It has been argued that aortic pulse wave velocity (APWV) cannot be determined from the reflected wave transit time (Δt) because the effective reflecting distance (EfRD, aortic valve to distal reflecting site) is not defined anatomically. We hypothesized that EfRD can be estimated from demographic/anthropometric data and used to indirectly determine APWV from peripheral blood pressure (BP) waveforms in humans. Invasive (n=25, brachial artery) and non-invasive (n=15, EndoPAT) BP waveforms were converted into aortic BP waveforms (transfer function) and Δt computed from decomposed forward and reflected waves. True EfRD was determined from measured carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV) (SphygmoCor) and Δt. Stepwise regression analysis resulted in the equation: EfRD= 0.173^*age+0.661^*BMI+34.548 cm, used to indirectly estimate EfRD and APWV in the original 40 healthy adults, and in a separate cohort of young sedentary (YS, n=6; 22±2 years; VO_2max 39±2 ml/kg/min), older sedentary (OS, n=24; 62±1 years; VO_2max 27±1 ml/kg/min), and older endurance-trained (OT, n=14; 61±2 years; VO_2max 46±2 ml/kg/min) subjects. CF-PWV and indirectly determined APWV were highly correlated (n=40, Pearson’s R=0.65, P<0.01; interclass correlation coefficient ICC=0.64, P<0.01). In YS, OS and OT, EfRD and APWV were 52.0±0.5, 61.8±0.4 and 60.6±0.5 cm (all P<0.05) and 6.4±0.3, 9.6±0.2, and 8.1±0.2 m/s (all P<0.05), respectively. In healthy adults, APWV can be reliably derived from invasive and non-invasive peripheral BP waveforms using age and BMI to determine EfRD. This method can detect the distal shift of the reflecting site with age and the increase in APWV with sedentary aging that is attenuated with endurance exercise.