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Exercise library / Brisk walk

Brisk walk

Suggestions, not prescriptions. Exercises here pass automated checks. They have not been clinically reviewed, and no exercise is right for everyone. Adjust to your comfort and ability.

A more challenging exercise. Make it a goal if you like. “Show alternatives” below lists easier steps toward it.

Walking fast enough to breathe harder while you can still talk. It is how many people reach the moderate effort the guidelines describe.

Main focus
Cardio and endurance
Level
Building
Equipment
Bodyweight
Load
Your body weight
Stability
Free: you control the whole movement

Keep something steady within reach: a counter, wall or sturdy chair.

Before you start
  • Warm up first with a minute or two of easy walking or marching in place, and cool down the same way after.
  • Wear flat, closed shoes with a good grip, or go barefoot on a non-slip floor if that feels steady to you.
  • Clear the floor around you. Keep a sturdy chair, counter or wall within reach for any move you do standing.
  • Build up slowly. Add repetitions or minutes over weeks, not days. If you take a break, work back up gradually.

Talk with a doctor or physical therapist before you start if you have not been active for some time, if you have a health condition or a worry about exercise, if you have fallen or fear falling, or if a clinician has told you to limit activity. This library is general information, not medical advice.

What you need

Comfortable shoes and an even route.

How to do it

  1. Begin with two or three minutes of easy walking.
  2. Pick up the pace until you are breathing harder and feel a little warmer.
  3. Use the talk test: you can say a sentence, but you could not sing it.
  4. Finish with a minute or two of slower walking.

How much

To start: Not a starting exercise. Begin with the easy walk.

As it gets easier: 10 minutes at a brisk pace, working toward 30 minutes on most days over weeks to months.

How it should feel: Breathing harder, still able to talk, not able to sing.

Make it easier

  • Shorten the brisk part and rest in between.
  • Alternate 1 minute brisk with 2 minutes easy.

Make it harder

  • Add a minute at a time.
  • Add gentle hills only after flat ground feels easy.

Safety

  • Increase time before you increase speed.
  • Use the talk test rather than a number on a watch.
  • If you take a break from walking, build back up gradually.

When to stop

  • Stop and rest if you feel dizzy or lightheaded, sick to your stomach, or unusually short of breath.
  • Stop if you feel sharp, sudden or joint pain. Muscles working hard is expected. Pain is a signal to stop.
  • Stop and sit down if you feel unsteady and cannot settle yourself right away.
  • Call your local emergency number for chest pain or pressure, fainting, or sudden weakness, numbness or trouble speaking.
  • After any of these, do not repeat the exercise until you have talked with a doctor or physical therapist.
  • You cannot talk at all, or you feel you must stop to catch your breath.
  • You feel chest pain or pressure, a racing or uneven heartbeat, or you feel faint.

Connected exercises

Other ways to do this movement

Sign in and we will show other ways to do this, with other equipment or at a different level, chosen from your own answers. Sign in

Where this comes from

NIA: moderate effort means breathing hard but still able to hold a conversation easily; gradually build to 150 minutes a week; warm up and cool down with easy walking. NHS: a brisk walk is about 3 miles an hour, and you can talk but cannot sing; a brisk 10-minute walk counts toward the weekly total. CDC: 150 minutes of moderate activity a week.

This is general information, not medical advice. It does not diagnose anything or tell you whether an exercise is right for you. Adjust to your comfort and ability.