Certified personal trainer Jill McKay says it's best to determine your speed by taking it slow. She explains a moderate pace begins at around 3 mph. Then, you can slowly build momentum. "It's best to warm up for at least five minutes at an easy to moderate walking pace, maybe a 2.5 mph or 3 mph pace," says McKay.
In general, the normal speed for walking ranges from 3 mph to 4 mph while, for running it ranges from 5 mph-7 or 8mph. But it all comes down to depending on the individuals using treadmills. Initially, the warm up jog should be at slow pace, which may range anything from 3-5 mph for 5-10 minutes.
Thirty minutes on the treadmill is excellent exercise. Depending on the speed, you can easily burn calories, improve cardio fitness, or meet other goals. But just like other exercise programs, it's essential to pay attention to your health condition and not overdo it.
Brisk walkers had a 35 percent lower risk of dying, a 25 percent lower chance of developing heart disease or cancer and a 30 percent lower risk of developing dementia, compared with those whose average pace was slower.
Moderate Walking on a treadmill
For walkers, setting a pace of around 4-5 mph, they would be able to cover the distance of a kilometer within 10 minutes.
Another example is finding the pace for 4.0 on the treadmill. Looking at the miles per hour column, we find 4.0. Then we see that this equals 15:00, or 15 minutes per mile.
On average men tend to run around 8 mph and women around 6.5 mph, so a 10-12 mph home treadmill should be plenty fast for most people and athletes.
Frequency: Once you are used to treadmill walking, you can do it every day of the week. Walking at a brisk pace for 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week, or a total of 150 to 300 minutes per week, is recommended to reduce health risks.
If you want to have an effective cardio session to help improve your overall cardiovascular endurance, you should walk on a treadmill for a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes a day, five days a week.
Making 10 Minutes Work
You can still reap exercise benefits if you divide your 30 minutes of moderate exercise into three, 10-minute session or your 20 minutes of vigorous exercise into two 10-minute sessions, according to the American Heart Association.
So how accurate are treadmills on distance? Due to the calculation method, it's often quite accurate. The reading doesn't change because of the weight of the user, the intensity of the workout, or the incline of the treadmill.
A quick 10-minute workout can boost your metabolism for up to 12 hours. Also, walking can even help those who are already affected by some ailments. A treadmill interval workout is a great way to get your health back on track, shed weight, and perhaps even being able to reduce medication intake.
According to LiveStrong.com, “Walking on a treadmill at a moderate-intensity 3.5 mph for 30 minutes per day, or 2.5 hours per week, offers substantial health benefits, and walking for five hours per week provides even greater benefits.”
So at a treadmill speed setting of 3.0 (3 mph), you will walk one mile in 20 minutes.
Calories Burned Treadmill: 2.5 mph (24 minutes per mile)
A total of 10,000 steps equals 4 to 5 miles. The number of steps per mile varies from person to person and depends on your stride length.
Generally one mile takes 15-20 minutes to complete and includes 2,000 steps. Hence, completing 5,000 steps roughly requires 45 minutes to complete.
What does 10,000 steps look like? Ten thousand steps equates to about eight kilometres, or an hour and 40 minutes walking, depending on your stride length and walking speed. But that doesn't mean you have to do it all in one walk.
About walking
Just 30 minutes every day can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power and endurance. It can also reduce your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers.
A brisk 10-minute daily walk has lots of health benefits and counts towards your 150 minutes of weekly exercise, as recommended in the physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64.
And most experts will agree that adding between 20 and 30 minutes of exercise to your daily routine is a good place to start. The best part about walking for about 20 minutes a day is that it's an attainable goal.
Start by running for 20 minutes at a time, three times per week. Gradually increase the amount of time you're running and the number of days you run, but don't increase either until you feel comfortable completing your current level of training. If 20 minutes is too much, don't be afraid to take walking breaks.