Walk Faster to Make Every Step Count

WALK FASTER TO MAKE EVERY STEP COUNT

I often write about the benefits of walking, since for many of us seniors it remains our most reliable and enjoyable form of exercise. In my December 1, 2024 post, Maximize Your Walk, I shared practical tips for getting the most out of your daily routine. What I didn’t cover in detail, though, was how to turn it into a fast walking workout.

Today I came across a Harvard Medical School article that reinforces some of those earlier tips while offering excellent advice on how to make fast walking a genuine cardiovascular workout. Below are highlights from the November 1, 2025 Harvard Medical School report by Matthew Solan, Executive Editor, titled The Need for Walking Speed.

Walking can be your primary form of aerobic exercise, but you need to pick up the pace

Many people view walking as an easy and casual exercise. It’s something you do as a fallback when you can’t perform your regular workout, or if you’re recovering from an injury or surgery.

But walking can be your primary form of moderate-intensity exercise if you approach it the right way, says Dr. Lauren Elson, an instructor in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and medical editor of the Harvard Special Health Report Walking for Health. “Walking can provide the vigorous, heart-pumping workout you need if you increase the intensity, duration, and frequency,” she says. “The first step, though, is learning to walk faster.”

How to walk faster

Walking faster sounds simple enough — you just increase your pace — but this is not something people do naturally. “We are used to walking at a casual pace, and we often walk and stop instead of walking quickly and continuously for long periods of time,” says Dr. Elson.

There is no ideal walking speed, as everyone is different. “You want to focus on intensity, so you walk at a pace that gets your heart rate up, your breathing becomes heavier, and you can only carry on a conversation using short sentences,” says Dr. Elson.

Walking for speed also requires practicing good walking form. “This helps to improve efficiency and avoid resistance that can slow you down,” says Dr. Elson. Here are the areas you should focus on.

Stand tall. Extend your spine as if you were being lifted from the crown of your head by a string. When your posture is good, you have a more powerful stride.

Eyes up. Bring your gaze out about 10 to 20 feet in front of you. You’ll still be able to spy obstacles ahead while preventing upper-body tension.

Bend your arms. Moving with arms straight slows you down. When you bend your arms, it’s easier to swing them fast. And since your body likes to be in sync, your legs will speed up to stay in step with your arms. Bend your elbows 85° to 90° and swing your arms forward and back — not side to side or diagonally across your body.

Land on your heel. With each walking step, land on your heel, roll through your foot, and push off with your toes. Focus on keeping your toes up as you land. This facilitates the heel-to-toe walking motion, making it easier to walk faster than if your whole foot slaps down on the ground with each step.

Take short, quick steps. “Taking long strides may feel like you are covering more ground with each step, but it actually slows you down,” says Dr. Elson. Instead, focus on natural, quicker steps. This motion allows for a smoother, rolling stride with no bouncing or plodding.

Step up your health Improving your walking speed provides many health benefits, according to recent research. A study published online July 16, 2025, by PLOS One found that older adults who are frail or at high risk for frailty improved their physical function by increasing their normal walking pace by just 14 steps per minute. And in a study published online August 6, 2025, by the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, people with high blood pressure lowered their risk of a heart attack, stroke, or heart failure by taking regular walks at higher speeds (77 steps per minute on average) and walking more than 3,000 steps (about 1.3 to 1.5 miles) per day compared with individuals with high blood pressure who took fewer daily steps or walked at slower speeds.

Fast walking workouts

Like anything else fitness-related, improving your walking speed takes practice. Here are some workouts that can help you improve your pace and endurance, courtesy of Michele Stanten, walking coach and fitness consultant for Harvard’s Walking for Health report.

Timed walks. Walk for a set time, such as 20 to 30 minutes, and see how far you can go. Another option is to track how long it takes to cover a specific distance, such as one to two miles. “Then for follow-up workouts, try to meet or beat that distance or time,” says Stanten.

Intervals. Intervals involve walking at a faster-than-usual pace for a brief period, followed by a slower pace to recover, and repeating the cycle for a set amount of time or distance. “The short bouts are training your body to go faster, making you stronger, building endurance, and improving neuromuscular connections,” says Stanten.

A good starting point is to walk at your normal pace for two or three minutes, then increase your pace for 30 seconds, then slow to your normal pace for another two or three minutes. Repeat the pattern five to 10 times. “Eventually, you can work up to longer fast walking periods and shorter recovery periods,” says Stanten.

Another method is to use landmarks to mark your interval breaks. For example, walk fast for one block, then slow down for one block. Or speed up between two telephone poles or a quarter of a lap around a track. You could also count steps (do 25 fast steps, followed by 50 at a regular pace).

Ladders. Here, you progressively increase and decrease your walking speed. Begin walking at a comfortable pace for a few minutes. Then steadily increase the pace every one to two minutes until you reach a pace that is difficult to maintain. Remain at that high pace from 30 seconds to two minutes, then gradually slow the pace until you reach your starting speed. This workout can also be done on a treadmill, where you can more easily track the time and speed.