When did the training be so … complicated? Expensive fitness memberships, training systems that include valuable space in the garage and don't even make me find the “right” running shoe for your feet (if this exists at all).
Yes, there is far too much confusion related to walking and running in terms of fitness. But it doesn't have to be that way. If you train with your own two feet, you don't have to be similar to an excellent Avril Lavigne song.
Admission: Japanese on foot.
It is also an uncomplicated, yet highly effective fitness technology that includes interval training methods from professional athletes, also known as an interval walking training (IWT). So it is no surprise that Tikok as soon as Tikkok has this simple, 30-minute training (and discovered that it works!), Japanese walking has become viral.
Fitness influencers and news agencies are also announced as a real business: an alternative to silent intensity supported by science, which also works better than the striking, fleeting fitness fads, such as the (now exposed) 10,000 steps a daily edition or the trend.
Are you ready to find out what all the sums with Japanese go? Let us immerse yourself.
The story of walking behind the Japanese
In the early 2000s, a team of researchers at Shhinshu University in Nagano, Japan, dealt with a head scratch dilemma.
Japan's population is consistently classified as one of the oldest in the world. In 2023 it was reported that almost a third of the Japanese population was already 65 years old (estimated 36.23 million people – the population size of Ghana), one of 10 people being 80 or older.
In the study at the graduate school at Shhinshu University of Medicine, sports physiologist Hiroshi nose and his employee Shizu Masuki led a research group in a search. The goal? To go the new best friend of an aging person. They wanted to capture a highly effective hiking routine for adult medium and older ages that help improve their physical and cardiometabolic health.
Early studies in Japan showed promising results. In the study by the nose and Masuki from 2007, they observed the physical fitness and blood pressure of 246 participants between 44 and 78 years for five months. The results confirmed their suspicion: Those who followed the IWT program showed a greater improvement in strength, endurance, blood pressure and aerobic capacity compared to moderate, steady walking or those in no-vibration.
In older adults, these advantages increased even further, with a significant increase in thigh muscle power (up to 17%) and a reduction in systolic blood pressure.
What a perfect end, right?
If only.
“Nobody has completed the program and they complained that the program was too boring and too difficult,” Shizu Masuki revealed.
Instead of giving up when the participants found that the fitness program was bored, the research team of nose and Masuki turned to a popular training method that was sworn in the professional sports world: interval training. This type of training is loved by runners, cyclists and others who want to increase their speed, mobility, endurance and/or muscle strength. It is efficient (you can achieve more results in a shorter time) and prevents boredom.
For example, if you make jumping gags for a few minutes, then Burpees and mountain climbers or shuttle runs and bicycle crisps repeatedly, it is quite difficult to get bored.
What makes Japanese interval so special?
There is a certain symmetrical beauty of the interval hiking training.
Instead of maintaining a quick, steady pace, the ITW supporters change between three-minute outbursts of faster, energetic walking and three-minute intervals of slow recreational periods. Change between the two speeds for a total of five laps or 30 minutes, and that's it! You're done.
Two people go outside. Photo credit: canva
For those who want to become technically, nose and Masuki recommend reaching 70-85% of their maximum heart rate during the fast part. In the more relaxed intervals, their heart rate should decrease to 40-50% of their maximum heart rate.
If you are not sure about your heart rate, you should invest in a heart rate monitor. This does not need a frills; Make sure it has a stopwatch and the option of fixing a target rate with an alarm.
Why this actually works – while other migration plans fail
Your body longs for the challenge, but must also be recovered. Japanese interval walking gives them both. During these highly intensive burdens, create the cardiovascular expert, Dr. I am ali, “healthy stress” on your heart and her muscles.
“If you increase your intensity of walking or another exercise that increases your heart rate, it is helpful for cardiovascular health and the aerobic capacity,” said Ali, General and Bariatric surgeon. “As soon as you have settled from this increase over time, your blood pressure improves.”
The advantages don't just stop here. The studies of the nose and Masuki also have positive effects on sleep, cognitive function and depression. Imagine that you could sleep better, think more clearly and feel happier, everything from a simple 30-minute walk. That is the power of Japanese walking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipbsyptattu – YouTube www.youtube.com
In a world in which fitness feels increasingly expensive and more complicated, people want something real and accessible. Japanese walking connects with so many people because it works – it is not a fad or a viral moment. An interval hiking training was developed in a laboratory to scientifically strengthen the bones and body of the growing older population of Japan, and offered the rest of the world a rare gift: a way to fitness that is not only effective but also efficient. Especially sustainable.
Oh, and it is accessible! They already have everything you need to be successful in training walking. You, a few shoes and 30 minutes, preferably outdoors.