Cadence

Cadence is walking rate in steps per minute, and is related to walking speed (speed = cadence x stride length) and intensity of activity. Cadence is one measure that can be used to check that adequate activity levels in daily living are being reached, since averaged cadences throughout a day will differ from the cadence of a pure walk.

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Normalized* normative values of cadence for healthy adults

* normalized cadence = cadence × sqrt(body height/mean body height)

Fang X, Liu C, Jiang Z. 2018 Reference values of gait using APDM movement monitoring inertial sensor system. R. Soc. open sci.5: 170818. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170818

Normative values of cadence for non-diseased elderly men and women

Oh-Park, M., Holtzer, R., Xue, X., & Verghese, J. (2010). Conventional and robust quantitative gait norms in community-dwelling older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 58(8), 1512–1518. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02962.x

Walking cadence for exercise intensity - According to federal guidelines, adults should be reaching 150 mins of moderate or 75 mins of vigorous exercise per week. Walking at certain cadences can be a means to achieve that: low mean daily cadence = 60-79 steps/min, medium daily cadence = 80-89 steps/min, brisk daily cadence = 100-119 steps/min, faster locomotion = 120+ steps/min.

Tudor-Locke C, Han H, Aguiar EJ, et al. How fast is fast enough? Walking cadence (steps/min) as a practical estimate of intensity in adults: a narrative review. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2018;52:776-788.