Calculating how many Calories you burn to run a mile does not have to be difficult.
In case you are wondering, the word "Calorie" is properly capitalized when referring to nutrition and exercise because the capitalized word "Calorie" is shorthand for what technically is a kilocalorie -- with a lowercase "c".
A lowercase-"c" calorie -- also known as a "gram calorie" -- is a chemistry or physics term that refers to the amount of energy necessary to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Centigrade.
In contrast, when nutritionists and exercise physiologists refer to consuming or burning calories, though, they technically are referring to a "kilogram calorie" -- also known as a "kilocalorie" -- which is the energy necessary to raise the temperature of one kilogram (1,000 grams) of water by one degree Centigrade.
Unfortunately, many nutrition and exercise writers are careless and use the lowercase-"c" word when they actually are referring to the capitalized "Calorie" (a kilocalorie).
So this article is about calculating how many large-"C" Calories you burn to run a mile.
One popular coefficient for estimating the number of Calories that you burn per mile run is 0.653 Calories per mile per pound of body weight.
Here is an example of how to use this coefficient.
Suppose that you weigh 174 pounds and you run one (1) mile.
Then the coefficient method says that the number of Calories that you would burn in one mile would be 0.653 Calories per mile per pound times 1 mile times 174 pounds, which rounds to 114 Calories.
But note that this coefficient of 0.653 Calories per mile per pound of body weight can change depending on your speed.
In particular, according to many authorities, the higher the speed, the higher the Caloric burn. The reason for this is that your center of gravity tends to go in a fairly straight line when you are running slowly and in what can be quite an undulating line when you are running quickly. As we run faster and faster, our bodies must handle an increasing amount of force on takeoffs and landings as we literally jump repeatedly between one foot and the other foot, and these increasingly strong jumps cause our bodies to burn increasingly more Calories.
When you set up a pedometer or GPS wrist unit, you must enter your body weight. And a good pedometer also asks you to enter your stride length so that it can calculate the distance that you cover (on average) when you take so many steps.
GPS wrist units and good pedometers have internal clocks, so these electronic devices can calculate your speed as you change latitude and longitude (GPS wrist unit) or take steps (pedometer).
Presumably the designers of higher-quality GPS units and pedometers have programmed them so that the coefficient used for calculating Calories burned is dependent on the speed calculated.
So you should be able to rely on a higher-quality pedometer or GPS wrist unit to give you an accurate estimate of your Calories burned in one mile of running, no matter how quickly or slowly you run that mile.
In case you are wondering, the word "Calorie" is properly capitalized when referring to nutrition and exercise because the capitalized word "Calorie" is shorthand for what technically is a kilocalorie -- with a lowercase "c".
A lowercase-"c" calorie -- also known as a "gram calorie" -- is a chemistry or physics term that refers to the amount of energy necessary to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Centigrade.
In contrast, when nutritionists and exercise physiologists refer to consuming or burning calories, though, they technically are referring to a "kilogram calorie" -- also known as a "kilocalorie" -- which is the energy necessary to raise the temperature of one kilogram (1,000 grams) of water by one degree Centigrade.
Unfortunately, many nutrition and exercise writers are careless and use the lowercase-"c" word when they actually are referring to the capitalized "Calorie" (a kilocalorie).
So this article is about calculating how many large-"C" Calories you burn to run a mile.
One popular coefficient for estimating the number of Calories that you burn per mile run is 0.653 Calories per mile per pound of body weight.
Here is an example of how to use this coefficient.
Suppose that you weigh 174 pounds and you run one (1) mile.
Then the coefficient method says that the number of Calories that you would burn in one mile would be 0.653 Calories per mile per pound times 1 mile times 174 pounds, which rounds to 114 Calories.
But note that this coefficient of 0.653 Calories per mile per pound of body weight can change depending on your speed.
In particular, according to many authorities, the higher the speed, the higher the Caloric burn. The reason for this is that your center of gravity tends to go in a fairly straight line when you are running slowly and in what can be quite an undulating line when you are running quickly. As we run faster and faster, our bodies must handle an increasing amount of force on takeoffs and landings as we literally jump repeatedly between one foot and the other foot, and these increasingly strong jumps cause our bodies to burn increasingly more Calories.
When you set up a pedometer or GPS wrist unit, you must enter your body weight. And a good pedometer also asks you to enter your stride length so that it can calculate the distance that you cover (on average) when you take so many steps.
GPS wrist units and good pedometers have internal clocks, so these electronic devices can calculate your speed as you change latitude and longitude (GPS wrist unit) or take steps (pedometer).
Presumably the designers of higher-quality GPS units and pedometers have programmed them so that the coefficient used for calculating Calories burned is dependent on the speed calculated.
So you should be able to rely on a higher-quality pedometer or GPS wrist unit to give you an accurate estimate of your Calories burned in one mile of running, no matter how quickly or slowly you run that mile.
Kirk Mahoney, Ph.D., loves to walk and run, and his SpryFeet.com
website provides practical research for runners and walkers. By going to
http://www.SpryFeet.com/Reports/, you can get his FREE "Pace Tables for Runners and Walkers" special report,
letting you look up paces needed to complete several different race
distances within given durations and for different micro-level-pacing
methods.
(c) Copyright - Kirk Mahoney, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
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(c) Copyright - Kirk Mahoney, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
