4.5 mph is not walking, it's running for a petite female.

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Replies

  • gward_1984
    gward_1984 Posts: 13
    Yeah I can imagine, i'm 6ft5 and walk at around 4.1 mph
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    My mother is 5'1" and 4.5 mph is a walk for her. I'm 5'7" and I have to trot to keep up with her walk. That woman is crazy-fast for her tiny little legs. I don't know how she does it.
  • SweetestLibby
    SweetestLibby Posts: 607 Member
    eh, not really. I'm 5'4'' and my natural walking pace is about 4.3 mph. I have tall parents and a tall boyfriend! I learned how to walk fast. 4.5 is not a run for me...not even a jog. My friends have spent years complaining "you walk too fast!"
  • peggysue218
    peggysue218 Posts: 126 Member
    Speak for yourself! I'm only 5'2" and anything less than 5mph is walking for me. I run at 10mph.

    If this is serious, I'm 100% terrified. 10 mph? Ho.ly.*kitten*.

    Also, I'm 5'10" and new to running but 4.5 is a decent jog for me. I ran (it's running for me) at 5.0 the other day. I'd much rather jog/run that pace than walk it. But yeah, when I went to log my jogging at 4.5, I was like, "What is this?"
  • lovelyworld
    lovelyworld Posts: 30 Member
    So true haha - it's hard to work yourself up to 5mph to log it as running!
  • peggysue218
    peggysue218 Posts: 126 Member
    ... I'm 5'10" and 4.6 is DEFINITELY running for me...

    Me, too... I was starting to feel inadequate reading about all these shorties who laugh off anything under 6 mph. Maybe you guys can go faster because you're littler. Plus you have a lower center of gravity and therefore greater stability and resistance to falling. These are all of my bullsh*t theories to justify why I can't run faster (yet) without killing myself.
  • tachyon_master
    tachyon_master Posts: 226 Member
    Speak for yourself! I'm only 5'2" and anything less than 5mph is walking for me. I run at 10mph.

    If this is serious, I'm 100% terrified. 10 mph? Ho.ly.*kitten*.

    Also, I'm 5'10" and new to running but 4.5 is a decent jog for me. I ran (it's running for me) at 5.0 the other day. I'd much rather jog/run that pace than walk it. But yeah, when I went to log my jogging at 4.5, I was like, "What is this?"

    Why wouldn't I be serious? I'm a runner. And an ex national-level swimmer. I compete in long distance running events and triathlons.

    *shrug*
  • kelag297
    kelag297 Posts: 103 Member
    Right there with ya. 5'4.5" and to me

    2.5 mph is a normal walk
    3 mph is a fast walk
    3.5 mph is a very fast walk
    4 mph is a jog
    4.5 mph is running

    That is exactly how it is for me! I'm 5'1 and my short little legs feel like they are gonna explode when I try to go higher than 5 mph on the treadmill.
  • Pangea250
    Pangea250 Posts: 965 Member
    Definitely. I'm 5'4", and even 4.0 mph is running for me. For running & walking, I don't use MFP's labels. I make my own. I use an HRM, so it's easier for me to do that.
  • berriboobear
    berriboobear Posts: 524 Member
    THIS is exactly what I think! I'm 5'1" and I usually do 4.5 mph, which is jogging for me, and the most comfortable pace for me (for now). Like others have said already, I've been logging it as "walking" at 4.5 mph, better underestimate than overestimate!
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    I am only 5 ft tall and 4.5 is a brisk walk for me...

    MFP calculations are estimates. If you feel like you are running you are likely burning what I burn going faster when I feel like I am running...
  • thehka
    thehka Posts: 74 Member
    brisk brisk walking LOL i dont think so. you can only do so much brisk walking until you realize youre just running. 4.5-5 mph is my usual pace and im always dying. whenever i do sprinting it ends up being only at like 6-6.5mph pfft lol

    (im 5'8)
  • Pangea250
    Pangea250 Posts: 965 Member
    3 is normal walk
    3.5 is moderate walk
    3.8 is fast walk
    4 is a jog
    4.2 is running
    4.5 is slightly faster running
    4.8 is as fast as I can go and I can probably take it for 30 seconds

    That last one sounded pretty dirty.
    That, it did. It certainly did.
  • aimforhealthy
    aimforhealthy Posts: 449 Member
    I'm 5'8" and 4.5 is a pretty steady jog for me - it's definitely too fast to even power walk.

    Some of us just have a slower engine than other people :)
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    the point is...it has nothing to do with height...it has to do with speed, experience, whether you make effort to be a runner or use the treadmill as a cardio activity. I actively train to run as fast as my body will allow me to run. I do speed work, tempo runs, hill repeats...not for the weight loss benefits, while those being nice, but so that i can shave time off my mile splits.

    If you are looking for accurate calorie burn you are best off with a quality HRM.
  • LovelyLumos
    LovelyLumos Posts: 44 Member
    i totally agree!! 4.5 is perfect jogging speed for me. im 5"2 and i feel like im not doing as much because it says very very brisk walk that is NOT walking to me!
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    the point is...it has nothing to do with height...it has to do with speed, experience, whether you make effort to be a runner or use the treadmill as a cardio activity. I actively train to run as fast as my body will allow me to run. I do speed work, tempo runs, hill repeats...not for the weight loss benefits, while those being nice, but so that i can shave time off my mile splits.

    If you are looking for accurate calorie burn you are best off with a quality HRM.

    I don't agree with this at all.

    I am a runner, I view running the same as you and do the same workouts. I rarely use the treadmill, however, if I am on the treadmill and decide to walk at a fast pace, if I turn it up to 4 or 4.5 I can't keep up at a walk, it is a jog.
    I am not saying this is my "running speed", my running speed is faster than 4.5 MPH. I literally cannot walk at that pace.

    I also have short legs.
  • kelsully
    kelsully Posts: 1,008 Member
    ^^^^ I mean in the regards to calorie burn...4.5 is a brisk walk for me...but calorie burn wise it is a conditioning issue more than it is a height issue...I won't burn as much running or walking at 4.5mph as i will at 8mph...my mother might burn more at 4.5mph than I do at 8mph due to our level of training with that specific activity. My husband is quite tall and when he trains even a little he can run faster than me in a half marathon...but as of right now 4.5 kicks his *kitten*....so calorie burn wise it has more to do with HR than speed and that is the OP's question as I understood it.
  • theruby
    theruby Posts: 36
    In my youth, I walked everywhere. I stopped growing at 13. 5'2" and at my peak a fast walk then was about 3.5mph. the 6foot tall guys always out paced me, even when I was equally or more fit than them. Height should be a consideration for pacing a walk vs a run in regards to cardiac function and caloric burn. A 4mph stroll for a 6ft person would probably put a giraffe to sleep, food for thought... Anyhoo, yes mfp has it listed as a walk, and you could create your own entries. But as most noobs on here search the net, that pace is listed as a walk everywhere online. Best bet for true caloric and vocabulary accuracy would be to create your own entries calculating heart rates. I would also gladly use anyones' entries for short statured paces, but I'm not sweatin' it LOL
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    ^^^^ I mean in the regards to calorie burn...4.5 is a brisk walk for me...but calorie burn wise it is a conditioning issue more than it is a height issue...I won't burn as much running or walking at 4.5mph as i will at 8mph...my mother might burn more at 4.5mph than I do at 8mph due to our level of training with that specific activity. My husband is quite tall and when he trains even a little he can run faster than me in a half marathon...but as of right now 4.5 kicks his *kitten*....so calorie burn wise it has more to do with HR than speed and that is the OP's question as I understood it.

    I read it the opposite. Gotta love the internet.
  • squiggyflop
    squiggyflop Posts: 148 Member
    Um im barely 5'6" and 4.5mph is a power walk. Also, since when is 5'5" petite? I thought the word petite was for those tiny 5 foot tall ladies that I typically tower over in all my freakishly tall glory. Average height for a woman in this country is 5'4", so you are actually taller than average. I think its about agility. Its only a walk if you can move those muscles very rapidly.
  • MelMoly
    MelMoly Posts: 1,303 Member
    4.5 is running! lol I'm 5'
  • meggyshae
    meggyshae Posts: 357 Member
    This is why I use a fitness watch to track my heart rate constantly to make sure it's in the goo burning zone and to also monitor exactly how many caloires I am burning each day. MFP is just an average guestimate...it's not accurate
  • qn4bx9pzg8aifd
    qn4bx9pzg8aifd Posts: 258 Member
    Running is a gait, not a speed

    Yes...!

    My first 'introduction' to the relative difference in speeds, in the context of walking and running, and firsthand experience in witnessing just how remarkably different the associated speeds could be (let alone the 'effort') when someone who was walking was outpacing the heck out of someone who was running, goes all the way back to when I was a small child. In certain environments, my dad would suddenly begin walking very fast, as a 'joke' of sorts, given that my close-in-age sibling and I would then suddenly burst into running, to try and catch up to him -- and he found it comical and entertaining to see us 'bolt' in such a fashion, to try and keep up with him... ;) (he'd keep looking back over his shoulder, to see where we were... and when we did catch up to him (only because he'd ultimately stop ;) ), we'd tend to each 'hug' one of his legs, as though it were the trunk of a tree -- and as though either of us had the strength to 'keep him still'... (this seemed to then be a spontaneous 'cue' for him to try and alternately 'lift' each leg while a munchkin was still 'attached'... lol ;) )).
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    4.5 mph is still 4.5 mph whether you walk or run it you will be burning the same amount of calories.

    For someone who can walk 4.5 mph, that generally means their heart rate doesn't get very high and as such less calories are burned.

    For someone who runs at 4.5 mph, their heart rate should be higher than the person who was walking and as such should burn slightly more calories.
    But someone who is taller is also likely heavier and is moving more weight at the same velocity.
  • I don't go by MFP any more my calories are always way different to what is stated. I use my Polar FT4 heart rate monitor. I find it so much easier to not have to worry about the difference. I'm 5'3 btw.
  • MandaJean83
    MandaJean83 Posts: 675 Member
    I think maybe it has more to do with leg length than height. I am 5'3" but I have shorter legs and a longer torso...and 4.5mph is a full on jog for me. 5.0 to 5.5 is a run, and 6.0 is a freakin' SPRINT. My happy pace is about 4.3 to 4.5. :)
  • runfreddyrun
    runfreddyrun Posts: 137 Member
    i'm 5'4 and have been jogging between 4.5 and 4.8 for the last few weeks. it really feels like a decent jog to me but when logging it i always get sad that i have to classify it as walking. and then when i mention to people that i've been running i always feel the need to discount it to "well its really at a fast walking pace".

    i'm happy now. i worked hard to get up to this point!
  • mariposa224
    mariposa224 Posts: 1,241 Member
    Um im barely 5'6" and 4.5mph is a power walk. Also, since when is 5'5" petite? I thought the word petite was for those tiny 5 foot tall ladies that I typically tower over in all my freakishly tall glory. Average height for a woman in this country is 5'4", so you are actually taller than average. I think its about agility. Its only a walk if you can move those muscles very rapidly.
    I'm 5'5" and don't consider myself to be "petite." I responded because the OP said that 4.5mph would be a fast walk for someone who was 6 foot or taller. I am a far cry from 6' and 4.5 mph is not jogging/running for me. It's not even really a "power walk." It's just me walking really fast. I have a long stride.
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