The researchers found, for most people, brisk walking could be defined as moving at a pace of 2.7 miles per hour or 100 steps per minute for adults under about age 60.
Average walking speed by age:
20-29 years: 3.00 mph (4.83 km/h) 30-39 years: 2.82 mph (4.54 km/h) 40-49 years: 2.82 mph (4.54 km/h) 50-59 years: 2.75 mph (4.43 km/h)
According to researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, walking about 100 steps per minute is considered “moderate” and 130 steps per minute can be considered “vigorous” or intense.
Beginner walkers can try out a speed of 5 km per hour to start the habit of going for a walk everyday. Intermediate-level walkers can take on anything from 6 to 6.5 km per hour. Try this for at least 40 minutes a day with one or two days of slightly longer durations.
The average walking pace is 2.5 to 4 mph, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Factors that affect the speed of your pace include physical fitness levels, the incline and your age. Competitive walkers, for instance, can walk an 11-minute mile, according to a 2015 study on walking groups.
In a new study, which looks at activity tracker data from 78,500 people, walking at a brisk pace for about 30 minutes a day led to a reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia and death, compared with walking a similar number of steps but at a slower pace.
Conclusions: Total body fat is lost through walking at all speeds, but the change is more rapid, clear, and initially greater with slow walking in overweight subjects. A longer exercise impulse at a lower speed in our study initially produced greater total fat loss than a shorter one with fast walking speed.
Walking is a form of low impact, moderate intensity exercise that has a range of health benefits and few risks. As a result, the CDC recommend that most adults aim for 10,000 steps per day . For most people, this is the equivalent of about 8 kilometers, or 5 miles.
Factors such as age, sex, and fitness level can influence your 5K time. Many runners complete a 5K in 30 to 40 minutes, and many runners are satisfied with their time if it's around this benchmark. The average walker finishes a 5K in 45 to 60 minutes.
The Importance of Walking 5km or at least 30 Minutes a Day
Walking burns calories and therefore helps with weight management, maintenance and/or fat loss. Walking for at least 30 minutes a day can reduce your risk for coronary heart disease.
Generally, older adults in good physical shape walk somewhere between 2,000 and 9,000 steps daily. This translates into walking distances of 1 and 4-1/2 miles respectively. Increasing the walking distance by roughly a mile will produce health benefits.
“Normal” walking speeds for community-dwelling older adults who are healthy generally range from 0.90 to 1.30 m/s,9,12 whereas walking speeds ≤0.60 to 0.70 m/s are strong risk factors for poor health outcomes.
Speed Matters When Walking for Fitness
If you're walking for your health, a pace of about 3 miles per hour (or about 120 steps per minute) is about right. That's a 20-minute mile. To walk for weight loss, you'll have to pick up the pace to 4 miles per hour (or 135 steps per minute), a 15-minute mile.
The World Health Organisation and the National Heart Foundation of Australia recommend 10,000 steps (approximately eight kilometres) per day to improve general health and reduce the risk of chronic disease.
Kilometer: A kilometer is 0.62 miles, which is also 3281.5 feet, or 1000 meters. It takes 10 to 12 minutes to walk at a moderate pace. Mile: A mile is 1.61 kilometers or 5280 feet. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to walk 1 mile at a moderate pace.
Common walking paces are: Easy walk: 20:00 minutes per mile (3 mph) or 12:25 minutes per kilometer or slower. Moderate to brisk walk: 15:00 to 20:00 minutes per mile or 9:19 to 12:25 minutes per kilometer. Fast walk: 15:00 minutes per mile or 9:19 minutes per kilometer or faster.
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.
A simple 5km walk is a surprisingly effective and versatile way to check most (if not all) of your fitness boxes, depending on how creative you want to get with it!! … It is long enough to reap plenty of benefits (see below) and gives you enough time to throw in some variety (interval training, anyone?)
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.
Adults aged 65 and older need: At least 150 minutes a week (for example, 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week) of moderate intensity activity such as brisk walking. Or they need 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity such as hiking, jogging, or running.
THE BENEFITS OF WALKING TWICE A DAY
Being sedentary for long periods of time during the day can lead to problems associated with obesity, heart disease, and other health-related illnesses. For this reason, adopting a routine that involves multiple walking sessions per day instead of just one can be beneficial.
One of the most effective ways to reduce belly fat is to regularly take part in aerobic exercise, such as walking ( 19 , 20 ). In one small study, women with obesity who walked for 50–70 minutes three times per week for 12 weeks, on average, reduced their waist circumference and their body fat.
Mostly, losing weight is an internal process. You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.
Walking might not be the most strenuous form of exercise, but it is an effective way to get in shape and burn fat. While you can't spot-reduce fat, walking can help reduce overall fat (including belly fat), which, despite being one of the most dangerous types of fat, is also one of the easiest to lose.