Walking: What It Is and How to Check Your Own Walking Records
Walking is a gait where the body vaults over a stiff limb with each step. Here is what the sources say, plus a short routine for checking dates, units, and gaps in your own records.
Walking is a main gait of land movement among legged animals, defined as an inverted pendulum gait in which the body vaults over the stiff limb or limbs with each step. The sources also give a handful of numbers you can compare with your own records. This article explains the concept and then offers a record-checking routine. It does not prescribe how much you should walk.
What walking is
Walking is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. It is typically slower than running and other gaits.
In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the word walking is also synonymous with hiking. If you read walking logs from different places, the word may not mean the same activity everywhere, so it helps to write down what you counted.
Walking versus running
In bipeds, walking is distinguished from running in that only one foot at a time leaves the ground and there is a period of double-support.
Running begins when both feet leave the ground during each step.
The most effective way to distinguish walking from running is to measure the height of the center of mass at mid-stance. This matters for records: a device or a note that labels an activity is making a classification, and the source describes how researchers draw the line.
The pendulum idea
Human walking is accomplished with a double pendulum strategy in which the swinging leg acts as the first pendulum and the stance leg rolls heel to toe as an inverted pendulum.
Numbers worth knowing
| Item | Figure in the source |
|---|---|
| Average human walking speed at crosswalks | about 5.0 km/h, or about 1.4 m/s |
| Champion racewalkers over 20 km | more than 14 km/h on average |
| Average age of independent walking in a child | around 11 months |
The average human walking speed at crosswalks is about 5.0 km/h, or about 1.4 m/s.
Champion racewalkers can average more than 14 km/h over a distance of 20 km.
An average human child achieves independent walking ability at around 11 months old.
Notice that the speed is given in two units. Converting between km/h and m/s is the same kind of unit check you should do on your own data.
Where walking comes from
Bipedal walking was one of the first defining characteristics to emerge among hominin ancestors.
Footprints found on a former shore in Kenya suggest ancestors of modern humans may have walked in similar ways as long as 3 million years ago.
Human walking has been found to be slightly more energy efficient than travel for a quadrupedal mammal of similar size, like chimpanzees.
When walking bipedally, chimpanzees take a crouched stance with bent knees and hips, which costs more energy.
Walking is not only a human matter. Little skates can propel themselves by pushing off the ocean floor with their pelvic fins. Arthropods and their relatives are thought to have independently evolved walking several times.
What the source says about health
Limited research indicates that walking may be associated with reduced risk of diseases and premature death in humans. The wording is cautious: the evidence is described as limited, and the statement is about an association. This article does not draw any further conclusion from it, and it gives no advice about any individual condition or treatment.
How to check your own walking records
Use this routine on any walking log, whether it is a notebook, a spreadsheet, or an app export.
- Check the date. Does every entry have a date, and are there days with no entry? Decide whether a blank means you did not walk or that nothing was recorded.
- Check the unit. Are distances in kilometers or miles, and speeds in km/h or m/s? Convert everything to one unit before comparing.
- Check what was counted. Does an entry mean a purposeful walk, a commute, or a dog walk? Write the purpose next to it.
- Check for missing stretches. If you did not carry your device or did not write anything down, mark the gap instead of filling it with a guess.
A worked example
Suppose you time yourself over 100 meters and it takes 72 seconds. That is 100 divided by 72, or about 1.39 m/s. Multiply by 3.6 and you get about 5.0 km/h. You could then compare that with the crosswalk average of about 5.0 km/h given above. The 72 seconds is an invented example for practice, not a measurement from any source. A single timing says little, and a different result is not a verdict on your health.
Connecting this to an app
Today's exercise app Daily Health uses Apple Watch overnight data such as sleep, resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and respiratory rate to rate daily condition on a 1 to 5 scale. The app states that its exercise suggestions are wellness information and not a medical device. It also states that all health data is calculated on the iPhone and does not leave the device. The app suggests a minimum daily amount of exercise based on the WHO recommendation.
Try this
- Time your own walking pace over 100 meters, convert it to km/h, and compare it with the crosswalk figure. Write down the date, the surface, and anything that might have affected the pace.
- Watch someone walk and note whether one foot is always on the ground. Then write a sentence on how that differs from running.
- Keep a short log of your usual walking routes, such as to school, work, or a dog walk, and note the purpose of each.
- Walk slowly and describe in your notebook what the swinging leg and the stance leg are doing, using the double pendulum description.
- Look at the Daily Health app's listed features and record which ones you would use and why.
These are suggestions for practice. They are not a training plan, and they do not promise any result.
This article is general health information and is not a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. Consult a healthcare professional if you have concerns.