Cadence is the number of steps you take per minute. In brief:
- Usual pace: healthy adults take roughly 100–125 steps/min; adults over 70 averaged 102–114 (Hollman et al., 2011).
- Effort: about 100 steps/min marks moderate-intensity walking (3 METs) in adults aged 21–40 and 61–85; about 130 is vigorous in adults 21–40 (Tudor-Locke et al., 2019; 2021).
- How to count: walk at a steady pace, count every foot landing for 30 seconds and double it. Step time is 60 ÷ cadence: 100 steps/min is 0.60 s per step.
With age, cadence changes little while steps get shorter, so speed falls. Read the full guide, with stance, swing, double support, stride length and a table of normal values: Gait parameters and normal values →
