Walk, But Don’t Sing: Karen Collins’s Guide to Moderate Exercise

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So you’ve decided to finally meet the recommended 30 minutes of moderate daily activity, and you want to accomplish that the simplest way, by walking. How fast do you need to walk for it to be considered “moderate”?

You can find reputable sources with lists of activities that identify your activity’s intensity – labeled as light, moderate or vigorous. For example, walking as moderate activity typically refers to “brisk walking” at a pace of three-and-a-half miles per hour, whereas very fast walking (at four-and-a-half miles per hour) or jogging (five miles per hour) is classified as vigorous activity. But these categories don’t necessarily work for everyone. One easy way to estimate your activity intensity is to tune in to how you are feeling. Based on a 10-point scale, where sitting is 0 and working as hard as you can is 10, moderate aerobic activity is a 5 or 6. Moderate activity means you breathe a little harder, and although you can talk, you can’t comfortably sing a song. In contrast, vigorous activity is a 7 or 8 on this scale, with heart rate substantially increased and breathing hard enough that you can’t say more than a few words without stopping to catch your breath.

For researchers, moderate activity is activity during which heart rate is at 50 to 70 percent of estimated maximum heart rate, whereas activity is vigorous if heart rate goes up to 70 to 85 percent of estimated maximum.

Keep in mind the heart rate that represents “moderate” activity varies among individuals, and the walking pace that brings someone to that heart rate will vary, too. For example, someone who has been inactive or who is recovering from illness or surgery might find activity “moderate” in intensity when walking at a pace slower than expected based on a standard formula. Likewise, someone who is very fit might walk at a pace rapid enough that would be vigorous for some people, but with a small enough increase in heart rate that it’s moderate exercise for him or her. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, moderate activity that you do in blocks of 10 minutes or more counts toward the goal of at least 30 minutes a day; if you can total 60 minutes, that’s even better.

Courtesy of the American Institute for Cancer Research

By Karen Collins, MS, RDN, CDN, FAND. Karen Collins is a nutrition writer, speaker, and consultant. She has also worked as an expert nutritional research reviewer, reading and evaluating the scientific soundness of hundreds of research studies. In recognition of her accomplishments Karen was recently named a Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

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