{"id":28806,"date":"2025-07-28T13:55:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T13:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/28806\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T13:55:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T13:55:10","slug":"japanese-walking-got-me-closer-than-ever-to-10000-steps-a-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/28806\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Japanese Walking’ Got Me Closer Than Ever To 10,000 Steps A Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though I love running<\/a> and regularly go to the gym, facts are facts; I work from home and don\u2019t love a long evening ramble. As a result, I regularly fail to get 10,000 steps a day, even though that\u2019s been my goal for years. <\/p>\n

All my \u201cJeffing<\/a>,\u201d VO2 max training<\/a>, and treadmill interval sessions were not enough. I average around 6,500 steps daily, and my ongoing attempts to hit the 10k target have proven unsuccessful and inconvenient.<\/p>\n

I tried walking after work (a non-starter), taking a lunch-break stroll (sometimes useful, but mostly impossible due to the Endless Kitchen Tasks working from home seems to highlight). <\/p>\n

So, you can imagine how happy I was to read about \u201cJapanese walking,\u201d the strolling style said to be as good for us<\/a> as 10,000 steps, while taking a fraction of the time.<\/p>\n

Ironically, despite spending less time walking, my average steps are up to 8,100 a day. <\/p>\n

What is \u201cJapanese walking\u201d?<\/p>\n

Japanese walking, also known \u2018the 3-3 walking workout\u2019, is essentially the interval training of the walking world. It was developed by Professor Hiroshi Nose and Associate Professor Shizue Masuki at Shinshu University in Matsumoto, Japan.<\/p>\n

Like \u201cJeffing,\u201d<\/a> which sees runners intersperse periods of high-intensity running with walking, Japanese walking packs bursts of intense stepping into a stroll. <\/p>\n

Specifically, it asks you to walk for three minutes at a fast pace and slowly for another three minutes. Repeat this five times for a 30-minute workout.<\/p>\n

The 2007 paper that the method\u2019s inventors wrote <\/a>found that, among middle-aged participants, those who tried \u201cJapanese walking\u201d left with lower blood pressure, stronger thigh muscles, and better aerobic ability than those who either did not walk or walked 8,000 steps a day at a moderate pace. <\/p>\n

\u201cHigh-intensity interval walking may protect against age-associated increases in blood pressure and decreases in thigh muscle strength and peak aerobic capacity,\u201d the paper reads. <\/p>\n

Dr Suzanne Wylie, a GP and medical adviser for IQdoctor<\/a>, told HuffPost UK: \u201cEven a modest 30-minute walk delivers remarkable cardiovascular benefits, reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke whilst improving blood pressure control.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegular movement helps maintain a healthy weight and strengthens muscles and bones \u2013 a crucial factor as we age, to help prevent osteoporosis and preserve mobility.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"AA recent early walk (I usually hate them, but Japanese walking made it more bearable)<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never found walking easier or more fun<\/p>\n

Having tried the method myself, it\u2019s safe to say I\u2019m never going back. <\/p>\n

Somehow, knowing the walk is going to take a maximum of half an hour means I\u2019m much more open to the idea. <\/p>\n

I walk more often, enjoy the time more (I think that the three-minute-on, three-minute-off approach makes the exercise go by much faster), and have even upped my step average by a couple of thousand per day.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a clinical perspective, any form of consistent, moderate-intensity walking, especially if it incorporates posture, breathing, or mindfulness as Japanese walking sometimes does, can further enhance cardiovascular and mental health,\u201d Dr Wylie shared.<\/p>\n

As a recent convert, I couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even though I love running and regularly go to the gym, facts are facts; I work from home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[5079,6647,102,56,54,55,6899],"class_list":{"0":"post-28806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-ageing","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom","14":"tag-walking"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}