running vs walking

hey everyone, would it be more beneficial for me to run 1 mile on my lunch break or walk for an hour?

im guessing the walking will burn more calories since i can do it longer, but i dont feel like it sculpts me like running does. also, running 1 mile makes me feel like its a "real" work out from sweating and an increased heart rate. but im torn on what to do today...please help! :)

i've read it several places that running and walking (vigorous walking that is) will burn just about the same number of calories. besides, you can probably walk longer, and further, than if you run, so i suggest walking 

Why not run for a mile and then walk for the rest of the hour.

haha well i run in the park that requires me to drive there, so that cuts my fitness time in half. i walk outside so allows me to have more time to walk.

I think it's good to mix it up, say run MWF and walk TT.  The running will get your heart rate up higher and the walking since it's longer in duration will burn more calories.

(P.S. Go IU!)

Well then, run Monday, Wednesday, Friday and walk the other two days - gives your body a chance to recover from the running and increase your fitness level. Seems to me that a mix of exercise is better than doing just one thing exclusively - at least if you're not training for something sports-specific.

 Oh, and see if you can find some room for a bit of strength training in your workout mix as well ;)

 (Added: Heh, didn't see you there, Tom - yep!)

If you keep up the running and get better at it, you can probably increase your intensity, and thus increase the distance you run (and calories you burn) in the same amount of time.  Same goes for walking really, if you are really booting it uphill you can work pretty hard.  It's too bad your running time is so limited though. 

Personally I find that I can't beat running as far as burning calories, and I think I get more cardiovascular system improvement working out at a higher intensity.  And it is more comfortable for me to run at a decent clip than to try to walk as fast as I can.  I have short legs though, lol.

Anyway you should probably just do what these guys said, and just make sure you keep your intensity up either way.

i do like the walk on certain days and run the other ones...i think mixing it up will keep me from getting bored to. thanks for the suggestions!!

my running is typically limited to 1mile at a time too (old HS sports injuries creeping back) - and since i am just getting back to working out after taking a year off, i can't do much more than that at this point. (note: i do my main workout after work, around 8:30 pm - i just started to walk 1 hr during my lunch break)

for the past two months i have been interchanging my workout (doing this 3-4 x a week).

i run a 10 minute mile (on average) then walk as fast as i can for 10 minutes, then try to run another 10 minute mile, and then walk as fast as i can for another 10 minutes - and so on.

if i can't make it through more than one 10 minute mile, i split it up - run 5 minutes, walk 5, run 5, walk 5, ect. until i reach a total cardio workout of 30-40 minutes. then i do abs and arms for about 10 minutes. 

i also work out in front of a tv, so if i am bored, i try to match my running/jogging with the show and my walking with the commercials. 

 

good luck! (and i agree - running does a better job at sculpting my legs) 

I had some fairly sophisticated testing done about a month ago--a "fuel" test, where they put you on a treadmill, strapped to an EKG and breathing through a tube that permits analysis of your respiration intake and output.  It permits them to calculate the cal/hr from carb burn and the cal/hrfrom fat burn. The gradually increase the speed of the treadmill and take a blood sample every 4 minutes for lactate concentration.  At some poit, you reach a lactate threshhold, where your body can't remove the anaerobic byproducts  as fast as they are built up.  It happens at about the intensity of effort you can keep up for half an hour or so.

What was interesting was that my heart rate went up linearly with the treadmill speed, and below lactate threshhold, my fat burn was fairly constant, and the carb burn grew with my heart rate.  Once I hit lactate threshhold, though, the fat burn dropped, and the carb burn skyrocketed. 

It's the fat burn that you probably want, not only for the obvious reasons, but it is that which develops you aerobic infrastructure, which will help you go faster longer.  The carb burn you probably want to compensate with eating to replenish your muscular glycogen stores for your next workout.

So, if you want to eat, workout hard.  If you want to lose weight and  build an aerobic base, work out at lower intensities longer.