For a person with excellent fitness, an approximate moderate walking pace: 15 minutes per mile (4 miles per hour) 9 minutes per kilometre (6.4 kilometres per hour)
Brisk Walking Speeds
One study defines a minimum speed for moderate-intensity as about 100 steps per minute for adults under age 60 (about 3 miles per hour or 4.8 kilometers per hour).
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)
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.
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.
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.
For a person with excellent fitness, an approximate moderate walking pace: 15 minutes per mile (4 miles per hour) 9 minutes per kilometre (6.4 kilometres per hour)
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.
“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.
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.
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.
For the high end of your target heart rate, multiply 220 bpm minus your age by 0.85 (85 percent). For example, for a 40-year-old it'd be 180 bpm x 0.85 = 153 bpm. For this person, their target heart rate while walking would be between 90 and 153 beats per minute.
Many experts recommend a brisk walking pace of 3-4 mph for health and fitness. At a brisk walking pace of 3 mph (4.8 kph), you'll walk 1.5 miles in 30 minutes (2.4 km).
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.
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?)
Walking every day is good for your body in many ways. It not only contributes to weight loss and management, but it lowers your risk of heart disease, dementia, Alzheimer's, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, several cancer types, and mortality. It also improves sleep, cognition, and mental health ( 19 , 20 ).
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.
Research recently published in The Journal of Physiology has found that elderly people walk at a slower speed and tire more quickly because of loss of strength and mass in leg muscles.
The prevalence of gait and balance disorders is around 10 % between the ages of 60 and 69 years and more than 60% in those over 80 years. About 30% of people aged 65 years and over have a fall at least once each year, increasing to 50% in people aged 80 years and over.
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.
If you have to choose a single walking distance standard for all situations, the most commonly cited standard is 400m or 1/4 mi. Europe tends to be comfortable with slightly longer distances.
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.
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.
Therefore, using these loose estimates and conversions, a good 1000m time for males is 4:00 (6:26 pace per mile) and a good 1000m time for females is 4:40 (7:31 pace per mile). Again, these times are based on an intermediate-level runner.
As a rule of thumb, for a person to be brisk walking, they need to move at a maximum speed of 4.5 mph . A person should aim to do a brisk walk every day for at least 30 minutes.