Japanese walking was first coined in a 2007 study. It’s another name for interval walking — alternating between fast and slow speeds. For people with blood sugar concerns, Japanese walking can improve cholesterol and overall physical fitness. And, in people over the age of 70, it increases leg strength and aids blood pressure. It also improves endurance and flexibility.
Japanese walking is a more intense form of walking where you increase the benefit of walking by turning it into a more strenuous form of cardio exercise. When performed as a 30-minute workout, the Japanese walking method alternates between walking for three minutes with 70 percent of your maximum effort and three minutes at a slow pace with 40 percent of your effort.
Dr. Ross Arena said you can track your energy output using a fitness tracker. But if you don’t have one, it’s okay, you can gauge it naturally. “When you walk fast, you should be breathing harder. You shouldn’t be able to comfortably have a conversation with somebody during the fast pace.”
“If you’re at the point where you can’t have a conversation at all, that’s closer to 100% capacity and you may be doing more than you need to do in that moment to get the benefit,” said Dr. Jeanne Doperak, a sports medicine physician at the Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
While people often stress out about getting a certain number of steps in a day, Japanese walking puts speed and duration at the center of your workout. You don’t have to worry about how far you walk, just your pace. If you stick with Japanese walking, you’ll cover more and more distance over your 30 minutes of walking as you get fitter. But the important thing is to stick with it!
“It challenges the cardiovascular system. It’s like hitting the gas and then backing off, which helps to improve heart health, lung capacity and caloric burn,” said Dr. Doperak.
By doing Japanese walking five times a week, you can meet your exercise needs. “High-intensity training increases heart rate, which has an overall positive impact on blood flow, caloric demand, endurance and even mood. This style of training is also very efficient at getting more bang for your buck in a timely manner when it comes to positive health outcomes,” said physical therapist Katie Adams-Marshall.
