Thinking about the number of calories you burn at rest and while doing different activities brings up an important point. Your body is using energy and burning calories all day long, even if you're sedentary, so you must take those basal figures into account when you're working out the extra number of calories you can torch with a brisk walk.
Factors
Not everyone burns the same number of calories while sitting around, walking or doing any other type of activity. A variety of factors combine to determine those numbers, including your height, weight, genes, metabolic rate and level of activity. For example, larger people burn more calories at rest and during exercise than smaller people, and faster walking or hiking burns calories more efficiently than leisurely strolling.
Basal Metabolic Rate
Your basal metabolic rate is the number of calories you would burn in a day if you just stayed in bed and didn't move around at all. The rate is calculated based on your height, weight, sex and age and can vary quite a bit. A 45-year-old female who weighs 160 lbs. and is 5 feet 6 inches tall, for instance, has a basal metabolic rate of about 1,450 calories per day, according to BMI-Calculator.net. However, a 17-year-old male who weighs 200 lbs. and is 6 feet tall has a BMR of about 2,100 calories.
Walking Calories
According to MayoClinic.com, an hour of slow walking at 2 mph burns about 185 calories for a 160-lb. person and about 230 calories for a 200-lb. person. More demanding hiking burns closer to 440 calories for a 160-lb. person and 550 calories for a 200-lb. person. Thus, the 45-year-old female with the BMR of 1,450 would burn about 125 more calories per hour by walking slowly than by sitting and about 380 more calories per hour by hiking. The 200-lb. man would burn about 140 more calories by leisurely walking and about 460 more calories by hiking.
Considerations
Of course, even if you're primarily sedentary, you will likely burn more calories than your BMR throughout the day because of moving from place to place and completing normal activities. If you exercise regularly, you'll burn up to one-and-a-half times or more of your BMR. When you have a choice between taking a walk and taking a seat, however, it's guaranteed that you'll burn more calories by walking, and you'll get a mild aerobic workout. MayoClinic.com notes that regularly walking can also help lower high blood pressure, high cholesterol and the risk of developing diabetes.
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