Walking 101: Which is more important, distance or speed?

Walking is a simple yet effective form of exercise. It burns calories, improves fitness and is accessible to many people, making it a great fitness choice.  What's more, you can vary your walks to meet your needs and abilities.

As simple as walking is, there are a few things to know before you start a walking routine. Firstly, you’ll need some comfortable shoes. It’s important to find ones that fit well and provide support. It is also important to stay hydrated during your walks, especially if you exercise outdoors on a hot day.

Walking distance vs speed

When you’re thinking of a new walking routine to try out, you have a couple of options. You can either focus on walking a specific distance, or you can focus on your walking speed. Regardless of which one you will experience the benefits of walking, although depending on your goal, you might want to focus on one instead of the other.

Walking distance refers to how far you walk. Some people enjoy tracking their daily number of steps, or they look at how far they have traveled in miles or kilometers each day. It can be a great way to measure your progress week over week.

Focusing on distance is ideal if you’re trying to reach a daily step goal or estimate how many calories you’re burning each day. It's also great if you're working on building up more cardiovascular endurance.

Walking speed refers to how fast you’re walking. If you’re trying to boost your cardiovascular fitness and improve your heart rate variability, focusing on speed walking might be a better goal instead of focusing just on distance.

If possible, incorporate both distance and speed walking into your weekly routine. Try alternating between each one so you can work on muscular endurance, fitness and goal setting to achieve the results you are looking for.