Why pace may be more important than step count when walking

Do you really need to start power walking to reap the cardio benefits of walking or is a leisurely stroll just as good? We asked the experts what role pace plays in walking.

We all know that walking can offer a load of mental and physical health benefits. Whether you’re continually chasing 10,000 steps on your fitness tracker or carve up your day with breathers in nature, walking is so good for us. But if you’re looking to get the most out of your daily constitutional, then step count isn’t the only thing to keep in mind. 

A new study from the University of Sydney found that pace is just as important as 10,000 steps for health. While that number of steps tends to be seen as the ‘sweet spot’ for lowering disease, how fast you walk also matters. Researchers from the universities of Sydney and Southern Denmark monitored 78,500 adults with wearable trackers and found that while achieving 10,000 steps was linked to a lower risk of dementia and heart disease, a faster walking pace showed even more benefits.

“The take-home message here is that for protective health benefits people could not only ideally aim for 10,000 steps a day but also aim to walk faster,” said co-lead author Dr Matthew Ahmadi, research fellow at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre and Faculty of Medicine and Health. “Step count is easily understood and widely used by the public to track activity levels thanks to the growing popularity of fitness trackers and apps, but rarely do people think about the pace of their steps,” said senior author Emmanuel Stamatakis, professor of Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Population Health at the University of Sydney.

But even the smallest amount of walking can offer huge benefits. Co-lead author associate professor Borja del Pozo Cruz from the University of Southern Denmark went on to say that as few as 3,800 steps a day can cut the risk of dementia by 25%. Walking faster, however, accentuates the benefits. 

How fast should you walk for health benefits?

A quick walk around the block won’t have our hearts racing or our legs aching quite like a 5k powerwalk.

So, how fast do we need to walk to make the most of the benefits? We put the question to Nanette Mutrie, director of physical activity for health research at the University of Edinburgh and Sally Davies, senior physiotherapist at Bupa Health Clinics, to find out how, and why, we should check our walking pace.

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How to measure walking pace

An average walking pace is around 100 steps per minute, which translates to one kilometre in 10 mins or 20 minutes per mile, but ‘normal’ will also vary from person to person. As for a fast walking pace? That would look more like 15-minute miles.

However, we can measure our walking pace based on personal feeling rather than number too. “Normal walking pace should feel like you are breathing a little faster than normal and feeling a little warmer as a result of moving,” explains Mutrie. “You should still be able to talk to a buddy who might be walking along with you,” she adds.

Get faster than that and you can begin to class your walk as ‘moderate intensity’ activity. “That means your heart rate increases, you become slightly breathless and you feel warm,” says Davies. Current NHS guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week, so you can make your walk count towards that goal. 

Walking: Is a faster pace always better?

Why is fast walking better for physical health?

“There are benefits to more vigorous walking, and they are mostly physiological,” Mutrie explains. Most obviously, there are cardiovascular benefits from increasing your heart rate. According to a study published in the British Medical Journal, a faster walking pace is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. 

Another study from New Zealand found that walking speed could be directly associated with brain health, too, suggesting that those who walked faster had a lower risk of cognitive decline. 

“As with other forms of cardio, brisk walking can lower your risk of high blood pressure and cholesterol, manage diabetes and strengthen your muscles and bones,” adds Davies. 

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Is walking slowly still good for you?

“Walking faster is not always best,” says Mutrie. “My own view is that the mental health benefits are the most important and the evidence suggests that this does not need to be focused too much on pace or what your heart rate is doing.”

Walking, regardless of speed, has been shown to be a big mental health booster, particularly when out in nature. But it can also benefit the body, even if you aren’t quick-stepping: a study from 2019 shows that physical activity of any intensity, whether light, moderate or vigorous, is linked with reduced risk of early death. 

Mutrie says that walking should about finding a pace, location and company you enjoy in order to make it sustainable and regular activity, as the research shows that frequency, rather than pace, is associated with benefits. 

Walking: Walking at any pace can improve your mental health.

How to increase walking pace

“You can adjust your walking pace to best suit your needs and goals,” says Davies. “A higher intensity level of walking may not be possible for everyone. For example, if you experience muscle or joint pain, but going on regular walks at a faster pace is more likely to see results such as increased fitness levels at a faster rate.”

However, as with everything, if you want to get a faster pace, you have to keep doing it. But consistency makes the rest easy: “If you are regularly walking, the comfortable pace will continue to increase as you get fitter. You won’t have to think too hard about it – it will happen automatically,” says Mutrie.

“The goal of walking for health should be to find a pace that you can do without feeling exhausted or as if you do not want to do it again the next day – it has to be sustainable.”

Up for a challenge? Join the Stylist community for a 22km charity hike this June at one of our Strong Women Treks.

Images: Getty 

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