Physical activity, performance and required breathing [Ventilation]
Physical activityVelocity [km/h] Effort [Watt]Description and further examplesBreathing [l/min]
Resting 3-6
Walking 1-2
3
5		 20
30
50		 Walking slowly
Walking normally
Walking fast ,"briskly"		 6-10
12-15
25-30
Walking slightly uphill 75 Walking at 3 km/h and approx. 7% gradient Cleaning, cleaning windows, vacuuming, making beds, lifting 4kg per hand either single-handed or two-handed. 35-40
Running 100 Running, climbing stairs slowly, riding a bike 12-15km/h, walking 3km/h at 15% gradient(steeply uphill) 40-45
Running 150 Climbing stairs at moderate pace, riding a bike 20km/h, walking fast (5km/h) at 10 % gradient 60
High performance 450 Slopes of Alped`Huez with the times of top cyclists in the Tour de France > 120

Please note: Those numbers are taken from different literary sources and are not absolute. They are not applicable one on one to persons of e.g. different weight, height, health state of the lung and fitness level. Furthermore, those absolute numbers need to be considered rough reference values which have partially been rounded up or down in the course of grouping/forming categories. They merely give an idea of the exertion.

In order to have an idea of how hard single activities actually are, one can standardise exertion and express it in watts. At this point we are able to compare them. Just like we express height in metres, Watts is the rate at which work/effort is done. Even though you should not compare walking (1:1) with riding a bike or other activities, the table above lists a few examples.

As stated above, those activities should be compared only to a limited extent. But the following is a sure fact: the more we exercise [How fast do I walk? = exertion], the more our organ systems need to work [How great is the demand on the cardio vascular system to perform this activity = strain]. For your daily life this means: If you can`t ventilate the amount of air that is needed for a given effort, the activity you actually wanted to perform (e.g. walking, or washing) will not be possible.

Did you know?
Inspiratory Muscle Training can help you to extend your exercise capacity and keep it up for a longer period of time.