Our methodology

Every number and fact on fitvee comes from a public health body, published research or a sum worked out from them. This page says which, and how.

Where our facts come from

Public health bodies first: the CDC's physical activity guidelines, the World Health Organization, the National Institute on Aging, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the American College of Sports Medicine. Then studies published in medical journals and Cochrane reviews, linked where we state them. A source is cited only for what it says.

How the walking numbers are worked out

Steps in a mile come from the steps a minute people take at each walking speed, measured in the CADENCE-Adults studies of 41 to 60-year-olds and 61 to 85-year-olds. Calories come from the MET values of the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities and the Older Adult Compendium, used as published. The formulas and values are below, and how we work out the walking numbers has every step. Every result is an estimate for a group of people, not a measurement of one person.

What the step-count studies are

The studies that link more daily steps to lower risk, such as the one in The Lancet Public Health, follow large groups of people over time and compare them: they are observational. They show a link, and we say a link, never a cause.

Who writes it

The fitvee team writes and edits every page, and is named under each page's heading. How we write and check our pages has our standards.

When pages change

Each page shows the date its words or numbers last changed. Today's sessions change daily; every other page changes when we edit it, and its date moves only then. The sitemap carries the same dates.

The walking formulas

Steps in a mile = steps a minute at the speed × 60 ÷ miles an hour. Steps a minute are the mean of the two age groups' measured values.

Calories = MET × 1.000 (adults) or 0.810 (60 and over, MET60+) × weight in kg × minutes ÷ 60. These are total calories, resting included.