Couch to 5k?

Hi All,

I have been walking for a couple of months now, started out at 1.75 miles and now up to 2.75 miles, which I do in about an hour.  I am thinking about trying to maybe jog a little bit as well.  I am currently 315 lb. Has anyone tried the Couch to 5k program?  Is there any merit to the theory that if you run/walk in intervals you burn more calories?

I haven't done the C25k, but I know there are several folks around on the boards who have had great success with it, so go for it!

The intervals training is based more off heart rate - the line of thinking that you are referring to can be found googling  "HIIT"  or "high intensity interval training".  Differing opinions on if alternating your heart rate (high to low, etc) really burns more calories, but is sure keeps things more interesting.

http://www.healthytheory.com/high-intensity-interval-trainin g

Hi-I have done the C25K program. It is very well structured and I found it worked great. I have done about 1/2 dozen 5ks, 2 10Ks, and even a 1/2 Marathon!!!! In any event, it works well in my opinion.

Not sure about the calories or run/walk issue, but again I like the C25K program a lot!

The question is: burns more calories than what?

Doing Couch-to-5k for 30 minutes is going to burn more than doing 30 min. of walking. That's just common sense. 30 minutes of some running and some walking is going to burn more than 30 min. of all walking. 

Personally, I think it's well established that you burn more fat if you do HIIT than if you do steady state cardio. I don't think that's controversial at all. What might be in question is what the break-even point is. Most people can't keep up steady state cardio at a high enough rate to burn as much as they can burn doing HIIT, but if you go too easy during the easy intervals, I supposed it's possible to not get the full benefit of it.