Calories burned running and walking

Knowing how many calories you burn during exercise can be useful both for weight loss and overall health. If you're trying to lose weight, then burning more calories may help, and if you're on a calorie controlled diet, then understanding your calorie burn becomes critical for managing your calorie intake. Understanding how fast your burning calories also has an implication for overall health, as it's a useful measure of exercise intensity. If you're running, you burn the same number of calories per mile regardless of speed. That means the rate your burning calories is directly proportional to your pace. Walking is rather different, and the faster you walk, the more calories it takes to cover each mile. The calories burnt in both running and walking are also directly proportional to your body weight, so the heavier you are the more calories you burn. In addition, you obviously burn more calories it going uphill than on the level, and for modest slopes you burn less calories and going downhill. This page will allow you to estimate your calorie burn for different paces and slopes. By default, this page shows the values for a 150 pound person, but you can use the form below to customize it.

Body Weight (optional)

KgPounds

1 The Difference Between Running and Walking

Running and walking are two different forms of movement. In running you either have one foot on the ground or both feet in the air; both feet are never on the ground at the same time. In contrast, when walking you either have one or both feet on the ground and never have both feet in the air. Sometimes people think that basic physics means that it should take the same energy to move a human over a given distance regardless of running or walking. However, both running and walking are quite inefficient, so most of the energy expended does not go to forward movement. This is most easily seen when you compare a runner with a cyclist; for the same effort, the cyclist will move far faster. This means that the energy cost of running and walking is mostly around how much energy is wasted in each form of movement.

2 Do You Burn More Calories Running or Walking?

Generally, the answer is that running burns more calories per mile than walking, but as is so often the case, the real answer is "it depends".

• If you're running at a moderate pace, you burn more calories per mile and per hour than walking at a moderate pace.
• If you're race walking, then you can burn more calories per mile than running. (Race walking here is faster than about 14:00 min/mile.)
• The relative Calories per hour for race walking and running will depend on the exact paces.

3 Should You Run or Walk in an Ultramarathon?

The table below gives some insight into when you should run and when you should walk in an ultra. This table shows how the slope would change your pace if you keep the same effort (Calories per hour). The first column is the running pace on the flat, then each column shows the pace you would travel if you run or walk on various slopes. The table is based on the available research, and there are obviously some practical limitations that make some values unreasonable for most people. As noted above, it's more efficient to walk than to run on level ground, up to the natural transition pace of about 14:00 min/mile. What's surprising is that it is also more efficient to run than walk on uphill sections, even as the equivalent pace drops. So, if you're able to run at a 10:00 min/mile on the flat, you could go up a 10% grade with the same effort at 16:35 min/mile when running or 17:39 min/mile when walking. This seems rather bizarre when both paces are below the natural transition pace (see below), but when I tested this out I found to my surprise it appears to be true. That doesn't mean you should run up the hills, as walking may be a useful break and using different muscles may help with fatigue. In addition, unless you've practiced race walking technique it's unlikely you'll be able to efficiently hit the faster downhill walking paces, where you may be able to hit the downhill running pace. For example, if you're running a 10:00 min/mile pace on the level, you may be able to handle running the 5:59 min/mile pace down a 10% decline, but few people will be able to walk at a 7:28 min/mile pace down the same slope. So it may not make much difference if you take walking breaks uphill or on the level, but you don't want to take them on the downhill sections. (In the table below, I've used a blue font where the walking pace is faster than the equivalent running pace.)

	Equiv Pace on Slope
	-10%		-8%		-6%		-4%		-2%		0%		2%		4%		6%		8%		10%		12%		14%		16%		18%		20%
Flat Running Pace	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk	Run	Walk
5:00	2:59	5:40	3:16	6:02	3:37	6:25	4:01	6:50	4:29	7:16	5:00	7:43	5:34	8:12	6:11	8:43	6:51	9:15	7:33	9:48	8:17	10:23	9:04	10:60	9:53	11:38	10:44	12:17	11:36	12:58	12:31	13:40
6:00	3:35	6:07	3:56	6:32	4:21	6:60	4:50	7:29	5:23	8:00	6:00	8:33	6:41	9:08	7:25	9:46	8:13	10:25	9:03	11:07	9:57	11:50	10:53	12:36	11:52	13:23	12:52	14:13	13:56	15:05	15:01	15:58
7:00	4:11	6:31	4:35	6:60	5:04	7:31	5:38	8:05	6:17	8:41	7:00	9:20	7:48	10:02	8:39	10:46	9:35	11:33	10:34	12:23	11:36	13:16	12:42	14:12	13:50	15:10	15:01	16:11	16:15	17:15	17:31	18:22
8:00	4:47	6:52	5:14	7:24	5:47	7:60	6:26	8:38	7:11	9:20	8:00	10:05	8:54	10:53	9:53	11:45	10:57	12:40	12:04	13:39	13:16	14:42	14:31	15:49	15:49	16:59	17:10	18:13	18:34	19:31	20:01	20:53
9:00	5:23	7:11	5:54	7:47	6:31	8:26	7:15	9:09	8:04	9:56	9:00	10:47	10:01	11:43	11:08	12:42	12:19	13:47	13:35	14:56	14:55	16:10	16:19	17:28	17:47	18:52	19:19	20:21	20:53	21:55	22:31	23:34
10:00	5:59	7:28	6:33	8:08	7:14	8:51	8:03	9:39	8:58	10:31	10:00	11:29	11:08	12:31	12:22	13:39	13:41	14:53	15:06	16:13	16:35	17:39	18:08	19:11	19:46	20:50	21:27	22:36	23:13	24:29	25:01	26:28
11:00	6:34	7:44	7:12	8:27	7:58	9:14	8:51	10:07	9:52	11:05	11:00	12:09	12:15	13:19	13:36	14:36	15:03	16:00	16:36	17:32	18:14	19:12	19:57	20:59	21:44	22:56	23:36	25:01	25:32	27:16	27:31	29:42
12:00	7:10	7:59	7:51	8:45	8:41	9:36	9:39	10:33	10:46	11:37	12:00	12:48	13:22	14:06	14:50	15:33	16:25	17:08	18:07	18:53	19:54	20:48	21:46	22:54	23:43	25:11	25:45	27:40	27:51	30:23	30:01	33:21
13:00	7:46	8:13	8:31	9:02	9:25	9:57	10:28	10:59	11:40	12:08	13:00	13:26	14:28	14:53	16:04	16:30	17:48	18:18	19:37	20:18	21:33	22:30	23:35	24:57	25:42	27:38	27:54	30:37	30:10	33:56	32:31	37:41
14:00	8:22	8:26	9:10	9:18	10:08	10:17	11:16	11:24	12:33	12:39	14:00	14:04	15:35	15:40	17:19	17:29	19:10	19:30	21:08	21:46	23:13	24:19	25:24	27:10	27:40	30:23	30:02	34:00	32:30	38:13	35:02	N/A
15:00	8:58	8:38	9:49	9:33	10:51	10:36	12:04	11:48	13:27	13:09	15:00	14:42	16:42	16:28	18:33	18:28	20:32	20:45	22:38	23:20	24:52	26:17	27:12	29:39	29:39	33:31	32:11	38:07	34:49	N/A	37:32	N/A
16:00	9:34	8:50	10:28	9:48	11:35	10:54	12:52	12:11	14:21	13:39	16:00	15:20	17:49	17:16	19:47	19:30	21:54	22:04	24:09	25:01	26:32	28:27	29:01	32:28	31:37	37:19	34:20	N/A	37:08	N/A	N/A	N/A
17:00	10:10	9:00	11:08	10:02	12:18	11:12	13:41	12:34	15:15	14:08	17:00	15:58	18:56	18:05	21:01	20:34	23:16	23:27	25:39	26:51	28:11	30:53	30:50	35:49	33:36	N/A	36:29	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
18:00	10:46	9:11	11:47	10:15	13:02	11:29	14:29	12:56	16:09	14:37	18:00	16:36	20:02	18:55	22:15	21:40	24:38	24:56	27:10	28:52	29:50	33:43	32:39	N/A	35:35	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
19:00	11:21	9:20	12:26	10:27	13:45	11:46	15:17	13:17	17:02	15:06	19:00	17:14	21:09	19:47	23:30	22:50	26:00	26:33	28:41	31:10	31:30	37:13	34:28	N/A	37:33	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
20:00	11:57	9:30	13:06	10:39	14:29	12:02	16:06	13:39	17:56	15:34	20:00	17:53	22:16	20:40	24:44	24:05	27:22	28:20	30:11	33:52	33:09	N/A	36:16	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
21:00	12:33	9:39	13:45	10:51	15:12	12:17	16:54	13:60	18:50	16:03	21:00	18:32	23:23	21:36	25:58	25:25	28:44	30:21	31:42	37:18	34:49	N/A	38:05	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
22:00	13:09	9:47	14:24	11:02	15:55	12:32	17:42	14:20	19:44	16:31	22:00	19:13	24:30	22:34	27:12	26:53	30:07	32:43	33:12	N/A	36:28	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
23:00	13:45	9:55	15:03	11:13	16:39	12:47	18:30	14:41	20:38	17:00	23:00	19:54	25:36	23:36	28:26	28:30	31:29	35:39	34:43	N/A	38:08	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
24:00	14:21	10:03	15:43	11:24	17:22	13:01	19:19	15:01	21:32	17:29	24:00	20:37	26:43	24:42	29:40	30:20	32:51	N/A	36:13	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
25:00	14:57	10:10	16:22	11:34	18:06	13:16	20:07	15:21	22:25	17:58	25:00	21:21	27:50	25:53	30:55	32:31	34:13	N/A	37:44	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

4 The Effect of Incline

It's intuitively obvious that running or walking uphill is harder than level ground. It's also reasonably obvious that modest downhill slopes are easier than level ground, but as the slope increases so the difficulty becomes greater. Scientific research has supported and quantified this, showing that the energy cost of walking or running is to lowest at about 10% decline. There is some evidence that the slope of minimum energy is independent of pace. This slope of minimum energy requirement seems to corresponds with the slope that neither requires pushing back for forward movement nor energy dissipation for braking. The two graphs below show the relationship between slope and the cost of walking/running as measured by a number of studies.

The energy cost of running for various slopes.

The energy cost of walking for various slopes.

There are a number of factors that could change these assumptions:

• A study looked at the energy cost of uphill, level, and downhill running before and after a 65Km mountainous ultramarathon. After the race, the energy cost of uphill running was unchanged, but both level and downhill running were significantly harder by 8% (level) and 13% (downhill). These differences were greatest for the slowest runners and at least for the fastest runners.
• A similar study of a rather more extreme 303 Km mountain ultramarathon found that the energy cost of uphill running and walking was lower after the race. This result is a little surprising, and it's unclear why runners would do better fatigued than fresh. (The study did not look at level or downhill running.)
• I've found no research on the effect of training on the energy cost of running uphill or downhill. I would expect that downhill training would reduce the energy cost of downhill running.

5 The Transition Between Running and Walking

The energy required to run a given distance is the roughly the same regardless of pace. This is different to walking, where the energy required to walk a given distance generally goes up with pace. This means that at slow speeds, it costs less energy to walk than run, but as you go faster it becomes easier to run. When people are put on a treadmill and the speed gradually increased, they will naturally transition from walking to running. This transition occurs at roughly the same speed for most people and is called the Preferred Transition Speed (PTS). You can see this in the two graphs below. The graph on the left shows the energy expenditure over time, showing the energy required to walk goes up faster than for running. The graph on the right shows the cost per distance, with running staying constant and the cost of walking rising with pace. (It takes more energy to walk a distance very slowly, so the graph shows the low point which is the lowest energy cost to cover a distance.)

Energy cost over time.

Energy cost over distance.

6 Calories Per Hour

This table shows the number of Calories used per hour for a person weighing 164 Pounds.

Slope	Running per hour (pace in min/mile)									Walk per hour (pace in min/mile)
	14:00	13:00	12:00	11:00	10:00	9:00	8:00	7:00	6:00	30:00	25:00	20:00	19:00	18:00	17:00	16:00	15:00	14:00	13:00	12:00	11:00	10:00
0.0%	441	475	515	562	618	687	773	883	1,030	186	211	267	284	307	332	364	400	446	503	575	665	786
0.5%	454	489	530	578	636	707	795	909	1,060	194	223	282	300	323	349	379	416	463	522	595	687	810
1.0%	467	503	545	595	654	727	818	934	1,090	204	233	294	313	337	364	398	436	484	545	620	715	834
1.5%	480	517	560	611	672	747	840	960	1,120	214	245	309	328	350	381	413	452	501	563	640	736	864
2.0%	493	531	575	627	690	767	863	986	1,150	222	254	321	341	367	395	431	472	523	586	660	758	888
2.5%	506	545	590	644	708	787	885	1,011	1,180	232	266	336	357	380	409	446	488	540	605	685	785	918
3.0%	519	558	605	660	726	807	908	1,037	1,210	242	276	348	369	397	427	461	508	561	623	705	807	942
3.5%	531	572	620	676	744	827	930	1,063	1,240	250	288	363	385	410	441	480	524	579	646	730	835	966
4.0%	549	591	640	698	768	853	960	1,097	1,280	260	300	375	398	427	459	495	544	596	665	750	856	996
4.5%	561	605	655	715	786	873	983	1,123	1,310	270	310	390	414	440	473	514	560	617	688	770	878	1,020
5.0%	574	618	670	731	804	893	1,005	1,149	1,340	278	322	402	426	457	491	529	576	634	706	795	905	1,044
5.5%	591	637	690	753	828	920	1,035	1,183	1,380	288	331	417	442	470	505	548	596	656	725	815	927	1,074
6.0%	604	651	705	769	846	940	1,058	1,209	1,410	298	343	429	455	487	522	563	612	673	748	835	949	1,098
6.5%	621	669	725	791	870	967	1,088	1,243	1,450	306	355	444	471	500	536	581	632	690	766	860	976	1,122
7.0%	634	683	740	807	888	987	1,110	1,269	1,480	316	365	456	483	517	554	596	648	711	789	880	998	1,152
7.5%	651	702	760	829	912	1,013	1,140	1,303	1,520	326	377	471	499	530	568	611	668	729	808	905	1,025	1,176
8.0%	669	720	780	851	936	1,040	1,170	1,337	1,560	334	386	483	512	547	586	630	684	750	826	925	1,047	1,200
8.5%	686	738	800	873	960	1,067	1,200	1,371	1,600	344	398	498	527	560	600	645	700	767	849	945	1,069	1,230
9.0%	699	752	815	889	978	1,087	1,223	1,397	1,630	354	410	510	540	577	614	664	720	789	868	970	1,096	1,254
9.5%	716	771	835	911	1,002	1,113	1,253	1,431	1,670	362	420	525	556	590	632	679	736	806	891	990	1,118	1,278
10.0%	733	789	855	933	1,026	1,140	1,283	1,466	1,710	372	432	537	568	607	646	698	756	823	909	1,015	1,140	1,308
10.5%	750	808	875	955	1,050	1,167	1,313	1,500	1,750	382	442	552	584	620	664	713	772	844	928	1,035	1,167	1,332
11.0%	767	826	895	976	1,074	1,193	1,343	1,534	1,790	390	454	564	597	637	678	731	792	861	951	1,055	1,189	1,362
11.5%	784	845	915	998	1,098	1,220	1,373	1,569	1,830	400	463	579	613	650	695	746	808	883	969	1,080	1,211	1,386

7 Calories Per Distance

This table shows the number of Calories used to cover a milefor a person weighing 164 Pounds.

Slope	Running	Walk 30:00 min/mile	Walk 25:00 min/mile	Walk 20:00 min/mile	Walk 19:00 min/mile	Walk 18:00 min/mile	Walk 17:00 min/mile	Walk 16:00 min/mile	Walk 15:00 min/mile	Walk 14:00 min/mile	Walk 13:00 min/mile	Walk 12:00 min/mile	Walk 11:00 min/mile	Walk 10:00 min/mile
0.0%	103	93	88	89	90	92	94	97	100	104	109	115	122	131
0.5%	106	97	93	94	95	97	99	101	104	108	113	119	126	135
1.0%	109	102	97	98	99	101	103	106	109	113	118	124	131	139
1.5%	112	107	102	103	104	105	108	110	113	117	122	128	135	144
2.0%	115	111	106	107	108	110	112	115	118	122	127	132	139	148
2.5%	118	116	111	112	113	114	116	119	122	126	131	137	144	153
3.0%	121	121	115	116	117	119	121	123	127	131	135	141	148	157
3.5%	124	125	120	121	122	123	125	128	131	135	140	146	153	161
4.0%	128	130	125	125	126	128	130	132	136	139	144	150	157	166
4.5%	131	135	129	130	131	132	134	137	140	144	149	154	161	170
5.0%	134	139	134	134	135	137	139	141	144	148	153	159	166	174
5.5%	138	144	138	139	140	141	143	146	149	153	157	163	170	179
6.0%	141	149	143	143	144	146	148	150	153	157	162	167	174	183
6.5%	145	153	148	148	149	150	152	155	158	161	166	172	179	187
7.0%	148	158	152	152	153	155	157	159	162	166	171	176	183	192
7.5%	152	163	157	157	158	159	161	163	167	170	175	181	188	196
8.0%	156	167	161	161	162	164	166	168	171	175	179	185	192	200
8.5%	160	172	166	166	167	168	170	172	175	179	184	189	196	205
9.0%	163	177	171	170	171	173	174	177	180	184	188	194	201	209
9.5%	167	181	175	175	176	177	179	181	184	188	193	198	205	213
10.0%	171	186	180	179	180	182	183	186	189	192	197	203	209	218
10.5%	175	191	184	184	185	186	188	190	193	197	201	207	214	222
11.0%	179	195	189	188	189	191	192	195	198	201	206	211	218	227
11.5%	183	200	193	193	194	195	197	199	202	206	210	216	222	231

8 Training Status Effects

The graph on the below shows that there are slight, non-significant differences between runners and active non-runners. This indicates that training does not change the transition speed, though it's worth noting that the actual transition speed is slower than would be expected from the energy costs. Also note that the actual cost of running is not quite constant with speed, but actually goes down as you go faster.

The energy cost for runners and non-runners, showing the Preferred Transition Speed (PTS) and the Energetically Optimal Transition Speed (ETOS).

9 Formula

for those who like to create their own tables, below are the underlying formulas that I'm using. The cost of running (Cr_i) and walking (Cw_i) on a slope is given by these equations:

Cri = 155.4i5 - 30.4i4 - 43.3i3 + 46.3i2 + 19.5i + 3.6
Cwi = 280.5i5 - 58.7i4- 76.8i3+ 51.9i22+ 19.6i + 2.5

Where i is the slope and the result I in Jules per Kg per Meter.