Average Walking Speed

Walking is the most commonly used gait amongst all legged animals. It is slower than running with a different movement of limbs than running. Knowing the average walking pace for humans is essential for several reasons. Road designers often take into account the average human walking speed while designing roads. Knowing the average time taken by the pedestrians to walk enables them to position and time signals accordingly. Besides, many people also wish to know the average speed of walking, so that they can keep up with it to gain maximum health benefits from walking exercise.

How to Find Average Walking Speed

Average speed of walking is influenced by many factors. It is impossible to find out one fixed speed and apply it to all individuals. Walking speed is greatly dependent upon the age of the person. Older people walk more slowly than younger people. Besides, the gender of an individual is also responsible for determining his/her walking speed. Women in all age groups are slow walkers than their male counterparts in the same age group. Also, the terrain on which you are walking affects your walking speed to a great extent. You cannot walk on a rough trail and a smooth jogging track in a park at precisely the same speed. Rough terrain, obstacles in your path etc. are likely to slow you down. Similarly, the speed while walking downhill is more than while walking uphill. Interestingly, the purpose of walking also determines your average speed. If you are walking for health benefits, you will probably do brisk walking, thereby covering more distance in less time. On the other hand, an evening stroll in the park is more leisurely resulting in a longer average time.

What is the Average Walking Speed

Now that you know what all are the factors influencing your walking speed, finding the average speed must be easy for you. Keep a habit of timing your walks, as it will give you a clear idea regarding how much distance you generally manage to cover. A good way of finding your individual walking speed is to time your walk using a stopwatch. Choose a gentle terrain for this purpose, as you will have to maneuver around less obstacles. Know the distance of the terrain beforehand. Now simply divide this distance covered by the time taken to cover it. The simple formula that enables you to find your walking speed is.

Speed (in miles per hour) = Distance (in miles) / Time (in hours)

However, to know if your walking speed is at par with other healthy individuals, you need to take into account the average speed for your particular gender and age group. Younger males are the fastest walkers with an average speed of 3.5 to 4 miles per hour. Women in the same age group can walk 3.2 miles in the same time. Older males, above age 65 can walk up to 3 miles per hour whereas women in the same age group are slowest walkers with an average speed of 2.5 miles per hour. However, these figures should only be taken as a reference. You may be fast or slow for your age group or gender depending upon your individual physical capacity. Men tend to be faster than women due to longer legs and more muscle mass.

Thus, ideally you should be able to walk 3 to 3.5 miles per hour if you are a healthy individual. This means you should be able to cover one mile in roughly 17 to 20 minutes. At this speed, one must be able to carry on a normal conversation, though with a little heavy breathing. If you cannot maintain this pace, do not push yourself too hard, instead concentrate on taking quicker strides than taking longer strides. This will greatly improve your walking pace.