Is 4.5 mph a very, very brisk walk for you?

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  • california_peach
    california_peach Posts: 1,858 Member
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    I'm 5'8" and I have very long legs. I would say that 4.5 mph would be a slow jog for me. I walk around 3.5 mph
  • Enforcer25
    Enforcer25 Posts: 350 Member
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    6'4", I usually jog at 5-5.5 and cool down at 4.0. 4.5 would be a slow jog.
  • lisaidem
    lisaidem Posts: 194 Member
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    ok, now I feel unfit.. My fast walk is 3 mph at best :(

    Well I am right there with you. I started C25K this week, and I walk at 3.0 and jog at 4.0. A pace of 4.5 is a hard jog for me, that I can't maintain. Actually I cant maintain 4.0 to be honest. But everyone starts somewhere right?
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    I'm 5'5.

    My normal walking fast pace is 4mph, with my comfy walking pace around 3.5. I typically jog around 6mph or 6.7mph, but can push for a little faster. I have run a mile in under 8 minutes, but it's been a few months since I timed myself running just a mile.

    On a treadmill, I can't jog any slower than 5mph. It's easier for me to walk if it's any slower.
  • kritty123
    kritty123 Posts: 73
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    I'm 5'5", and 4 mph is a speedy walk for me. Anything over that and I'd be doing some sort of awkward, chicken-arm-flapping half-run hybrid. :laugh:

    Litereally LOL!! What a visual I just had!!

    I'm 5'3 and 4.5mph gives me a "right on the edge of a run" type of feel in my legs but then again, us short folks take more steps then the taller ones so I think we do double the work, KWIM?
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
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    Ok, so I tried walking at 4.5 mph, and I can, but I have to watch RunKeeper constantly to not slow down again. My legs hurt, which they wouldn't have if I'd jogged.

    In conclusion, I wish it said ' very, very brisk walk or very, very, slow run'. That way, those of us who are proud to get up to 4.5 mph, might feel our achievement was better acknowledged :happy:
  • ladybg81
    ladybg81 Posts: 1,553 Member
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    I'm 5'10 and 4.5 is a slight jog for me. I have really long legs as well. I generally job on anything greater than 4 but anything up to 4.5 I can stick walk, though very quickly. 5 is a good speed for me to have a nice jog.
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
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    What you lose at the lower speeds is the muscle building in the legs.
  • fatboypup
    fatboypup Posts: 1,873 Member
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    4.5 is a VERY BRISK pace for me and im 6'4
  • shauna121211
    shauna121211 Posts: 575 Member
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    I'm 5'5 and I walk 4.5mph on the treadmill and it's very, very brisk for sure, but it's a bit too slow for me to run at that speed.
  • lisab64
    lisab64 Posts: 26
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    I'm 5'7". Not sure of my exact speed but I walk ((not one step is ran or jogged)over 5mph -- my fastest time so far is 11 min 15 seconds/mile but am typically around the 11min 2X seconds/mile. My normal walks are between 4 and 6 miles in length.
  • significance
    significance Posts: 436 Member
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    I'm just over 5'1". 4.5mph (7.2 kph) is a very brisk walk for me: it's about the speed I walk when walking for fitness on the flat. At that speed, I do have an elevated heart rate and I puff a little.

    My normal pace is closer to 3mph/5kph. I'm told I have a fairly distinctive stride and people can pick me from a distance because of it: I have short legs, but take fairly long steps.

    I'm not a runner, but if I alternate jogging and walking, my pace is only a little faster: 8-9kph.
  • busymom11
    busymom11 Posts: 15
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    1. In walking clinics that I have taken, they say it shouldn't matter how tall or short you are when it comes to speed.
    2. If you look in the fitness section on MFP under walking 5 MPH or running/jogging 5MPH you burn the same amount of calories, at least at my weight thats true.
    3. Back when I was fitter/weighed less, before back surgery/nerve damage I trained walking at 5MPH (12 min miles) and raced up to about 6 miles at 11:10-11:30min/miles walking not running. I am 5'7" by the way. Since my surgery/weight gain, I'm back to walking but fast for me is now 4MPH, but hoping it will come back down.
    4. I think it takes a combination of fitness, technique and lots of practice to build your speed, whether you choose to walk or run/jog.
    Happy miles everyone!
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
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    I'm really not buying the 'height doesn't matter' argument. My 4 year old runs slower than I walk, not because he moves his legs slower, but because his legs are shorter. Surely this has to apply, on a smaller scale, when comparing adults too. If two people move their legs at the same speed, the person with longer legs will move faster. Your only two options when increasing speed are to increase your stride and how frequently your legs move, and a shorter person automatically has a shorter range on the former. How can height NOT affect speed?
  • significance
    significance Posts: 436 Member
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    Oishii, I'm not convinced either way, but another way to look at it is to consider the speed at which your feet move. Both tall and short people have to move their feet at the same speed to walk at the same pace. The taller person might be moving the top of their thigh slower than the shorter person to achieve this foot-speed, but the speed at the bottom of the leg is the same. Think of a lever with one long end and one very short end:
    ^
    ^
    The longer the long end is, the harder it is to move it from the short end. If the lever is your leg, the foot is at the end of the long end.
  • valeriebpdx
    valeriebpdx Posts: 499 Member
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    5'7", I can't run at 4.5 mph. That is a fast walk for me. I can walk 5 mph, but not for very long. I can run as slow as 5 mph.
  • dukesnyder1963
    dukesnyder1963 Posts: 2
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    I walked 3 miles today in 40 minutes, which translates into 4.5 mph. The course is is some gentle inclines and delines and includes 1/4 mile of very steep uphill (and then down the same stretch). I'am 6'1" tall and had to use a long stride with vigorous arm pumping over 40% of the course and a shorter stride with faster leg work over 60%. My heart rate only went real high going up the hill. I think 4.5 mph was fast walking that had my abs aching after the hill work.
  • dukesnyder1963
    dukesnyder1963 Posts: 2
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    During my walk today it seemed that my heart rate was higher when I took long strides and really pumped my arms, and was lower with shorter steps but more of them. I'll do an experiment where the same distance is walked at the same maximum speed using long and medium steps and see which drives up the heart rate more.

    I usually combine long and medium length strides in my walks to introduce some variety, and also work in some backward walking, sideways walking and "spinning" walking (slowly rotate to a backward facing as I walk forward and then reverse to the forward facing direction and go to reverse facing in the other direction). I've read where repetitive exercise over a long period can not only get stale fast but lead to stress fractures, so try to spice things up and introduce some interval training (like going up a very steep 1/4 mile stretch at the middle of the walk, and then down the same stretch).
  • sizzler0123
    sizzler0123 Posts: 55
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    I run at 4.6 and 4.8 intervals on the treadmill. I am 5'7 and a slow runner, that's all! lol. Just keep moving!!
  • Missjulesdid
    Missjulesdid Posts: 1,444 Member
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    I'm 5'5" and I can't walk at anything higher than 3.7 ! I think it's related to my weight as much as my height. Very obese people tend to take shorter strides in order to keep their center of gravity balanced better. 4.0 is a jog for me.

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