If you run a set distance in a set amount of time, does it make any difference from a workout perspective whether you run it all at a constant steady pace versus a combination of faster sprints and slower walks?
I just realized I can do a 10K in about the same amount of time [quickly] walking it than doing 3 minutes jogging and one minute walking. At the end I feel about the same. I do not use a heart rate monitor.
Can’t confirm accuracy, but I’ve been told you’ll burn 100 calories per mile, run or walk.
It’s not accurate, and it also varies depending upon the person. I burn about 130 calories per mile (female, 150 lbs.) running.
Also, check out this article: Runner's World
Basically, it shows that there is a significant difference between calories burned during walking vs. running (The men burned an average of 124 calories while running, and just 88 while walking; the women burned 105 and 74. [The men burned more than the women because they weighed more.]).
The main reason for the difference is that during running, we also need to produce vertical energy: “When you walk, you keep your legs mostly straight, and your center of gravity rides along fairly smoothly on top of your legs. In running, we actually jump from one foot to the other. Each jump raises our center of gravity when we take off, and lowers it when we land, since we bend the knee to absorb the shock. This continual rise and fall of our weight requires a tremendous amount of Newtonian force (fighting gravity) on both takeoff and landing.”
I should also add that the big difference between running at a constant vs. sprinting with slow jogs as recovery is going to be seen in cardio development. You’re essentially doing High Intensity Interval Training.
Current research is suggesting that you are better off doing the same total work in the high intensity/active rest mode than in the steady lower intensity mode - in terms of both aerobic and anaerobic capacity (as suggested in the link already provided) and in terms of fat loss, especially where it matters most from a health perspective (abdominal fat). An example of current studies.
Thanks for the links so far. Will read tonight.
It does sound reasonable to my general intuition, it just struck me as funny how I can cover the same distance in the same time and feel about the same. One more proof of how self-reported anecdotes are not solid science, I guess.