Fitness

What is Japanese walking and why it’s good if you don’t like exercise

Published

5 months ago

February 10, 2026

What is Japanese walking and why it’s good if you don’t like exercise

It’s become a viral fitness trend, and the Japanese interval walking technique is a relatively easy way to boost your fitness. And the great thing is it’s totally free

For those looking to improve their health and fitness in the year ahead, it can often feel like an uphill struggle just trying to start a new regime. But as most medical experts will tell you, making even small steps to being more active can have a big impact on your overall health and well-being.

As the MEN reported at the weekend, one free and easy way to boost your fitness is by using the Japanese walking technique, which involves walking fast and then slow at set intervals. We tried the technique with impressive results, as you can read about here.

Much has been written in recent years about trying to hit a steps goal as a way of using walking for fitness, with many striving to hit a 10,000 daily steps target to stay healthy and in shape.

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But with Japanese walking, there’s no steps goal – instead you are encouraged to walk for 30 minutes, at least four times a week, alternating between three minutes “fast” walking and three minutes “slow”.

You set your own pace while doing the technique, so it’s whatever you consider to be “fast” – described by experts as enough to make you feel “out of breath” by the end of each set.

The technique has become known as Japanese walking as it was first developed and studied for its health benefits by experts at Shinshu University in Japan. Its medical research team there found that participants completing interval training over a five month period improved their fitness by up to 20 per cent.

Professor Masuki Shizue of the Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine was one of the co-researchers on the project. She noted that the interval walking technique was particularly helpful for older people as it’s a low impact form of exercise, and may help ease existing health problems too.

The most recent study on the official website states: “Walking is one of the easiest form of exercise for older adults. Professor Masuki and her team demonstrated that “interval walking,” which involves alternating between brisk and slow walking, can help mitigate the risk of lifestyle-related diseases.

“A large-scale survey of 234 participants who engaged in interval walking was conducted to determine whether interval walking improves bone mineral density and whether this improvement is greater among individuals with low bone mineral density. The findings of the present study revealed that interval walking is an excellent form of exercise, especially for individuals with low bone mineral density.”

It continued that given that it does not require any special equipment and can be performed at a pace that suits the physical fitness of the individual, interval walking is also a sustainable form of exercise for most able-bodied individuals.

Indeed the only “equipment” you need to get started on the interval walking is comfortable walking shoes and either a watch or phone to time each three minute interval. As each workout is just 30 minutes, it’s also a great form of exercise to fit into busy schedules, or for those simply not that keen on exercising, as you’re not striving to reach a set steps limit each day.

Studies are now ongoing at the university to verify the effects of interval walking on specific diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. But it added that it “could help prevent the incidence of lifestyle-related diseases and exert therapeutic effects if it can reduce the dosage of prescription medications or eliminate their requirement”.

How do you do interval walking?

As described by Shinshu University, interval walking involves walking briskly for three minutes until “one is out of breath (approximately 70% of the peak aerobic capacity), followed by three minutes of slow walking and this process is repeated thereafter”.

To improve physical fitness, they recommend adopting the technique for five sets of intervals (so 30 minutes) of this style of walking per day, on 4 or more days a week.

They say that after five months, doing the interval walking 4 times a week “can improve physical fitness by up to 20%.” They say it may also help to prevent “lifestyle-related illnesses.”

Who can benefit from interval walking?

As well as being good for people aiming to improve their overall fitness levels, the study by Shinshu University found that this style of interval walking could be particularly beneficial to those with “low bone mineral density”. As bone density declines with age, that includes some older people, and women going through the menopause.

The research said: “Osteoporosis [weakening bones] is particularly prevalent among postmenopausal women owing to the rapid decline in the secretion of female hormones resulting in a reduction in bone mineral density.

“A total of 234 postmenopausal women completed five sets of interval walking per day on at least 4 days per week for 5 months in this study.

“Measurement of the bone mineral density of the participants revealed an increase in the bone mineral density of individuals with low bone mineral density at baseline. No changes were observed in the bone density of individuals with high bone mineral density at baseline.”

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Fitness

“We naturally lose muscle mass, reaction speed and balance as we age,” says this elite Hollywood coach who’s trained everyone from Margot Robbie and Scarlet Johansson to Richard Madden and Pedro Pascal — but recommends doing step-ups to undo the damage of aging in your glutes, quads and calves

Published

1 hour ago

July 14, 2026

Press Room

“We naturally lose muscle mass, reaction speed and balance as we age,” says this elite Hollywood coach who’s trained everyone from Margot Robbie and Scarlet Johansson to Richard Madden and Pedro Pascal — but recommends doing step-ups to undo the damage of aging in your glutes, quads and calves

There’s a reason why some of the most effective exercises tend to mirror movements in real life. It’s not because personal trainers and coaches lack imagination, but because the body doesn’t care how creative your programming is — it cares whether you can climb a flight of stairs without grabbing the banister, for example, or if you can catch yourself from a stumble.

These are just a few of the benchmarks that matter in later life, and for elite performance coach David Higgins — who has trained everyone from Margot Robbie and Scarlett Johansson to Samuel L. Jackson, David Harbour, Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden and the entire cast of The Batman, among many others — one exercise sits at the top of the list for anyone over 50: the step-up. Here’s why.

Lower-body power matters so much after 50

Most people understand that strength declines with age. What they underestimate, however, is how quickly it begins to matter in practical terms, despite not being able to be measured on the best smartwatches’ fitness age metrics.

The mistake most older adults make

Before thinking about adding height, load or additional reps, Higgins is more concerned with something more fundamental: the quality of the movement itself. “The biggest mistake older adults make is chasing fatigue instead of quality movement,” he says. “Rushing through reps, leaning through the hips, or pushing through the stronger side of the body.” Your nervous system, he says, “has to trust the movement before your body can own it.”

Rushing through step-ups doesn’t just reduce the benefit — it reinforces the compensations you’re trying to correct. If you’re relying on the trailing leg to push you up, or leaning forward as you step, you’re not actually building the unilateral strength and hip control the exercise is there to develop.

Instead, Higgins’ coaching cue is worth memorising: “push the floor away and finish tall through the glutes.” Most people pull themselves up through the knee, instead of driving through the hip. It’s a subtle distinction, but makes an enormous difference to where the effort is actually made.

How to get started — and when to progress

Muscular Man doing weighted step ups in gym

(Image credit: Getty Images / Ildar Abulkhanov)

To perform the step-up, stand facing a sturdy bench, box, or step. Place one foot fully on the platform, then drive through that heel to lift your body up until both feet are on the step. Step back down with control and repeat for the desired reps before switching legs. Keep your chest up and avoid pushing off excessively with the trailing leg.

For step height, beginners should start with a low box, roughly ankle to mid-shin height. “You want control, not compensation,” he says. Fitter adults with solid mobility, balance and hip control can work up to knee height.

As for volume, Higgins prescribes 2–3 sets of 8–12 controlled reps per leg. “Tempo matters more than volume,” he says. Drive through the whole foot, stand tall at the top and lower slowly under control.

Higgins confirms that just your bodyweight is sufficient resistance to begin with and, for many people over 50, it’s exactly where they should stay — probably for longer than they’d expect. “Most people over 50 need to relearn movement patterns before adding load,” he says. “Once control, balance and posture improve, adding dumbbells or a weighted vest is a brilliant progression.” The dumbbells can wait. As for frequency? Two to three sessions a week is enough to see real benefit, Higgins says. “Consistency beats intensity every time.”

Precautions

Step-ups are accessible to most people, but Higgins flags a few situations worth considering. Anyone with severe knee osteoarthritis, significant balance issues or acute hip pain should approach the exercise carefully and ideally with professional guidance. “Often it’s not that the exercise is wrong,” he says, “it’s that the height is too ambitious or the body isn’t controlling the movement properly yet.” Low and slow is always the right answer.

What leg-day moves are your go-tos in the gym? Have you tried the step-up yet? Let us know below.

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Fitness

HFA Submits Comments to USTR Regarding Trade Policy – Health & Fitness Association

Published

13 hours ago

July 14, 2026

Press Room

HFA Submits Comments to USTR Regarding Trade Policy – Health & Fitness Association

HFA urges targeted trade policies to protect the fitness industry.

This week, HFA submitted comments to the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) on two important trade policy dockets that could have significant implications for exercise equipment manufacturers, suppliers, and fitness facility operators.

Section 301 Tariff Proceeding
USTR sought comment on proposed tariffs from its Section 301 forced labor investigation, including possible product exclusions based on domestic availability and economic impact.

HFA submitted comments that advocated excluding exercise/rehabilitation equipment and critical components, citing irreplaceable global supply chains and the industry’s role in public health, chronic disease prevention, and military readiness.

US- China Board of Trade

USTR proposed a new Board to identify non-sensitive products for reciprocal tariff reductions with China.

In comments submitted to USTR, HFA recommended designating exercise equipment as “non-sensitive” and eligible for negotiation, prioritizing products that boost US manufacturing and affordability, and setting criteria recognizing public health, productivity, and military readiness benefits.

The HFA thanks member operators, manufacturers, and suppliers whose data strengthened these submissions. Your efforts are helping HFA advocate for trade policy that supports the fitness industry.

Fitness

UnitedHealthcare rolls out wellness spending accounts for fitness, family planning

Published

1 day ago

July 13, 2026

Press Room

UnitedHealthcare rolls out wellness spending accounts for fitness, family planning

The payer group said the new Lifestyle Spending Account will pay for the things not currently covered by other flexible spending accounts, such as consumer products to monitor nutrition and manage diabetes. The full list of options is presented in a new webstore.