What’s going on?!?

[SeeJillRun]

So this week I downloaded the Pacer and My Fitness Pal apps as part of my ongoing quest to lose some inches and several stone in weight. I had a step counter before but like how these two link together so I can see how my food intake and exercise affect my weight.

An unexpected side effect of this is that today, instead of doing my normal potter round the house and vegetate in front of the telly, I got up off my ass and voluntarily went for a walk A) to try and up my step count from a few hundred to a few thousand and B) to walk a potential run route. This is not normal behaviour for me! 😂

Anyway, the upshot of this was that 1 hour 18 minutes later I’d used 342 calories, walked the route at only very slightly slower than I run (that wouldn’t have been possible 2 months ago), and found that it’s the perfect length to do 5k plus warm up and cool down walks. I even did stretches when I got home!

I cannot believe that in a few short weeks I’ve turned from an unfit self-confessed lazybones into someone who’s going for walks because they need to find a good route to run and to get 10,000 steps in! I love Couch to 5k!! ❤️

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate]

Congratulations on going for a 1 hour 18 minute walk and burning 342 calories.

If you walk for around roughly 1 hour 25 to 1 hour 35 minutes that will be about 10,000 steps but it varies from person to person regarding their stride.

Last year I ran several 5Ks and other days walked a distance of 12 Kilometres, I burned according to Mapmywalk 747 calories when walking and there were around 17,000 steps whereas when I was running the 5Ks on average 35 minutes I burned around 350 calories.

[SeeJillRun Graduate in reply to AlMorr]

Thanks AlMorr, that’s good to know. The walk itself came to 7691 steps so I reckon another 20 minutes or so would’ve done it. Including the steps I’d done earlier in the day, I’d done over 10,000 by the time I got home plus I have a 5k route so I’m well happy 😃

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to AlMorr]

That’s weird... walking and running burn the same calories per km, so one of your apps is way out!

[ArthurJG Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

That is usually approximately true but it does vary quite a lot with pace.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to ArthurJG]

Maybe mine are out... they’re always close. Physics says they are the same, I think the up and down wasted movement would make a difference but they’re not measured in the apps surely? Per minute running, of course, burns more.

[ArthurJG Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

As a physicist I would say physics doesn’t say they are the same unless you assume 100% efficiency which clearly you can’t. Gait does make a difference for the reason you say but so does speed. The data I’ve seen suggests that there is a curve with a minimum. Simple physics would say fast movement is less efficient than slow movement but it isn’t simple in this case: it turns out that going very slowly can burn more calories, though I wouldn’t claim to understand why.

As for the app, it is always approximate and it depends on what assumptions it makes. One that counts steps will make different approximations to one that uses GPS. One that uses heart rate data will do a different calculation from one that doesn’t.

Quite likely therefore one of the apps is inaccurate or even both of them. Calorie calculations from this type of data can only ever be very approximate.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to ArthurJG]

I understand... and agreed on the physics... simply they should be identical as in terms of work done they are...

Many imperfections remain I physics though. My walking and running trackers both register me near 100 calories a mile most of the time, but some days they’re way off, which is really weird.

I know slow running burns different calories as slow running is a better fat burner... no idea why. I do think it has something to do with the chemical reactions going on, and I’d figure that anaerobic exercise produces more bang for your buck than aerobic does, which would make sense as it’s only going to be used in an emergency in nature. I’m gonna shut up now before I carry this into a “intelligent design” style comment 😂

[ArthurJG Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

When you say work done is the same though you mean USEFUL work done, hence my remark about efficiency. Calories burned equate to the total energy expended, including energy that isn't used in moving you e.g. converted to heat. The app won't simply measure total work done as that would be a hopeless underestimate.

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to ArthurJG]

Useful work done can be 0... and total is way out. Calories are equivalent to energy expended hopefully, we shall see... I still don’t get how crisp calories are more than pea calories 😂

I have also had an impression that app accuracy is dependant in gps accuracy, it when I have run two trackers on the same device for a run there have been differences in reported distance.

I think I may walk in the sweet pace for walking as I just had peek at a couple of articles, which may be skewing my viewpoint here a little with regards to the differences.... my 4mph pace is close to 12:30/mile where walking maxes calorie burn... and my current 11:30/mile recovery pace isn’t much different.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Could well be, I'll recheck those times, I do have both Mapmyrun and Mapmywalk, it's just the walk one which tells me the steps I have taken, however, if I set Mapmywalk but run, it will tell me how many steps I have ran. 😊

I hope you like everyone else here on C25K have wished Oldfloss the very best for her first Half Marathon tomorrow. 😊 🏃

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to AlMorr]

Not yet... I’ve not been on much last few days... working my way down!

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

👍

[RunRunRun13 Graduate]

Ha ha ! What have we become 😂 that’s a good idea though walking a route, I may have to try that. I don’t think I have lost weight yet but definitely toned some wobbly bits (although still more wobble to get rid of) 🙄

[SeeJillRun Graduate in reply to RunRunRun13]

I know! 😂 The route I walked is great, only small inclines n very scenic too.

I lost about 3 pounds initially but then put it back on again, presumably cos I’m gaining muscle. I seem to be holding steady weight wise but I’ve lost around 1 n a half inches off my waist. Still plenty of wobbly bits to go but I’d like some pounds to go too lol 😂

[Pianism Graduate]

Fantastic! Yes, it is an amazing programme and it's exhilarating to find out these things about the new you.

I've just spent a lovely hour on the couch putting together a parkrun tourism plan! How weird are we?!?

[SeeJillRun Graduate in reply to Pianism]

😂😂😂 It’s a good kind of weird! 😃

[Couchpotato2 Graduate]

Wow that is really inspiring, well done you!

[SeeJillRun Graduate in reply to Couchpotato2]

Aw thanks CP2 ☺️

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Nice job. The fact you’re walking briskly is good... 10k steps isn’t a health thing, so don’t stress on that... get the active 10 app for walking and light that up instead. Watch “the truth about getting fit” on iPlayer for more on this.

Enjoy running that route.

[SeeJillRun Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Yeah you’re right n I’m aware it’s not a health thing but I figure getting 10,000 steps in is far better than my usual less than 1,000 at a weekend

I saw ‘The truth about getting fit’ when it was on the tv, it was really interesting. Will definitely get the active 10 app, thanks for suggesting it 😁