re: seeking info about avg americans and walking

[DavidNH]

Hey folks,

I have been wondering of late just how much (or how little) the average american walks on a daily basis. I have tried googleing but have had trouble getting information. My guess is that for the average american..the amount of walking or other exerisise done regularly is shockingly low, but I don't have the info to back this up.

I would especially be interested in knowing how much exersise avg americans get vs hikers in terms of milage per day.

I did see in an article that one mile of walking burns off about 100 calories..gosh...that means I'd have to walk almost three miles to burn off one snickers bar? Or 10 miles to burn off one pint of Ben and Jerrys? If this stat is correct its pretty scarry.

Can anyone dig up any info on all tis?

thanks,

David

[Johnny Swank]

Pull up "Active Living" and the Robert Woods Johnson foundation for all that sort of stuff. Tons of articles have been written on that sort of thing. You might want to use Google Scholar as well.

[gsingjane]

The "100 calories burned per mile of running/walking/jogging" thing is a little inaccurate. If you are bigger (weigh more), you'll burn more calories. If you are carrying a heavy load, you'll burn more calories. If your body has to work harder for some reason (it's very hot or very cold or you're punching holes in snow or going up a steep mountain), you'll burn more calories. Conversely, though, if you're light or it is very flat, easy walking, then 100 calories or even less might be accurate.

The thing is, you will burn the same amount of calories whether you are walking or running, but the difference is the amount of time in which you'll burn them. It will take 20 minutes to walk a mile at an easy pace, whereas many runners cover that same ground in 9 or 10 minutes, or less. So, minute for minute, running is better for burning calories because it takes so ding-dang long to burn them just walking. Most people do NOT have three hours/day available to walk off as many calories as they could burn in just one hour + of running.

I will look for specific backpacking calorie burn rates and post them if I can. I am not under the impression that most long-distance hikers are concerned that they aren't burning ENOUGH calories, tho!

Jane in CT

[Jack Tarlin]

David---

I looked into this just for the helluva it.

Various sources (and they seemed like good ones, like Pediatric Associations, etc.) gave a figure of approximately 8,000 steps a day for men.

The length of the step of course varies.

[saimyoji]

Of course your occupation will affect this amount greatly. Some people spend all day sitting in front of a computer....:rolleyes:....some are on their feet all day.


Why don't we do an experiment here: everyone use a pedometer for the next month, average out the daily steps. We are all average, after all, aren't we? :-?

One rule: not allowed to hike.

[RedneckRye]

Right now I am sitting in front of my computer thinking about hiking. Does that burn calories and make me fitter?
Does being fatter and carrying more weight in my pack burn more?
Am I being healthier by being slower and taking longer to finish my hike?
Are the folks who have raced up to Maine and tagged the top of Katahdin the fittest of us all? Or they now back at work and irritated and eating crappy food for lunch and wishing that they had done less 20's and more zero's, six's or nine's?

[fiddlehead]

Right now I am sitting in front of my computer thinking about hiking. Does that burn calories and make me fitter? No!
Does being fatter and carrying more weight in my pack burn more? Yes!
Am I being healthier by being slower and taking longer to finish my hike? No!
Are the folks who have raced up to Maine and tagged the top of Katahdin the fittest of us all? Yes!
Or they now back at work and irritated and eating crappy food for lunch and wishing that they had done less 20's and more zero's, six's or nine's? No they have flipped and are still out there having the time of their lives!


anyway, that's my 2 cents (in bold)

[RedneckRye]

anyway, that's my 2 cents (in bold)

Halleluja for them!!
Hopefully all of us computer bound folks can learn from them.
The end of the trail ain't the end of the hike. Once you get to the sign at the end you might as well keep walking.
I first met Fiddlehead and George in '99 at Muskrat Creek shelter. He was playing guitar (Martin Backpacker maybe?). I doubt he remembers that evening, but for me that was an an important moment. Talking to him there put it into my head that hiking isn't a one time event. If you want it to be, it can become a way of life. Since then I've told many folks that the Trail is miles long but only feet wide and eventually you run into everyone. I bumped into George up on Isle Royale in 2003 and hope to cross paths with Fiddlehead again in some strange, weird, whouda thunk it part of the world.

[fiddlehead]

Thanks Redneck. I'm not sure I remember you but a few faces come to mind. (George and I did that hike about 4 different years as we had a business interest in the area around spring every year)

Since the thread is about average Americans, vs thruhikers, that's like comparing people in an old folks home to Olympic athetes. I recently read an article about how motorized wheelchairs were the new craze in Vegas and very popular with the 20's crowd. Some said "why should I walk when i can ride?" (to and from Casino's and while gambling and going from slot machine to slot machine) (fat a**es are the norm)
I think the average American would get in their oversize pickup truck to go a block or two for grocery's and rarely walk up (or down) escalators. Not so with thru-hikers that i know.

[Nightwalker]

(fat a**es are the norm)

I wonder how normal fat hikers are? I'm a chunky ass since the (almost) six years that I've been quit smoking. I weighed 180 with a 17% body fat back then and even hiked better, but I'd not trade the extra weight for the extra years of life.

I eat about 4,000 calories a day while hiking and don't lose much weight on the trail. But I have a good time and stay out there a lot.

I'm leaving this afternoon for a 5-7 day local hike before going up to do the Shenendoahs. I'm also hoping to do the Long Trail this year, even if the "Escape from Philly" crew backs out. Got my end-to-enders guide and been reading and getting that far away look. :)

Maybe I'll have time to do the Smokies this year. I keep putting it off because I can't take my dog with me. She's my best trail friend ever, and I don't enjoy the hike as much without her. She also gets all upset if I leave without her, and it ticks off my wife to have to deal with a depressed dog the whole time I'm gone. She can get down-right pitiful! :(

So, any more chunky folks out there that do a large number of days per year? I've seen a number of big 'uns at the hiker gatherings, but wouldn't presume to guess who hikes and how much. As some might remember, that starts arguments!

[saimyoji]

I wonder how normal fat hikers are? I'm a chunky ass since the (almost) six years that I've been quit smoking. I weighed 180 with a 17% body fat back then and even hiked better, but I'd not trade the extra weight for the extra years of life.

How do you know you haven't already?

With the extra weight comes increased risk of heart disease, blahblahblah.....

Congratulations on quitting though. I quit about 5 yrs ago, have actually lost weight...not for that reason though....

[Nightwalker]

With the extra weight comes increased risk of heart disease, blahblahblah....

Exercise stress test, heart rate (59), BP (120/70) and cholesterol (185) are all good. The stress test in particular said that I had a <1% chance of a stroke or heart attack in the next five years. This from a guy who had two strokes at 36 years old, 11 years ago.

[oldbear]

Hey folks,

I have been wondering of late just how much (or how little) the average american walks on a daily basis. I have tried googleing but have had trouble getting information. My guess is that for the average american..the amount of walking or other exerisise done regularly is shockingly low, but I don't have the info to back this up.

I would especially be interested in knowing how much exersise avg americans get vs hikers in terms of milage per day.

I did see in an article that one mile of walking burns off about 100 calories..gosh...that means I'd have to walk almost three miles to burn off one snickers bar? Or 10 miles to burn off one pint of Ben and Jerrys? If this stat is correct its pretty scarry.
Can anyone dig up any info on all tis?

thanks,

David
I'm wondering if another place you could take this idea would be to compare the amount of walking that people who live in cities with well developed mass transit sysems do with people who live in cities with poorly developed mass trasit systems do
New Yorker's for instance walk everywhere because at distances of around a 1/2 mile to a mile it's often the fastest and cheapest way to get somewhere. In addition NewYorkers are constantly goiing up and down long staircases either in the process of catching trains or simply walking up to their apatrtments. Residents of Phoenix on the other hand ,don't walk anywhere and rarely have to climb more than one flight of stairs .

[The Solemates]

Hey folks,

I have been wondering of late just how much (or how little) the average american walks on a daily basis. I have tried googleing but have had trouble getting information. My guess is that for the average american..the amount of walking or other exerisise done regularly is shockingly low, but I don't have the info to back this up.

I would especially be interested in knowing how much exersise avg americans get vs hikers in terms of milage per day.

I did see in an article that one mile of walking burns off about 100 calories..gosh...that means I'd have to walk almost three miles to burn off one snickers bar? Or 10 miles to burn off one pint of Ben and Jerrys? If this stat is correct its pretty scarry.

Can anyone dig up any info on all tis?

thanks,

David


This is right up my alley.

For the past year, I have tracked my daily steps and mileage by wearing a pedometer. I wear it everywhere. To work, while doing yardwork, while playing basketball twice a week or so, while hiking, etc. And because I am a huge engineer dork, I also have a spreadsheet and chart showing all the mileages and corresponding activities.

To give you a synopsis of everyday life at work: I am a biomechanics test engineer and walk from my office to the lab about 5-10 times a day. The lab is about 100 yards from my office. With this in mind, I walk about 2.5-3.0 miles on average a day at work. I know this is more than the typical American. I know my wife, for instance, sits at a desk as an Architect and walks less than 1.0 miles a day at work (she also wears a pedometer from time to time and has tracked this). I always either go for a walk, go play basketball, play raquetball, or do yardwork outside after work. That brings my average to as low as 4.0 miles up to 11.0 miles on active days.

My goal is to try to average 5.0 miles a day each week. In 2006, at about 2000 miles on the year, I walked almost the length of the AT in 12 months. (I would have much rather just walked the AT though :) in about 5 months).

With this estimate, I would say the average American walks about 3.0 miles per day (or 6000 steps per day if you estimate 2000 steps per mile). I know at 6'4" my stride is greater (about 35" per step) and it doesnt take me as long to get there, but 2000 steps is average.

Hope this helps.

[amigo]

According to this: http://www.uthct.edu/fitnessoverforty/episodes/takeawalk/

The average sedentary American walks 5,000 steps (about 2.5 miles) per day. Personally, I think that's high. I know plenty of people that likely do not walk more than 1 mile per day.

The article also notes that the average Amish man walks 18,000 steps/ day (9 miles) and the average Amish woman walks 14,000 steps (7 miles) per day.

[DavidNH]

Thanks guys for all your feedback. Especially Jack, Soulmates and Amigo.

I don't know if tihs info will be useful but it sure is cool to have!

I wonder ... could it be that in an AT thru hiker walks more miles in his one trip than the average American does in his lifetime?????? It sure seems that way!

David

[The Solemates]

Thanks guys for all your feedback. Especially Jack, Soulmates and Amigo.

David

The Solemates