Walking is one of the simplest exercises, but it can have powerful impacts on health. Walking has been associated with improving mental and cardiovascular health, and can be effective in controlling back pain.
But not all walks are equally effective.
A method nicknamed “Japanese walk” on social networks – known as interval walking training, or IWT, in the acronym in English – seems to offer greater advantages than a simple ride, or even than walking at a moderate pace for 8,000 or more steps a day.
The strategy was first introduced two decades ago in a study led by Hiroshi Nose, a physiologist in the exercise of the Graduate School in Medicine at the University of Shinshu, Japan.
The country has one of the elderly populations in the world, and Nose hoped that by applying interval training techniques used by elite athletes to the senior community, he could improve the health of the elderly and reduce the country’s medical costs, he told The New York Times in an email. After seeing promising initial results, he and his collaborator, Shizue Masuki, continued to study the method in depth.
Although this type of exercise is not new, it has been a trend in Tiktok this summer northern hemisphere. Here is what science says about the benefits of interval walking and how to start.
What is the Japanese walk?
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The Japanese walk is an interval walk that involves alternating between explosions of intense activity and softer movements or rest. In this case, it is basically to switch between fast and slow walk.
But compared to more classic forms of high -intensity interval training, interval walking is more accessible to many people, especially those who have not been exercising for some time or recovering from injuries that make high impact activities such as difficult race, says Carlin Senter, chief of sports medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
How to do it?
All you need are comfortable sneakers, a safe place to walk and a timer.
In Nose and Masuki’s studies, participants walked quickly for three minutes and then slowly for three minutes. During the quick periods, the idea is to feel like working a little intensely, to the point of having difficulty maintaining a conversation.
Movement during slow periods should be a soft walk. (The researchers limited the rapid intervals to three minutes, they say, because that was the point where many elderly volunteers were beginning to feel tired.)
They recommend to stop longer during the rapid intervals than during the slow, to make the activity more challenging. They also suggest wrap their arms by bending them in the elbows and shaking them vigorously with each step, which will help maintain proper shape during longer strides.
In their studies, volunteers have completed at least 30 minutes of interval walking four times a week. If you try it, these 30 minutes need not be continuous. The research suggests that dividing segments into segments of about 10 minutes three times a day can be equally effective.
During their research, they found that, when taking regular breaks for recovery, many practitioners spent more time exercising at high intensity than when they were continuously walked in this intensity, as they got tired faster when they had no breaks.
What are the benefits to health?
In his original study with older adults, which was small, Nose and Masuki found that interval walkers saw significantly higher improvements in blood pressure, cardiovascular health and leg strength compared to volunteers who walked at a continuous and moderate pace.
In the following decade, a growing body of evidence of Nose and Masuki and other researchers reinforced these findings and suggested that the method may have even more benefits. A 2018 study found that over a period of 10 years, interval walking was linked to less age -related declines in aerobic capacity and muscle power.
What is the best way to add practice to your exercise routine?
If you haven’t been active for some time, “start slowly, take it easy,” he recommends. If three minutes look too long for the fastest intervals, start with one minute and increase gradually.
Over time, as your physical fitness improve, you will probably be able to work out more during the quick periods.
Finally, if the interval walking is your main form of exercise, try to complement it with at least two days a week of strength training, along with balance and mobility training, says Senter.
