How Many Calories Burned in Walking : The number of calories the body burns while a person is walking varies depending on a range of factors, including body size and walking speed. Walking also offers a variety of other health benefits, such as reducing the risk of heart disease.
The body uses energy from food and drinks to sustain bodily functions and perform physical activities. Calories are a measure of how much energy the body receives from particular foods or drinks.
When a person consumes more calories than they burn, the body stores this excess energy as body fat. When the body needs more energy than it can get from the calories it consumes, it burns the stored body fat for energy. Regular physical activity is a good way of maintaining a healthy amount of body fat. Calories Burned in Walking depending on a range of factors, including body size and walking speed.
How To Calculate Walking Calorie
The number of calories that the body burns during any activity will depend on a person’s basal metabolic rate (BMR) and the intensity of the activity, measured in metabolic equivalents (METs).
The formula for this is:
Calories burned = BMR x METs ÷ 24 x duration of activity in hours.
It is possible to use this formula to calculate how many calories the body burns by walking.
BMR
Basal metabolism refers to a series of life-supporting processes that the body constantly carries out, such as breathing. The body burns calories to support these processes. The rate at which the body does this is the BMR.
The BMR varies between people. It is difficult to calculate precisely as it depends on several factors, including genetic factors that are difficult to measure. But it is possible to estimate BMR using sex, body size, and age.
The formulae to estimate BMR for males and females are:
Males:
BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds (lbs)) + (12.7 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)
Females:
BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in lbs) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)
METs
METs are a measure of how much energy the body is using for a given activity.
When a person walks, the speed at which they are walking speed will determine the number of METs.
For example, walking at a slow pace of 1.7 miles per hour (mph) equates to 2.3 METs per hour. Walking briskly at a speed of 3 mph equals 3.3 METs per hour.
Making the calculation
Pulling all this information together, it is now possible to calculate how many calories the body burns while walking.
For example, a 40-year-old male who weighs 195 lbs and is 69″ (5’9″) in height will have a BMR of 1,885.2. If they walk at a brisk pace for 1 hour, they will burn 259.2 calories. This is because:
BMR (1,885.2) x METs (3.3) ÷ 24 x duration of activity in hours (1) = 259.2 calories
How to Burn More Calories While Walking
If you want to burn more calories while walking, the metabolic equivalents (MET) research that produced these calorie numbers show some ways to do it. You will burn more calories by walking more miles. Going faster at a walking pace has little effect on the calories burned per mile, but it can make a difference because you’ll cover more distance in the same amount of time. If you only have 15 minutes or 30 minutes for walking, then going faster is a good strategy.
Are You Burning Enough Calories to Lose Weight?
To lose weight, you need to increase your activity to burn more calories each day and/or eat fewer calories each day. You can use a weight loss calculator to see what your calorie goal should be depending on how physically active you are.
