Battle of the Christmas bulge
Published 11 December 2009
Those of us hoping to burn off Christmas calories with a gentle walk around the park had better think again.
A sports scientist at the university has discovered that men will need to walk 18 miles while women have to trek even further, 24 miles, because females generally weigh less and therefore have to work harder to use up the same energy.
Professor Jo Doust (pictured right), head of Chelsea School, used equations for his calculations and based his findings on someone eating a 2,000-calorie turkey dinner with all the trimmings including Christmas pudding, a few chocolates, mince pies and mulled wine.
He said the average person walked about three miles per hour so an 18-mile walk would take around six hours.
And if walking isn't your thing then he has calculated the times needed on other activities like horse riding (six hours, 30 minutes), and mountain biking (three hours, 42 minutes).
If the more sedentary sport of angling is your favourite pastime then prepare yourself for a long day. Professor Doust has calculated you'll have to sit or stand around for more than 11 hours.
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