Japan's 30-Minute Walking Trick That Helps You Lose Weight Quicker
The Method: Simple but Powerful
Developed by researchers at the Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine in Matsumoto, Japan, this walking style isn't about slow strolls or punishing treks. It alternates between three minutes of fast walking and three minutes of slow walking, repeated for a total of 30 minutes.
'Fast" here means walking at a pace where talking becomes difficult. 'Slow" means walking at a comfortable, relaxed pace.
Do this four days a week, and within a few months, you may notice changes far beyond what 10,000 steps ever did for you.
Backed by Years of Research
This isn't just a trending idea on social media. According to The Washington Post, the technique was first tested in a 2007 study led by researchers Hiroshi Nose and Shizue Masuki. The trial ran for five months and compared two groups one that did interval walking, and one that just walked at a steady, moderate pace.
The results? The IWT group showed significantly lower blood pressure, stronger thigh muscles, and improved aerobic capacity. The control group saw no such changes.
Later studies, especially between 2020 and 2024, strengthened these findings. In trials with older adults and people with Type 2 diabetes, the interval walkers also improved their cholesterol levels, body mass index (BMI), and flexibility, according to The Washington Post.
And it didn't stop there. Researchers also found that participants slept better, had improved cognitive performance, and experienced fewer depressive symptoms.
This makes IWT one of the few routines that offer both physical and mental health benefits something even regular gym-goers don't always get.
Why It Works Better Than Regular Walking
Traditional walking routines often focus on distance or total time like the infamous 10,000 steps. But those benchmarks don't account for intensity.
IWT, in contrast, plays with intensity in a way that pushes the heart, muscles, and lungs just enough, then gives them time to recover. That 'push and pause" approach is what makes interval training so effective — and why athletes, runners, and now even walking researchers use it.
As the article in The Washington Post puts it: 'Participants who tried to walk briskly for 30 minutes straight found it too hard, but when they broke it into three-minute bursts, they were able to sustain it." That's a big win for real-world sustainability.
Getting Started: No Fancy Gear Needed
You don't need a smartwatch, treadmill, or gym membership. Just a pair of comfortable shoes and 30 minutes.
Here's how to begin:
Walk briskly for 3 minutes. You should be breathing hard enough that full conversation is difficult.
Then slow down for 3 minutes. This is your recovery.
Repeat the cycle five times for a total of 30 minutes.
If that feels like too much in the beginning, start with just two or three cycles and work your way up.
You can use landmarks to guide your pace. Walk fast between two street lamps, then slow down until the next one. You can also listen to music that switches tempo, or set a simple timer on your phone.
The ability to recover faster between the fast intervals is a sign your cardiovascular fitness is improving.
Who Is This Good For?
This walking style is especially helpful for:
Middle-aged or older adults trying to stay active without overdoing it
People with Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or early heart issues
Anyone looking for a low-cost, low-impact fitness routine that fits real life
Even younger people who've grown tired of the gym or intense fitness trends are finding value in this method. The structure keeps you engaged without being overwhelming and the benefits stack up over time.
advetisement
More Effective Than 10,000 Steps?
In many cases, yes. While 10,000 steps is a decent rule of thumb for general movement, IWT delivers measurable cardiovascular and muscular benefits in less time.
The Japanese team behind the method observed health gains in as little as five months, without requiring participants to overhaul their entire lifestyle.
So if you're someone who's been walking endlessly on a treadmill with no change in your blood pressure, stamina, or weight this is your sign to try walking smarter, not longer.
The Japanese method of Interval Walking Training is not a fad. It's a low-effort, high-benefit approach to health that's backed by science, requires no special equipment, and fits into even the busiest schedules.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
2 hours ago
- India Today
Crying clubs: Weepasana centres
A place to cry your heart out? Amid people you don't know. Well, that's exactly what the Mumbai Crying Club, launched just last week, will allow you to do. Nor is it the only one. You may not think of Surat as a city in need of emotional release, but it has had a Healthy Crying Club since 2017, where those in need of a good cry can do so once a month. Metropolitan cities like Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad have taken their cue from the Japanese ruikatsu—communities that hold regular sob sessions—and have tear-sharing or vulnerability circles. But these are not formalised clubs, and exist only at the community level. 'We encourage everyone to come and have a sob,' says Shruti Rao, a resident of Whitefield in Bengaluru.
Scroll.in
3 hours ago
- Scroll.in
10,000 steps a day isn't the magic number you need to stay healthy
Your fitness tracker might be lying to you. That 10,000-step target flashing on your wrist? It didn't come from decades of careful research. It came from a Japanese walking club and a marketing campaign in the 1960s. A major new study has found that 7,000 steps a day dramatically cuts your risk of death and disease. And more steps bring even greater benefits. People hitting 7,000 daily steps had a 47% lower risk of dying prematurely than those managing just 2,000 steps, plus extra protection against heart disease, cancer and dementia. The findings come from the biggest review of step counts and health ever done. Researchers gathered data from 57 separate studies tracking more than 160,000 people for up to two decades, then combined all the results to spot patterns that individual studies might miss. This approach, called a systematic review, gives scientists much more confidence in their conclusions than any single study could. So where did that magic 10,000 number come from? A pedometer company called Yamasa wanted to cash in on 1964 Tokyo Olympics fever. It launched a device called Manpo-kei – literally '10,000 steps meter'. The Japanese character for 10,000 resembles a walking person, while 10,000 itself is a memorable round number. It was a clever marketing choice that stuck. At that time, there was no robust evidence for whether a target of 10,000 steps made sense. Early research suggested that jumping from a typical 3,000 to 5,000 daily steps to 10,000 would burn roughly 300 to 400 extra calories a day. So the target wasn't completely random – just accidentally reasonable. This latest research paper looked across a broad spectrum – not just whether people died, but heart disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia, depression and even falls. The results tell a fascinating story. Even tiny increases matter. Jump from 2,000 to 4,000 steps daily and your death risk drops by 36%. That's a substantial improvement. But here's where it gets interesting. The biggest health benefits happen between zero and 7,000 steps. Beyond that, benefits keep coming, but they level off considerably. Studies have found meaningful benefits starting at just 2,517 steps per day. For some people, that could be as little as a 20-minute stroll around the block. Age changes everything, too. If you're over 60, you hit maximum benefits at 6,000 to 8,000 daily steps. Under 60? You need 8,000 to 10,000 steps for the same protection. Your 70-year-old neighbour gets 77% lower heart disease risk at just 4,500 steps daily. The real secret of why fitness targets often fail? People give up on them. Research comparing different step goals found a clear pattern. Eighty-five per cent of people stuck with 10,000 daily steps. Bump it to 12,500 steps and only 77% kept going. Push for 15,000 steps and you lose nearly a third of people. One major study followed middle-aged adults for 11 years. Those hitting 7,000 to 9,999 steps daily had 50-70% lower death risk. But getting beyond 10,000 steps? No extra benefit. All that extra effort for nothing. Other researchers watching people over a full year saw the same thing. Step programmes worked brilliantly at first, then people slowly drifted back to old habits as targets felt unrealistic. Most steps happen without realising it Here's something that might surprise you. Most of your daily steps don't come from structured walks or gym sessions. Eighty per cent happen during everyday activities – tidying up, walking to the car, general movement around the house. People naturally build steps through five main routes: work (walking between meetings), commuting (those train station treks), household chores, evening strolls and tiny incidental movements. People using public transport clock up 19 minutes of walking daily just getting around. Research has also found something else interesting. Frequent short bursts of activity work as well as longer walks. Your body doesn't care if you get steps from one epic hike or dozens of trips up the stairs. This matters because it means you don't need to become a completely different person. You just need to move a bit more within your existing routine. So, what does this mean for you? Even 2,500 daily steps brings real health benefits. Push up to 4,000 and you're in serious protection territory. Hit 7,000 and you've captured most of the available benefits. For older people, those with health conditions, or anyone starting from a sedentary baseline, 7,000 steps is brilliant. It's achievable and delivers massive health returns. But if you're healthy and can manage more, keep going. The benefits climb all the way up to 12,000 steps daily, cutting death risk by up to 55%. The 10,000-step target isn't wrong exactly. It's just not the magic threshold everyone thinks it is. What started as a Japanese company's clever marketing trick has accidentally become one of our most useful health tools. Decades of research have refined that original guess into something much more sophisticated: personalised targets based on your age, health and what you can actually stick to. The real revelation? You don't need to hit some arbitrary target to transform your health. You just need to move more than you do now. Every single step counts.
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
SpaceX launches joint astronaut crew to ISS in NASA's Crew-11 mission
An international crew of four astronauts launched toward the International Space Station from Florida on Friday (August 1, 2025) aboard a SpaceX rocket, beating gloomy weather to embark on a routine NASA mission that could be the first of many to last a couple months longer than usual. The four-person astronaut crew— two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and Japanese astronaut— boarded SpaceX's Dragon capsule sitting atop its Falcon 9 rocket at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and blasted off at 11:43 am ET (1543 GMT). They will arrive at the ISS on Saturday (August 2, 2025).
