammage etc.
plus, the cross-trainer gives you an over-all workout, arms, back, chest etc.
but, in the end, it doesnt compare to real running. i can do 3 hours of cardio on cross trainers, but when it came to the 21k i was fatigued by the last stretch.
so heal up Mark and get back to running on the Gulf 🙂
Hey, did you take part in the 21K? I finished it in 1 hour 55 minutes, but it was so exhausting and I had cramps all over my legs. I could hardly walk.
1hr54 😛
i couldnt walk up stairs properly for like 3 days after that!
That’s awesome !! Hope your knee gets better soon..
How about you try this the next time on the treadmill and show the results..
15 incline (which is the highest)
6-7 speed
Do 7 sets of 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off
I’d really like you to try this..
sounds complicated, would rather just walk
Its like this..
you get on the treadmill for 20 seconds..then get off it for 10 seconds..7 times in total.
easy peasy ?? haha
It’s called a tabata protocol. The phrase Tabata interval originated from a study performed by Dr. Izumi Tabata (and colleagues) at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan.
Tabatha or any form of HIIT workout is not really practical on a treadmill due to the time it takes the treadmill to reach the optimum speed.
Mark: I haven’t used the Nike+ app, but if it’s taking your physical stats into consideration, then it’s pretty accurate.
Fast-paced walking for 2 hours does burn around 500-600 calories.
It just calculates my pace and distance. Doesn’t monitor my hearbeat or anything like that. But its good to know I can burn that much calories just by walking. I think I’m consuming less than 750 calories a day at the moment so 500 makes a big difference.
Seriously? Only 750 calories a day? What are you eating?
Well actually it’s more than 750, just did a proper calculation
2 1/2 boiled eggs for breakfast (last half i give to my dog). Thats around 175 calories
18 pieces of salmon for lunch (sushi/sashimi/maki). Should be around 750 calories by it self.
Grilled chicken breasts with sweet potato for dinner and should be around 500 calories
So total is nearly double what I had first calculate, somewhere around 1,500 calories a day
When I eat eggs, I eat around 5 whole ones!
Just thought about showing off my eggs eating habits for a bit. 🙂
hello,
infact the number of calories burned is not accurate,,,im sure that you burned more lots than that,,i used to exercise for 30 and the nike sensor would give something like 200 cal, but after that i bought a heart rate monitor to stay in the heart rate zone so that i get fitter,, well i got amazed that 30 min was showing 312 cal for 30 min..even with less effort than what i was doing perviously..i bought the tmiex watch from amazon with the belt,, different experience,,u should try it out..
Perhaps your heart rate monitor is giving inaccurate results. I have matched the Nike+ sensor calculations with Polar RS100. They are very close – when you enter your stats correctly.
Hey mark,
Do you know where I can get the Nike+ iPod sport kit here in Kuwait?
Hope your knee heels soon, good luck with your diet.
I believe sportsman in salmiya has them; theres one next to the NBK in salmiya highstreet, and another directly opposite it.
27KD or something in tht range.
Yeah I know the place, got to go check them out.
Thanks!
Last time I saw the kit at sports corner they were selling it for kd10. I think I posted about it before
I burn that in the elliptical, 60 minutes, base 9, 700 calories 🙂 priceless
I guess u better start walking and enjoy the moderate weather while it lasts… Cuz summer’s 50 degrees heat is on it’s way.
u need to step it up
counting calories u burn is worthless if it doesnt do ur endurance any good
try jump rope
BTW Mark, I just realized you are a iPhone user. Please download the Nike+ GPS app ($1.99 in the app store).
When doing any outdoor activity, the app will track your exact distance via GPS. No need for the sensor – and the distance that it measures is precise since it is using GPS coordinates.
Once you upload your run, you can check the detailed map of the distance covered.
Something like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiRoDIAGyXk
oh thanks! i was using the built in app but this is better
There’s other apps too, like SmartRunner for tracking distance. They tell you pacing and stuff too.