Research indicates jogging is the best calorie-loss exercise. The State of Wisconsin's Department of Health and Family Services assessed about 175 exercises, and The "Harvard Heart Letter," the Federal Aviation Administration's Health Awareness Initiatives and "The Well Adult" book assessed about 150, 60 and 25 exercises respectively. The studies measured calories burned per 30 or 60 minutes at various speeds. You burn 138 calories per mile if you burn 690 calories per hour running 5 mph--690 divided by 5--or 345 calories per half hour--345 times 2, divided by 5.
Effort
You burn more calories jogging a mile at the same speed as a world-class runner because you have to exert more effort to run at that speed. "It's all about heart rate, oxygen and energy expended," according to "The Complete Guide of Walking." When you exercise more intensely, your heart rate increases, and your body burns more fuel and oxygen.
Weight
You burn more calories if you weigh more. The Wisconsin, Harvard and FAA studies measured how many calories people of different weights burned while jogging. The heaviest people burned more calories than the lightest people in all three studies. In the Wisconsin study, for example, a 190-pound person running 10 mph burned 1,380 calories per hour, while a 130-pound person burned 944 calories per hour.
Difficulty
You burn more calories jogging up hills because it takes more effort, the FAA study shows. The study measured calories burned jogging 9 mph on three surfaces. A 205-pound person burned 1,269 calories an hour, or 141 calories per mile on a level surface; 1,480 calories an hour, or 164 calories per mile on a 2.5 percent uphill slope; and 1,564 calories an hour, or 174 calories per mile on a 4 percent slope. A 125-pound person burned 86, 101 and 107 calories per mile on a level surface, smaller slope and larger slope respectively.
Speed
You burn more calories per hour running 10 mph than 5 mph because you exert more effort, but you burn the same number of calories per mile, according to Wisconsin's "Calories Burned Per Hour" chart. A 190-pound person burned 138 calories per mile running 10 and 5 mph, while a 155-pound person burned 113 calories per mile and a 130-pound person burned 94 calories per mile. People running 9, 8, 7 and 6 mph will burn about the same number of calories.
Expert Advice
You should not jog every day if you want to maximize how many calories you burn per mile or per hour because exercising the same muscles every day increases your risk of injury, reports The Merck Manual of Medical Information and the August 2009 issue of "Harvard Men's Health Watch." Runners are 15 to 20 times more likely to get hurt than walkers, according to the Harvard article.
References
- State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services: Calories Burned Per Hour
- Federal Aviation Administration: Exercise, Exercise, Exercise
- "The Complete Guide To Walking"; Mark Fenton; 2001
- The Merck Manual of Medical Information; 1999
- "The Well Adult"; Dr. Mike Samuels and Nancy Samuels; 1988
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