Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights_ - Alex Hutchinson [79]
Will I burn more calories commuting by bike or on foot?
Most commuters strive to be as efficient as possible. But to get the best workout—specifically, to burn the most calories—you’re better off being inefficient. Biking three miles to work could burn 130 calories, while walking the same distance would burn 225. Of course, the bike ride would take 15 minutes, while the walk would take close to an hour. If you add a scenic detour to the bike ride so that it takes an hour, you’d burn over 500 calories. (Those numbers are for a 155-pound person biking at 13 miles per hour or walking at three to four miles per hour, both “moderate” paces.)
You’ll need to balance these different types of efficiency—time spent versus energy burned—in order to choose the right mode of transport for your commute. Your decision will also depend on logistical factors like the length of the commute, where there are good bike paths, and whether your workplace has showers. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to alternate between different options.
• BIKING: The dominant factor in outdoor biking is air resistance, which gets increasingly important the faster you go. It accounts for 90 percent of the resistance you feel at racing speeds above 18 miles per hour. This means that if you bike too slowly it will be even less taxing than a brisk walk. But it also means that cranking up the cadence can quickly make it harder. Hills and frequent stops can also make the bike commute more of a workout. Because of the trade-off between air resistance and gravity, the most time-efficient strategy is to push a bit harder on the uphills (when your speed is already reduced) and recover on the downhills. Biking is the most practical commuting option for any distance beyond a few miles. But it takes conscious effort (along with, perhaps, a shower at work and a detour on the way home) to turn it into a really good workout.
• WALKING: Each of us has an optimal walking speed that feels comfortable and burns the fewest calories per mile. Walking significantly faster than that optimal speed can actually be as fast and calorie-intensive as a very slow run, but it quickly becomes uncomfortable to sustain. That’s why, with all due respect, race-walkers are so funny to watch. It’s important to bear in mind the differences between a brisk walk and a leisurely stroll. You’re burning more than three times as many calories at five miles per hour than you are at two miles per hour. Unlike a gym workout, the length of your commute is determined by distance rather than time. Chalk that up as an advantage for walking, which will make your workout commute the longest—but make it a brisk walk that requires effort.
• RUNNING: There’s a long-standing misconception that propelling yourself on foot from point A to point B takes a set number of calories no matter how fast you move. That idea was finally debunked in a 2004 study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, which showed that running at 10 minutes per mile burns about twice as many net calories as walking at 20 minutes per mile. The difference comes in part from the up-and-down motion of the running stride. Running offers commuters the perfect mix of a vigorous but time-efficient commute, but it comes with its own logistical challenges. Not only do you have to shower, but you need to organize (and perhaps schlep in a backpack) clothing and possibly lunch, as well as decide how to get home.
Can I control hunger by manipulating my appetite hormones?
In recent years, scientists have identified a set of hormones that control eating behavior. For example, rising levels of ghrelin signal that it’s time to start eating, while rising levels of leptin tell you that you’re full. A German study in 2008 showed that even a single night of shortened sleep raises levels of ghrelin, explaining why you often crave snacks when you’re tired. Similarly, just two nights of short sleep cause a drop in the fullness hormone, leptin. The same is true if you consistently get even an hour or two less sleep than you