Quote:
Originally Posted by MadRebel 
For Scratch: I'm asking you this because what with you being busy training for a marathon, you're obviously an experienced and knowledgeable runner. You state, and I quote:
What if...instead of that hard brisk walk I start off running a bit? After not having ran for quite a few year's, I know I have to start of very slow and easily. Say...something like the Airborne Shuffle maybe? (Yes, I'm former military. Army Ranger for 13 year's and for those who don't know what the Airborne Shuffle is...well, you know when you see a movie and it takes place on a military base and you always see a platoon or company of soldier's running and singing in cadence? Well, that's the Airborne Shuffle. You can easily do 10 mile's at that pace once you've worked your way up to it. And working your way up to it at such a pace doesn't take too long a time). Will that help me burn off more calorie's than the walk and incorporate this with my afternoon bike ride?
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I don't know about me being super experienced and knowledgeable.
Personally, I tend to favor the idea of trying to do most of the exercise in the lower end of the aerobic spectrum. Although that may be influenced some by me doing a more stressful weightbearing exercise with running compared to cycling -- in other words, I broke my tibia the first attempt at turning into a runner and that has helped color my view of doing a lot of my running miles at an easy pace.
Overall, though, it's pretty clear that the more intensely you do the exercise, the more calories you'll burn per hour of exercise. The difficulty with that is how well can that be maintained longterm. Maybe for you it can be done, some people have attitudes which are better suited for intense burst of activity. I've discovered I like the longer prolonged sessions of easier exercise, I find often when I get out on runs that last over an hour, that's when the runner's high really kicks in for me.
My suggestion would be that if you think it's possible, see about maybe trying to do a longer walk or a longer bike ride. See if you like it.
Ultimately, I'm a big believer in doing what you like to that keeps you active. By keeping active, I mean staying healthy so you can keep doing it as well. The more intense way of exercising certainly has benefits but you need to be aware that it probably increases the risk of injury. With the risk of injury is the concurrent risk of being disabled from being active.
