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I Tried the Japanese Walking Routine Everyone's Talking About—Is It Worth the Hype?
I Tried the Japanese Walking Routine Everyone's Talking About—Is It Worth the Hype?

Yahoo

time13 hours ago

  • Health
  • Yahoo

I Tried the Japanese Walking Routine Everyone's Talking About—Is It Worth the Hype?

There's no shortage of fitness fads, and the latest one to take over my social media feeds is the Japanese walking trend. The workout is easy, quick, and promises to lower blood pressure—as long as you're consistent—so I tried it for a week to see if it's as good as the fitfluencers say. Essentially, this is a 30-minute high-intensity walking workout. Here's how it works: Do three minutes of fast walking (about 70% of your peak aerobic capacity) Switch to three minutes of slow walking (about 40% of your peak aerobic capacity) Repeat the intervals for a total of 30 minutes Unlike some fitness trends, this workout is backed by science! Researchers created the routine nearly 20 years ago and tested it on adults who were, on average, 63 years old. The study found that adults who completed the walk four days a week had lower blood pressure compared to those who didn't do the workout. The Japanese walking routine has taken off on TikTok, and popular fitness coach Eugene Teo even said it is a great way to get your steps in. I trained for the REAL SIMPLE Women's Half Marathon in 2024 and loved running so much that I kept up with it until a few months ago. Now that I'm out of practice, I can run for a mile (very slowly), so this was a nice way to ease back into things. The faster-paced intervals were long enough that I felt challenged, but not too long that I needed to stop before the time was up. Having the recovery time was nice as I didn't feel as tired as I typically do after a run. However, it took a while for my heart rate to recover enough to reach 40% of my peak aerobic capacity. For example, it sometimes took half of the interval before my heart rate was low enough, but since I felt recovered, I stuck with the three minutes. You do have to keep track of time, meaning you can't zone out! To make it easy, I programmed the routine in my Apple Watch. This way, I got alerts when it was time for a new interval. Compared to other walking workouts, such as the popular 12-30-3 workout, I enjoyed this one much more. (If you don't know, 12-30-3 was a popular treadmill walk where you set the incline at 13, the pace at 3 miles per hour, and move for 30 minutes.) I've found that walking at the same pace for 30 minutes can get boring. But I gave that one another go to see how it compares to the Japanese walking routine in terms of average heart rate and distance. I found that both walking methods produced similar results, according to my watch. Over the week, I noticed the walk became easier, and I had to walk faster to ensure I reached 40% of my peak aerobic capacity. If you're looking to get into running (or get back into running, as in my case), this is a great way to do it! I'll continue to use this as my main form of cardio as I build back up. Plus, it's only 30 minutes, and can be done nearly anywhere. Read the original article on Real Simple

I Tried the Japanese Walking Routine Everyone's Talking About—Is It Worth the Hype?
I Tried the Japanese Walking Routine Everyone's Talking About—Is It Worth the Hype?

Yahoo

time19 hours ago

  • Health
  • Yahoo

I Tried the Japanese Walking Routine Everyone's Talking About—Is It Worth the Hype?

There's no shortage of fitness fads, and the latest one to take over my social media feeds is the Japanese walking trend. The workout is easy, quick, and promises to lower blood pressure—as long as you're consistent—so I tried it for a week to see if it's as good as the fitfluencers say. Essentially, this is a 30-minute high-intensity walking workout. Here's how it works: Do three minutes of fast walking (about 70% of your peak aerobic capacity) Switch to three minutes of slow walking (about 40% of your peak aerobic capacity) Repeat the intervals for a total of 30 minutes Unlike some fitness trends, this workout is backed by science! Researchers created the routine nearly 20 years ago and tested it on adults who were, on average, 63 years old. The study found that adults who completed the walk four days a week had lower blood pressure compared to those who didn't do the workout. The Japanese walking routine has taken off on TikTok, and popular fitness coach Eugene Teo even said it is a great way to get your steps in. I trained for the REAL SIMPLE Women's Half Marathon in 2024 and loved running so much that I kept up with it until a few months ago. Now that I'm out of practice, I can run for a mile (very slowly), so this was a nice way to ease back into things. The faster-paced intervals were long enough that I felt challenged, but not too long that I needed to stop before the time was up. Having the recovery time was nice as I didn't feel as tired as I typically do after a run. However, it took a while for my heart rate to recover enough to reach 40% of my peak aerobic capacity. For example, it sometimes took half of the interval before my heart rate was low enough, but since I felt recovered, I stuck with the three minutes. You do have to keep track of time, meaning you can't zone out! To make it easy, I programmed the routine in my Apple Watch. This way, I got alerts when it was time for a new interval. Compared to other walking workouts, such as the popular 12-30-3 workout, I enjoyed this one much more. (If you don't know, 12-30-3 was a popular treadmill walk where you set the incline at 13, the pace at 3 miles per hour, and move for 30 minutes.) I've found that walking at the same pace for 30 minutes can get boring. But I gave that one another go to see how it compares to the Japanese walking routine in terms of average heart rate and distance. I found that both walking methods produced similar results, according to my watch. Over the week, I noticed the walk became easier, and I had to walk faster to ensure I reached 40% of my peak aerobic capacity. If you're looking to get into running (or get back into running, as in my case), this is a great way to do it! I'll continue to use this as my main form of cardio as I build back up. Plus, it's only 30 minutes, and can be done nearly anywhere. Read the original article on Real Simple

‘Japanese walking' trend may be better than 10,000 steps a day — and you only need 30 minutes
‘Japanese walking' trend may be better than 10,000 steps a day — and you only need 30 minutes

New York Post

time12-06-2025

  • Health
  • New York Post

‘Japanese walking' trend may be better than 10,000 steps a day — and you only need 30 minutes

Americans love to say they're too busy to break a sweat — but a viral fitness trend is blowing that excuse out of the water. Enter 'Japanese walking,' a simple, science-backed exercise routine that promises serious gains in just 30 minutes. 'All movement is medicine, but if you're short on time or want to get the most bang for your buck, this is for you,' strength training coach Eugene Teo said in a recent TikTok. 4 A majority of Americans don't meet the CDC's weekly exercise recommendations. bignai – It's long been said that taking 10,000 steps per day is the key to better health, with research linking regular walking to improved cardiovascular fitness, improved sleep quality and even a lower dementia risk. But that magic number isn't rooted in science. Instead, it originated from a marketing campaign to promote a Japanese pedometer in the 1960s. And let's be real, carving out the two hours it takes to hit that mark isn't going to happen for most Americans. In surveys, nearly half say they're too busy with work and other obligations to exercise at all. Japanese walking might be the solution, offering a more efficient way to achieve the health benefits typically linked to 10,000 steps a day in a fraction of the time. In a 2007 study, Japanese researchers recruited 246 adults with an average age of 63 and divided them into three groups. One group did no walking at all. Another group walked at a steady, moderate pace, aiming for 8,000 or more steps a day at least four times per week. 4 It takes the average person between 1.75 and 2.5 hours to walk 10,000 steps. oasisamuel – The third group practiced interval walking by walking slowly for three minutes, then walking quickly at a hard effort for three minutes. They repeated this cycle for 30 minutes, four or more days per week. Researchers found that interval walking was superior to continuous walking for improving blood pressure, blood glucose levels and body mass index. It also led to the greatest improvements in leg muscle strength and aerobic capacity, which measures the maximum amount of oxygen the body can take in and use during exercise. The low-impact regimen might even hold the key to staying in shape as you get older. A longer-term study found that the Japanese walking method helps protect against the decline in strength and fitness that naturally occurs with aging. 4 Japanese walking can be tailored to fit all fitness levels. lordn – Interval walking is 'one of the most overlooked yet incredibly effective tools for improving long-term health, especially among middle-aged and older adults,' Dr. Ramit Singh Sambyal, a general physician, told Verywell Health. 'By simply alternating between short periods of brisk walking and slower-paced recovery, we engage the cardiovascular system in a much more dynamic way,' he added. Another perk: completing the 30-minute Japanese walking routine four times a week puts you just thirty minutes short of the CDC's recommendation that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week. Add just one more walking session, or incorporate one of these 30-minute workouts, and you'll be among the few Americans who actually hit that target. 4 Interval walking may be more effective than traditional walking for improving cardiovascular fitness. bongkarn – Tips and tricks to master Japanese walking To make sure you're hitting the right pace, use a fitness tracker that measures your heart rate. During those three minutes of brisk walking, aim for 70% to 85% of your maximum heart rate. When you slow down, let it drop to 40% to 50%. No tracker? No problem. Try the 'talk test.' At a brisk pace, you should be able to say a few words but need to catch your breath quickly. At a leisurely pace, you should be able to chat comfortably. And if you're worried about keeping up a brisk pace for a full three minutes, experts say it's okay to start small. 'Try walking at your regular pace for a few minutes, then pick up the speed for 20 to 30 seconds, and repeat,' Dr. Sarah F. Eby, a sports medicine specialist, told Healthline. 'As your body adapts to this new exercise stimulus, you can gradually increase the duration of the faster walking bouts,' she added.

I tried the walking method that offers ‘10 times the benefits' of walking 10,000 steps per day
I tried the walking method that offers ‘10 times the benefits' of walking 10,000 steps per day

The Independent

time09-06-2025

  • Health
  • The Independent

I tried the walking method that offers ‘10 times the benefits' of walking 10,000 steps per day

Walking is an accessible form of movement with impressive health-boosting credentials; I think there is enough research available to safely make that statement. Treating 10,000 steps per day as the gold standard for a healthy lifestyle is far more contentious. The number stems from a 1960s Japanese marketing campaign for a pedometer called the Manpo-Kei, or '10,000 steps metre'. It's a nice round number, but it's not one identified by science as the holy grail for health – a 2023 study by the University of Granada suggests that, while more is better, 8,000 is sufficient 'to significantly reduce the risk of premature death'​​. Walking 10,000 steps also takes a fair old while. Even at a decent nick, this task is likely to take you upwards of 90 minutes each day, making it a struggle for busy folks. Recently, an alternative walking protocol – colloquially termed 'Japanese walking' due to its country of origin – has stepped into the spotlight online. It takes just 30 minutes per day, with fitness coach and content creator Eugene Teo claiming it offers '10 times the benefits' of walking 10,000 steps per day in his viral video above. As a fitness writer, I've covered walking extensively, finding it's one of the best ways to help people of all fitness levels introduce more movement into their regular routine. So, intrigued, I endeavoured to try 'Japanese walking' and find out if the impressive health claims around it held water. How to try the 'Japanese walking' method Complete the sequence below five times without any breaks: Three minutes of walking at a low intensity (40 per cent peak aerobic capacity, or a relaxed pace) Three minutes of walking at a high intensity (70 per cent peak aerobic capacity, or a brisk pace) Benefits of Japanese walking The 'Japanese walking' protocol comes from a study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings journal in 2007. It was designed to test whether high-intensity interval walking training (IWT) can offer greater benefits than moderate-intensity continuous walking training, in terms of improving thigh muscle strength, peak aerobic capacity (the maximum amount of oxygen you can take in and use during exercise) and blood pressure. Over five months, 60 men and 186 women with an average age of 63 were divided into three groups; no walking training, IWT and CWT (continuous walking training). The CWT group was instructed to walk at 50 per cent of their peak aerobic capacity (a fairly slow pace) and take 8,000 or more steps per day at least four times per week. The IWT group was told to complete the protocol above, four or more times per week. Among participants who met these conditions, those in the IWT group saw a 13 per cent increase in isometric knee flexion, a 17 per cent increase in isometric knee flexion, and an eight per cent increase in peak aerobic capacity for walking. This was 'significantly greater than the increases observed in the moderate-intensity continuous walking training group'. The research also found a greater reduction in resting systolic blood pressure in the IWT group, despite the fact they didn't spend as much time walking each week. The conclusion states: 'high-intensity interval walking may protect against age-associated increases in blood pressure and decreases in thigh muscle strength and peak aerobic capacity.' What happened when I tried Japanese walking I don't have a full science lab set up at home; what I do have is two legs, a Garmin watch and a lot of walking experience, so I decided to put these to good use. During my Monday lunch break, I took my dog for a 30-minute walk as normal. Then, at 1pm the following day, I tried the 'Japanese walking' method on the same looped route, setting my Garmin Vivoactive to record both sessions and taking note of any subjective changes I felt. My usual 30-minute walk saw me accrue nearly 3,000 steps, covering 2.12km at an average speed of 14min 10sec per kilometre. My heart rate averaged 85bpm, remaining fairly constant throughout, and I burned an estimated 157 calories. As anyone who has owned a dog might expect, there was a good deal of stopping and starting to inspect particularly interesting trees and bollards, and I defaulted to a fairly casual pace amid a busy work day. For the Japanese walking protocol, my numbers looked a bit different, with my fast pace falling just below 120 steps per minute and my slow pace a few shy of 100 steps per minute. I travelled significantly further, covering 2.94km and 3,500 steps at an average speed of 10min 12sec per kilometre. My average heart rate came out very similar (86bpm) but there were noticeable peaks (104bpm) and troughs in line with the high- and low-speed intervals. My estimated calorie burn was also significantly higher: 211. Benefits of the Japanese walking method The idea that walking faster, or sprinkling more intensity into your exercise, holds greater benefits is nothing new. Specialist in walking for health, Dr Elroy Aguiar, is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama's department of kinesiology. He was the lead author on a 2024 paper published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, which correlated as little as one minute of high-intensity activity with improved health outcomes. 'One of the really interesting findings from our paper was that, if you look at people's highest one minute of activity across each day, averaged across the monitoring period, that was a very strong signal for whether they had one or more metabolic syndrome risk factors [elevated waist circumference, high triglycerides, low HDL (or 'good' cholesterol), high blood pressure and high blood sugar] present,' he tells me. Another series of studies he worked on, featured in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, pointed to the fact that 'if you walk at a cadence of about 100 steps per minute, that's equivalent to what's called 'moderate-intensity', and all of the research in this area suggests that most of the benefits [of walking] accumulate at a moderate or higher intensity'. Beyond this, completing the Japanese walking method four times per week leaves you half-an-hour away from the World Health Organisation's 'global recommendations of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week'. Add a couple of short full-body strength training sessions into the mix and you have a decent minimalist workout plan for beginners. Potential drawbacks of the Japanese Walking method All of the information above paints the Japanese walking method in a favourable light – as it should, with the protocol delivering impressive results in a non-intimidating time-span. However, if we are questioning the claim that it is 'better' than walking 10,000 steps a day, there are a few further areas to consider. Firstly, Dr Aguiar's 2024 paper supported the idea that the 'best' walking method for reducing metabolic risk factors involves a combination of high volume (number of steps) and high intensity (walking speed). 'Accumulating a high volume of walking throughout the day [8,000-plus steps], then focussing on at least 30 minutes of faster walking or jogging, would be a way to move the metrics in a positive direction and lower your metrics for each of the [metabolic syndrome] risk factors,' he says. I racked up a little over 3,500 steps when trying the Japanese Walking method – less than half of the 8,000 daily steps research has repeatedly linked to many favourable health outcomes, and short of the 5,000 mark often viewed as the threshold for a sedentary lifestyle. Using this method as part, rather than all, of your daily steps could be a better approach for achieving your health goals. However, if you only have 30 minutes per day free, it still offers dramatically more benefits than not moving at all, and improved return on investment over a regular 30-minute walk. Another area where the Japanese walking method loses out to walking 10,000 steps per day is movement regularity. While the former involves a concentrated 30-minute dose of activity, the latter can be spread throughout the day, encouraging you to abandon your office chair and sofa more often. A 10-year study of 8,000 people, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that those replaced 30 minutes of daily sitting with light activity had a 17 per cent lower risk of dying in that period. This even applied if they accrued these 30 minutes across short intervals throughout the day – hence why your smartwatch is constantly sending you reminders to stand up and move. Regular movement can also help maintain mobility and reduce stiffness in our joints and muscles. 'When we're dealing with an adaptation from stillness, movement is the answer, so any movement is better than just being still,' movement mechanics expert and The Training Stimulus founder Ash Grossmann summarises. The final factor to consider is enjoyment. By adding a rigid framework, Japanese walking ensures intensity. However, it also meant I was unable to stop and chat to people in the park or appreciate my surroundings to the same extent. For me, this lowered the stress-busting potential of my walk, sacrificing some of the usual mental health benefits of walking for physical ones. The Japanese walking method: the verdict In my time writing about health and fitness, the net positive effect of regular movement has been one of the most striking common denominators. For those looking for a minimum effective dose: any movement will do you a lot of good, particularly if your starting point is a sedentary lifestyle. But if you can fit one or two quick full-body strength training sessions, regular aerobic activity (like walking) and an occasional dash of more intense exercise into each week, it will stand you in very good stead. Walking is among the most accessible forms of exercise there is, lowering the barrier to entry for exercise for billions of people, which is why I'm always keen to promote it. However, in the modern world, even finding time for a quick walk can be tricky for particularly busy individuals. The Japanese walking method provides a time-savvy way to enjoy many of the benefits of a greater volume of daily walking. Sure, you could enjoy higher-intensity exercise in any number of other forms, from cycling to a HIIT workout, but walking remains the most efficient – you don't even need a change of clothes. So should you try it? Yes, especially if you're short on time and looking for a way to squeeze health-boosting movement into your day. And should you stick with it? This depends. If you enjoy this framework, or find it's something you can stick to with a good degree of regularity, that's the ticket to a sustainable movement habit and the many health benefits that come from it. If not, look for an alternative form of moderate- to high-intensity exercise that you find fun, and commit to this instead – consistency is the key to long-term results.

I tried the 30-minute walking workout that offers ‘10 times the benefits' of walking 10,000 steps per day
I tried the 30-minute walking workout that offers ‘10 times the benefits' of walking 10,000 steps per day

The Independent

time04-06-2025

  • Health
  • The Independent

I tried the 30-minute walking workout that offers ‘10 times the benefits' of walking 10,000 steps per day

Walking is an accessible form of movement with impressive health-boosting credentials; I think there is enough research available to safely make that statement. Treating 10,000 steps per day as the gold standard for a healthy lifestyle is far more contentious. The number stems from a 1960s Japanese marketing campaign for a pedometer called the Manpo-Kei, or '10,000 steps metre'. It's a nice round number, but it's not one identified by science as the holy grail for health – a 2023 study by the University of Granada suggests that, while more is better, 8,000 is sufficient 'to significantly reduce the risk of premature death'​​. Walking 10,000 steps also takes a fair old while. Even at a decent nick, this task is likely to take you upwards of 90 minutes each day, making it a struggle for busy folks. Recently, an alternative walking protocol – colloquially termed 'Japanese walking' due to its country of origin – has stepped into the spotlight online. It takes just 30 minutes per day, with fitness coach and content creator Eugene Teo claiming it offers '10 times the benefits' of walking 10,000 steps per day in his viral video above. As a fitness writer, I've covered walking extensively, finding it's one of the best ways to help people of all fitness levels introduce more movement into their regular routine. So, intrigued, I endeavoured to try 'Japanese walking' and find out if the impressive health claims around it held water. How to try the 'Japanese walking' method Complete the sequence below five times without any breaks: Benefits of Japanese walking The 'Japanese walking' protocol comes from a study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings journal in 2007. It was designed to test whether high-intensity interval walking training (IWT) can offer greater benefits than moderate-intensity continuous walking training, in terms of improving thigh muscle strength, peak aerobic capacity (the maximum amount of oxygen you can take in and use during exercise) and blood pressure. Over five months, 60 men and 186 women with an average age of 63 were divided into three groups; no walking training, IWT and CWT (continuous walking training). The CWT group was instructed to walk at 50 per cent of their peak aerobic capacity (a fairly slow pace) and take 8,000 or more steps per day at least four times per week. The IWT group was told to complete the protocol above, four or more times per week. Among participants who met these conditions, those in the IWT group saw a 13 per cent increase in isometric knee flexion, a 17 per cent increase in isometric knee flexion, and an eight per cent increase in peak aerobic capacity for walking. This was 'significantly greater than the increases observed in the moderate-intensity continuous walking training group'. The research also found a greater reduction in resting systolic blood pressure in the IWT group, despite the fact they didn't spend as much time walking each week. The conclusion states: 'high-intensity interval walking may protect against age-associated increases in blood pressure and decreases in thigh muscle strength and peak aerobic capacity.' What happened when I tried Japanese walking I don't have a full science lab set up at home; what I do have is two legs, a Garmin watch and a lot of walking experience, so I decided to put these to good use. During my Monday lunch break, I took my dog for a 30-minute walk as normal. Then, at 1pm the following day, I tried the 'Japanese walking' method on the same looped route, setting my Garmin Vivoactive to record both sessions and taking note of any subjective changes I felt. My usual 30-minute walk saw me accrue nearly 3,000 steps, covering 2.12km at an average pace of 14kph. My heart rate averaged 85bpm, remaining fairly constant throughout, and I burned an estimated 157 calories. As anyone who has owned a dog might expect, there was a good deal of stopping and starting to inspect particularly interesting trees and bollards, and I defaulted to a fairly casual pace amid a busy work day. For the Japanese walking protocol, my numbers looked a bit different, with my fast pace falling just below 120 steps per minute and my slow pace a few shy of 100 steps per minute. I travelled significantly further, covering 2.94km and 3,500 steps at an average speed of just over 10kph. My average heart rate came out very similar (86bpm) but there were noticeable peaks (104bpm) and troughs in line with the high- and low-speed intervals. My estimated calorie burn was also significantly higher: 211. Benefits of the Japanese walking method The idea that walking faster, or sprinkling more intensity into your exercise, holds greater benefits is nothing new. Specialist in walking for health, Dr Elroy Aguiar, is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama's department of kinesiology. He was the lead author on a 2024 paper published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, which correlated as little as one minute of high-intensity activity with improved health outcomes. 'One of the really interesting findings from our paper was that, if you look at people's highest one minute of activity across each day, averaged across the monitoring period, that was a very strong signal for whether they had one or more metabolic syndrome risk factors [elevated waist circumference, high triglycerides, low HDL (or 'good' cholesterol), high blood pressure and high blood sugar] present,' he tells me. Another series of studies he worked on, featured in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, pointed to the fact that 'if you walk at a cadence of about 100 steps per minute, that's equivalent to what's called 'moderate-intensity', and all of the research in this area suggests that most of the benefits [of walking] accumulate at a moderate or higher intensity'. Beyond this, completing the Japanese walking method four times per week leaves you half-an-hour away from the World Health Organisation's 'global recommendations of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week'. Add a couple of short full-body strength training sessions into the mix and you have a decent minimalist workout plan for beginners. Potential drawbacks of the Japanese Walking method All of the information above paints the Japanese walking method in a favourable light – as it should, with the protocol delivering impressive results in a non-intimidating time-span. However, if we are questioning the claim that it is 'better' than walking 10,000 steps a day, there are a few further areas to consider. Firstly, Dr Aguiar's 2024 paper supported the idea that the 'best' walking method for reducing metabolic risk factors involves a combination of high volume (number of steps) and high intensity (walking speed). 'Accumulating a high volume of walking throughout the day [8,000-plus steps], then focussing on at least 30 minutes of faster walking or jogging, would be a way to move the metrics in a positive direction and lower your metrics for each of the [metabolic syndrome] risk factors,' he says. I racked up a little over 3,500 steps when trying the Japanese Walking method – less than half of the 8,000 daily steps research has repeatedly linked to many favourable health outcomes, and short of the 5,000 mark often viewed as the threshold for a sedentary lifestyle. Using this method as part, rather than all, of your daily steps could be a better approach for achieving your health goals. However, if you only have 30 minutes per day free, it still offers dramatically more benefits than not moving at all, and improved return on investment over a regular 30-minute walk. Another area where the Japanese walking method loses out to walking 10,000 steps per day is movement regularity. While the former involves a concentrated 30-minute dose of activity, the latter can be spread throughout the day, encouraging you to abandon your office chair and sofa more often. A 10-year study of 8,000 people, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that those replaced 30 minutes of daily sitting with light activity had a 17 per cent lower risk of dying in that period. This even applied if they accrued these 30 minutes across short intervals throughout the day – hence why your smartwatch is constantly sending you reminders to stand up and move. Regular movement can also help maintain mobility and reduce stiffness in our joints and muscles. 'When we're dealing with an adaptation from stillness, movement is the answer, so any movement is better than just being still,' movement mechanics expert and The Training Stimulus founder Ash Grossmann summarises. The final factor to consider is enjoyment. By adding a rigid framework, Japanese walking ensures intensity. However, it also meant I was unable to stop and chat to people in the park or appreciate my surroundings to the same extent. For me, this lowered the stress-busting potential of my walk, sacrificing some of the usual mental health benefits of walking for physical ones. The Japanese walking method: the verdict In my time writing about health and fitness, the net positive effect of regular movement has been one of the most striking common denominators. For those looking for a minimum effective dose: any movement will do you a lot of good, particularly if your starting point is a sedentary lifestyle. But if you can fit one or two quick full-body strength training sessions, regular aerobic activity (like walking) and an occasional dash of more intense exercise into each week, it will stand you in very good stead. Walking is among the most accessible forms of exercise there is, lowering the barrier to entry for exercise for billions of people, which is why I'm always keen to promote it. However, in the modern world, even finding time for a quick walk can be tricky for particularly busy individuals. The Japanese walking method provides a time-savvy way to enjoy many of the benefits of a greater volume of daily walking. Sure, you could enjoy higher-intensity exercise in any number of other forms, from cycling to a HIIT workout, but walking remains the most efficient – you don't even need a change of clothes. So should you try it? Yes, especially if you're short on time and looking for a way to squeeze health-boosting movement into your day. And should you stick with it? This depends. If you enjoy this framework, or find it's something you can stick to with a good degree of regularity, that's the ticket to a sustainable movement habit and the many health benefits that come from it. If not, look for an alternative form of moderate- to high-intensity exercise that you find fun, and commit to this instead – consistency is the key to long-term results.

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