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How do I determine the speed at which I am walking?

Posts: 1,241 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I don't use a heart rate monitor, but I do have a fitbit, which counts my steps, number of floors climbed and a few other things. It gives me a general idea of calories burned by the number of steps taken. But I know that's not the only thing to consider... So how do I tell the rate of speed at which I'm walking and the number of calories burned as a result?

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Replies

  • Posts: 4,698 Member
    If you have a smart phone, download a free app like Cardiotrainer (my fave) or Runkeeper which will give you a good estimate of distance travelled and average speed based on GPS readings.

    Otherwise, plan your route in advance using MapMyRun so you know the distance then calculate your speed form the time it takes you.
  • Posts: 1,241 Member
    Downloading now & then going out for a morning walk. :) Thanks!
  • Posts: 60 Member
    Try using a smartphone and download an app like Endomondo. It will track your route, average speed and gives you more data than you might like.
  • Posts: 699 Member
    Will the fitbit tell you distance or only steps? The easiest way is to take the distance and divide by the amount of time it took, 4 miles in 2 hours is 2 miles per hour etc.
  • Posts: 4,741 Member
    I used cardio trainer a lot, then kept having issues with it and my HRM. I switched to Endomondo, it does the same thing, but seems to handle the blue tooth stuff better.
  • Posts: 173 Member
    My fitbit has a distance function also. Look at the distance at the beginning of walk, look at distance at end of walk. Subtract beginning distance from ending distance. Divide the time walked by the distance walked and you will have your pace in minutes per mile.
    :happy:
  • Posts: 88 Member
    I use the app for MapMyWalk (Android). Tracks your route while you walk, distance, and speed. I love it! It's a great website.
  • Posts: 1,241 Member
    Will the fitbit tell you distance or only steps? The easiest way is to take the distance and divide by the amount of time it took, 4 miles in 2 hours is 2 miles per hour etc.
    The fitbit only counts steps but it also gives an estimate of how many calories burned. I guess if I actually knew how far it is around the parking lots here at work, it might be easier for me to figure out on my own. lol Since I don't, I'm looking for an easy fix. I downloaded CardioTrainer and may download Endomondo as well.
  • Posts: 198 Member
    Go to googlemaps and map your route to get the distance. Use a watch for time. Speed = Distance/Time

    Tip: time is in hours so if it took you 11 minutes to run 1 mile then it's S=1/(11/60)
  • Posts: 1,241 Member
    My fitbit has a distance function also. Look at the distance at the beginning of walk, look at distance at end of walk. Subtract beginning distance from ending distance. Divide the time walked by the distance walked and you will have your pace in minutes per mile.
    :happy:
    That's true, I forgot that was on there! I'm going to give these other apps a try as well. :)
  • Posts: 16,414 Member
    You can also set your trip odometer in your car to 0 and drive your route and see what it says.
  • Posts: 1,241 Member
    CardioTracker gave me 119 calories burned and Endomondo gave me 153 calories burned (19:45 minutes, 1.24 miles, approx 3.8 mph). I think the difference is because I hadn't reset the weight in Endomondo from the default, which was 9 lbs heavier than I am. Do those numbers seem about right??? I weigh 156 lbs.
  • Posts: 4,741 Member
    CardioTracker gave me 119 calories burned and Endomondo gave me 153 calories burned (19:45 minutes, 1.24 miles, approx 3.8 mph). I think the difference is because I hadn't reset the weight in Endomondo from the default, which was 9 lbs heavier than I am. Do those numbers seem about right??? I weigh 156 lbs.

    When I use my HRM the numbers are always slightly lower than just the GPS. I think if you set your weight its going to be fairly accurate. Also if I'm on a hill the GPS isn't always 100% accurate if the satellites are kind of off.
  • Posts: 36 Member
    bump... I was wondering this too!
  • Posts: 520 Member
    If you walk a set path outside, you can also time yourself and then use google maps to determine how far you walked.

    Then calculate like this:

    [distance (in miles) / time (in minutes) ] * 60 (since there are 60 mins in an hour)

    Or, just

    distance (in miles)/time(in hours)
  • Posts: 274 Member
    Try using a smartphone and download an app like Endomondo. It will track your route, average speed and gives you more data than you might like.

    this is a good one, i am using it and has loads of info.
  • Posts: 1,241 Member
    Thanks, everyone, for all the helpful info. :) I recorded the walk on my fitbit as well so I can look at it later (I don't have the base here at work for it to sync up the information) when I get home. Finding my approximate rate and the distance with the apps is very useful & I imagine I will be using one or the other of them from now on when I walk. :)
  • Posts: 74
    i just guess, but you can take the amount of hours walked and divide the steps by the hours... :) if you know how long on average you walked total that day :D
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