what’s the average walking speed?

Oct 22, 2024

Mr. Pesky and I have started walking daily now that temps won’t melt your face off before 9:00 AM. Helping him navigate the Apple Health app to get the data from our evening exercise, I made mention of our walking speed. It was then I realized I didn’t know if our speed was good or bad.

A quick Google search and I found the answer in a great article that also contained a ton of other interesting information and data acquired from research over the years.

Of course, walking speed is based upon your age, weight, sex, and current fitness level. But for most healthy adults, the average walking speed is about 3mph. There was nothing mentioned about how taking a photo of scenery might impact speed.

fall view at the barndo

Men walk faster than women and old people slow down.

Though the pace can vary between people, the article says a person should aim for about 100 steps per minute to achieve a brisk walk. That’s about 4.5 mph… and the article says you should aim for 30 minutes of that every day. Holy cow! I do 3.8 on the treadmill and it’s pretty darned close to a jog for me, y’all.

I’m certainly no expert, but I think it’s important to just walk at the speed and duration that works for you. If you’re pressing too hard or set unrealistic goals, you might get discouraged and quit — and any walking for exercise is 100% better than not doing it at all. Experience — and a back surgery over 10 years ago — has taught me that it’s also important to stand up and move every hour.

Weather permitting, get outside and take a stroll!

And… make sure to stop and take a photo every now and again. 🙂

fall at the barndo


Now you know: Half of pregnancies in giant pandas result in twins but the mother chooses the stronger cub and the other one is left to die of starvation.