Walking speeds off? (3.0, 3.5 mph?) Help!

mariposa224

Walking vs running/jogging is a difference in gait (or how you move), not speed. Some people "run" at under 3 MPH. I can walk extremely fast, and when I'm doing it for exercise, I push myself as hard as I can. Per GPS connected apps on my phone, I can get an "average" of my speed for the entire walk. I am regularly able to walk at approximately 5 MPH, and it's walking, not jogging/running.

That being said, though, I would recommend, as many others have, getting an HRM. They give you a more accurate estimate of how many calories YOU are burning during your workout, then you can add your own workouts to the database for your use.

tycho_mx

On-foot exercise is really easy to track based on two variables: mass (weight) and distance.

If you feel it is "brisk" to walk 2 flat miles in an hour that only shows that a) you're trying (walking an hour is good) and b) you're relatively out of shape (and in the process of improving it. Just divide the distance by the time to get a speed range.

In my case it was discouragingly low to record casual walks, like taking my daughter to daycare. 1 mile away, not even worth recording considering I actually work out (and record that more precisely).

Most HRM calculate gross burn - in other words, if you wear them in bed they still record caloric losses. HRM is not as accurate for walking because heart rate variability (say, if you had an extra coffee or slept poorly) can be very high. So stick to distance! If you start running in uneven terrain, probably the HRM would be more valuable.

TeaBea

Hi there MFP,

My primary source of exercise is walking, which is difficult to track exactly because there's no machine involved, except my pedometer on my phone. Last night, I walked 6/10ths of a mile in a little over half an hour. This was from stepping off my front stoop to coming back again, and though I'd like to say I kept up a fairly quick pace, obviously it varied in parts.

But when I was putting my exercise in, I went by the phrases involved rather than the speeds (brisk pace, very brisk pace, walking dog, leisurely stroll) and now I'm wondering who actually does walk three miles in an hour. Isn't that called jogging? >_>

Am I doing this wrong? But if I put in my speed at 1 mph, it's going to say I burned only about 100 calories, which I think is a tad ridiculous. I worked up a sweat and had to stretch out my legs after because they were a little sore, so I'm pretty sure I burned more than that!

Speed is going to help you burn more calories. It takes some practic building speed. Use your arms, I find it helps me. Uneven trerrain slows me down.

Walliking to fast paced music helps too...........beats per minute to be exact.

3 miles per hour is 120 beats per minute. This should be achievable (eventually). I'm 5'5" (shorter people won't be as fast) and can walk at this pace easily now.

Walking songs for 20:00 minute miles
120 - ADELE Rumour Has It
119 - Journey Don't Stop Believin'
119 - Whitney Houston I Wanna Dance With Somebody
121 - Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
120 - Ke$ha Tik Tok
120 - Katy Perry Teenage Dream
120 - Carly Rae Jepsen Call Me Maybe
119 - Lady GaGa Poker Face

Many more songs listed..........some songs have real strong beats (easier to judge)
http://walk.jog.fm/workout-songs/for/20:00/minute-miles

Polarpaly05

A slight rant and in no way directly aimed at the OP. I don't understand people's mentality sometimes. We spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on phones, food, shoes, clothes, supplements, vitamins and whatever the latest craze is. Hell, things like Candy Crush Saga bring in $500,000-$600,000 A DAY! But spending $50-$70 on a HRM always alludes people. You don't need to guesstimate "well, i think i walked a mile in like 15-ish minutes" and some arbitrary entry on MFP told me that was 150 calories. You put on the monitor and it gives you a much more accurate (albeit still estimated) snapshot of your caloric burn.

Invest in your health, you won't be disappointed.

eyecandyrayce

Here is a straight answer:

I'm 5'4" so not tall
3.0 is a nice steady walk for me.
3.5 is a faster paced walk
4 is a power walk
4.5 or higher is too fast to walk.

However, my fiancee is 6 foot and 3.5 is a nice steady walk for him. etc

If you are keeping a nice steady pace you are probably doing 3. If you are trying to do a nice fast walk you are probably doing 3.5

This confused me for awhile because I walked without a machine. I straightened it all out in my head by going to the gym. Get a trial membership and go walk on a machine, figure out what your paces are and then use them from that day forward outside of the gym

TeaBea

Here is a straight answer:

I'm 5'4" so not tall
3.0 is a nice steady walk for me.
3.5 is a faster paced walk
4 is a power walk
4.5 or higher is too fast to walk.

However, my fiancee is 6 foot and 3.5 is a nice steady walk for him. etc

If you are keeping a nice steady pace you are probably doing 3. If you are trying to do a nice fast walk you are probably doing 3.5

This confused me for awhile because I walked without a machine. I straightened it all out in my head by going to the gym. Get a trial membership and go walk on a machine, figure out what your paces are and then use them from that day forward outside of the gym

Yep! .......When I used to walk on a treadmill (no uneven terrain).....my top "walking" speed was 4.2 MPH. Having shorter legs (I'm almost 5'5")......does reduce the top speed quite a bit.

Of_Monsters_and_Meat

You are over-thinking this.

Just go with the 100, Think you did more, go for 200 for a mile.

nmncare

now I'm wondering who actually does walk three miles in an hour. Isn't that called jogging? >_>

I do. I walk between 3 1/2 and 4 miles in an hour. No running or jogging. Brisk, yes. But not jogging.

flatlndr

When I started walking off the weight, 3.0 mph was a brisk pace for me. Now, 3.0 mph is a leisurely pace, and 4.0 is brisk pace. Your mileage may vary.

As far as recording goes, I use "My Tracks" on an Android phone, in conjunction with the phone GPS. It provides:
- Distance
- Total Time
- Moving Time
- Calories (you need to enter your weight and your activity, e.g., walking, cycling, running, etc)
- Max Speed
- Average Speed
- Average Moving Speeds

I don't know if there is an iOS version. And I'm sure there are plenty of other apps that can do likewise.
Might be a way to get started in advance of getting a HRM.

lucylousmummy

i regularly do 1 mile in under 16 mins, it's called the school run when i'm running late lol and it's mainly up hill
i use endomondo as a rough guide to how far i've walked (not always as accurate as it should be, once placed me in the middle of the north sea after walking 119 miles in 20 mins) and what pace i have kept, when doing the school run in a morning it tends to be a fast pace there, and a very fast pace back (2.7 miles in 50 mins ish) dinner time school run its very fast pace there and moderate pace back, and afternoon school run is always very fast pace there, crawling speed back, mfp puts me at burning between 900-1200 cals a day, the problem with that is i upload from endomondo and mfp only takes the high walking speed, so for example the afternoon run i do 1.35 miles in 20ish mins and 1.35 miles in 40ish mins, mfp has me at doing 60 mins at 4.5 mph when in reality i probably on kept up that speed for minutes
that said if you haven't got endomondo on your phone (i would highly recommend it even with the flaws) you can physically draw your route in on the endomondo website, if you put in time started and time finished it can accurately tell you how far/fast you walked

Skarlet13

You are over-thinking this.

Just go with the 100, Think you did more, go for 200 for a mile.

100 is too high if you are calculating net burn. Closer to 50 for a walk. Run is about 100.

AlysonG2

Download the RunKeeper app. It's free. Then look at your overall pace when you're done to know how fast you've walked.

60 min pace is 1mph, 30 min pace is 2mph, 20 min pace is 3mph, 15 min pace is 4mph.