Good news! You're likely burning more calories than you thought when you're walking

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-03/smu-gny031516.php

Public Release: 15-Mar-2016
Good news! You're likely burning more calories than you thought when you're walking
Leading standardized equations used to predict or estimate walking energy expenditure -- calories burned -- count too few calories in nearly all cases on level surfaces, study finds; new method improves accuracy
Southern Methodist University

Walking is the most common exercise, and many walkers like to count how many calories are burned.

Little known, however, is that the leading standardized equations used to predict or estimate walking energy expenditure -- the number of calories burned -- assume that one size fits all. They've been in place for close to half a century and were based on data from a limited number of people.

A new study at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, found that under firm, level ground conditions, the leading standards are relatively inaccurate and have significant bias. The standards predicted too few calories burned in 97 percent of the cases researchers examined, said SMU physiologist Lindsay Ludlow.

A new standardized equation developed by SMU scientists is about four times more accurate for adults and kids together, and about two to three times more accurate for adults only, Ludlow said.

"Our new equation is formulated to apply regardless of the height, weight and speed of the walker," said Ludlow, a researcher in the SMU Locomotor Laboratory of biomechanics expert Peter Weyand. "And it's appreciably more accurate."

Ludlow and her colleagues report the new equation in the Journal of Applied Physiology, "Energy expenditure during level human walking: seeking a simple and accurate predictive solution." The article is published in the March 1, 2016 issue, and available online at http://jap.physiology.org/content/120/5/481.long.

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