ESL WORKSHEET - Walking and its benefits

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

THE WALKING TEST

LinguaHouse

Sep. 14, 2026

Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)
Type of language: Medical English
Tags: Health and Well-being; Medicine, Biology and Health; Society and Change; Sports and Fitness; Challenges; Speaking; Vocabulary Lesson; Article Based; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old
Publication date: 09/14/2026

A Medical English lesson about research into walking and its benefits, with a report focusing on a test that can show us how healthy we are, and an article giving advice on walking for health reasons. Students will learn related vocabulary, practice reading and listening skills and reinforce their new vocabulary with conversation practice. (by David J. Marriott)

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English.

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

How fast do you usually walk?
Studies have shown that our walking speed can tell us a lot about our overall health and well-being, and may even indicate how slowly or quickly we are aging.
Measuring our walking speed can even help us to predict how likely we are to be hospitalized in the future or suffer a heart attack. From a medical point of view, doctors can use this quick assessment as a way to estimate how well a patient may recover from a stroke.
If you are outside and have plenty of space, you can try the ten-meter walking test. To start with, you’ll need to measure out five meters, then a further ten meters. You should use the first five meters to get up to your normal walking speed, then walk at your usual pace for the remaining ten meters.
Calculating your speed is easy – just divide the ten meters by the total number of seconds it took to walk the distance.
Average speeds vary between age ranges and genders. For a man aged between forty to forty-nine, for example, the average walking speed would be 1.43 meters per second. For a woman in the same age group, this drops to 1.39 meters per second.
If you have access to smart tech, such as fitness-tracking watches or bracelets, you may be able to generate a more accurate result.
Research into the link between walking and health has revealed some interesting results. Nine studies spanning twenty-one years collectively tracked over thirty-four thousand people over the age of sixty-five.
The results showed that gait speed was significant to lifespans. Men in the slowest group at the age of seventy-five had a nineteen percent chance of living for another ten years, compared to the fastest group of the same age, who had an eighty-seven percent chance of surviving another decade.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/medical-english/the-walking-test. Accessed on October 27, 2026. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2026. All rights reserved.