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.
Your speed is determined, in part, by your fitness level. Many fitness experts consider a brisk walking pace to be 100 steps per minute or 3 to 3.5 miles per hour. A brisk pace is relative since it refers to your level of exertion, which depends on your fitness level.
Brisk Walking Speeds
This is equivalent to 6.4 kilometers per hour. To achieve a 15-minute mile walking pace, you will need to walk at 4 to 5 miles per hour (6.4 to 8 kilometers per hour). You can calculate your walking pace after measuring the time it takes you to walk a mile or a kilometer.
An average walking pace on country and forestry footpaths is: 20 minutes per mile (3 miles per hour) 12 minutes per kilometre (5 kilometres 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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Distances and Common Times
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.
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.
Though walking speeds vary, the Department of Transportation agrees that most people can walk a half-mile in about 10 minutes.
At a brisk walking pace of 3 mph (4.8 kph), you'll walk 1.5 miles in 30 minutes (2.4 km). At 4 mph, you'll go 2 miles (3.2 km). That's a good distance that will work up a sweat, but not so far that it's unattainable for most experienced walkers!
Physical activity, such as walking, is important for weight control because it helps you burn calories. If you add 30 minutes of brisk walking to your daily routine, you could burn about 150 more calories a day. Of course, the more you walk and the quicker your pace, the more calories you'll burn.
The recommendations suggest at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week. This 10 minute brisk walk can provide a significant contribution to that. It can reduce the risk of diabetes by 40%, risk of cardiovascular disease by 35%, risk of dementia by 30% and risk of cancers by 20%.
That's anywhere between 3,000 and 3.750 steps for that 30 minute walk. You can estimate about 3,300-3,500 steps as a good proxy for 30 minutes walking.
Since cadences were only measured for 3 MET (slow) and 5 MET (fast) walks, 122 steps/min is a mid-way estimate for a 4 MET walk. This produces an estimate of 3,660 steps in 30 minutes and 7,320 steps in 60 minutes.
The average American walks 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day, or roughly 1.5 to 2 miles. It's a good idea to find out how many steps a day you walk now, as your own baseline. Then you can work up toward the goal of 10,000 steps by aiming to add 1,000 extra steps a day every two weeks.
Maintain a healthy weight and lose body fat. Prevent or manage various conditions, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer and type 2 diabetes. Improve cardiovascular fitness. Strengthen your bones and muscles.
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.
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 ).
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.
How far do I need to walk to lose weight? In the early stages you should aim for 6,000 steps a day, eventually progressing to a standard target of 10,000 to 12,000 steps which equates to closely 8-10km. For those who are walking to remain active and maintain their weight then 10,000 to 12,000 steps is recommended.
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.