"While doing 10,000 steps can improve blood pressure, sugar control and even lipid levels, doing interval walking for a shorter time can [have] the same benefits and more." Photo / 123RF
Interval walking training, or “Japanese walking”, is getting renewed attention after going viral on TikTok.
Walking can be a go-to solution for many of life’s challenges. Whether you’re stressed, depressed or simply need a low-impact way to get in shape, walking can help. As one of the most accessible exercise options out there, it’s suitable for a variety of people.
One particular technique, known as interval walking training (IWT) or “Japanese walking”, is getting renewed attention after going viral on TikTok. Nearly 20 years ago a team led by Hiroshi Nose and other researchers from Japan published a study that found that middle-aged and older people who did high-intensity interval walking had lower blood pressure, stronger thigh muscles, and better aerobic capacity than walkers the same age who kept a more moderate, continuous pace.
In the study, the volunteers did three minutes of fast walking followed by three minutes at a slower pace for 30 minutes per day, at least four days per week.
“One of the most surprising findings was that IWT markedly increased physical fitness and decreased blood pressure after the five-month intervention, whereas these improvements were not observed in the moderate-intensity continuous walking group,” said Shizue Masuki, a researcher on the team and professor at Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine in Matsumoto. (The people in the control group aimed to take at least 8000 steps a day, although a specific step goal, like the often-cited 10,000 per day, is no longer considered to be the holy grail of healthy walking.)
IWT got its nickname because the study was conducted in Japan, but the walking technique isn’t necessarily more popular in Japan than anywhere else, Masuki said.
Since that report, which came out in 2007, more recent studies have been published, including one in 2023 of people with Type 2 diabetes and another in 2024 of people 65 and older. Those found that walkers who did IWT had improved cholesterol, flexibility, BMI and cardiorespiratory endurance compared to control groups.
“When you increase your intensity of walking or other exercise that raises your heart rate, it’s helpful to cardiovascular health and increases aerobic capacity. It puts healthy stress on the heart, which increases its capacity to function better and decreases resting blood pressure,” said Mir Ali, general and bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. “Once you’re settled down from that increase, over time, your blood pressure improves.”
Masuki said that additional studies by her team have also shown that the walking technique has benefits for sleep, cognitive function and depression.
“Mindful walking, especially in green space, has been shown to lower blood pressure, reduce cortisol, improve focus and sleep, and help regulate mood,” said Barbara Walker, an integrative health and performance psychologist at University of Cincinnati Health.
“When paired with an interval walking approach, it becomes even more psychologically impactful: blending the benefits of nature exposure with the motivational structure of achievable physical goals.”
Of course, the best workout is the one you’ll actually do. And you might wonder, if fast walking is so great, why not just do that for 30 minutes?
IWT seems to be more doable than walking at an intense pace the entire time, said Masuki. Her research team instructed one group of their middle-aged and older subjects to walk continuously at a high intensity level for 30 minutes a day. “However, no one completed the programme, and they complained that the programme was too boring and too difficult,” she said.
Most studies have found about 60 to 90% of people can achieve the goals of IWT.
One factor might be the amount of time it takes. For some, walking goals that require hours of accumulating steps throughout the day might even be discouraging because it takes too long.
“While doing 10,000 steps can improve blood pressure, sugar control and even lipid levels, doing interval walking for a shorter time can do the same benefits and more,” said Patrick Fratellone, a preventative cardiologist in New York City and Fairfield, Connecticut.
Start slowly and carefully
All of our experts shared a common piece of advice - start slow. You don’t have to jump into 30-minute interval sessions right away. Ali said even 15 minutes twice per day is still beneficial, and you can still try those intervals within that. Work up to the recommended amount of exercise for adults in the US - 150 minutes of physical activity each week, for example, by doing 30 minutes at a time, 5 days per week. Adding in two days of muscle-strengthening activity would help meet the federal guidelines for exercise.
As always, talk to your doctor before beginning any new exercise programme.
“We shouldn’t take a previously sedentary person and put them in a high-intensity interval training programme,” said Sarah Crawford, a physical therapist in Cincinnati. “That’s why practices like mine stay in business.”
Use unofficial metrics
In the 2007 study, the volunteers aimed to do three minutes of walking at 70% of their peak aerobic capacity or VO2 max, which is a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen the body can process, followed by three minutes at 40% of their peak aerobic capacity.
While some fitness trackers will give you this number, a good rule of thumb is that you shouldn’t really be able to talk for the whole three “fast” minutes in IWT, Crawford said. For the slower interval, she said you should be able to maintain a conversation, but also keep a sweat going.
She sometimes recommends patients choose a landmark, like mailboxes, and walk past the first 10 quickly, then the next 10 more slowly.
Watch for improvements
Your heart rate and breathing recovery may improve over time, Crawford said. Pay attention to when you recover enough to do another quick interval, she said. “How long do we stay there [at 70%], and how long does it take at the 40% threshold to recover enough to go back up into that 70% again?”
Regardless of the type of walking you try, you’re bound to see benefits, said Crawford: “Walking is safe, low-impact, easily accessible, getting somebody out in earth and off a computer, in feedback with trees and plants and animals,” she said. “It has sun exposure, light exposure, and sensory overdrive of being outside. It is, hands down, 100% the best form of exercise for all human beings.”