A new exercise craze from Japan is sweeping the world. It''s not a high impact workout. In fact, it''s quite the opposite! Slow jogging is a form of exercise that''s perfect for those who don''t get much from running. That could be because of chronic disease, injury or old age. We caught up with a fitness coach who is helping his local community slow jog their way to good health.
Retired army commander Hsu Tung-ying is now a fitness instructor. From the stage, he leads these older citizens to practice “slow jogging.”
Did you think it was simply running on the spot? There’s several crucial differences.
A beat is keeping time. The pace comes from an American researcher: maintaining 180 steps a minute is perfect. That’s light aerobic exercise. And there are more details to master. You must land on the ball of your foot, keep your knees slightly bent, and land as lightly as possible. Steps should be short and quick to maximize the workout.
Hsu Tung-ying
Fitness instructor
You save more energy when you’re slow jogging. It’s like when we drive a car on the highway, it saves gas compared to driving on a normal road, because the engine is rotating at a fixed speed.
Slow jogging as a concept was invented by Japanese medical professor, Hiroaki Tanaka. As Hsu shows us on this app, he walks tens of thousands of steps a day, doing wonders for his health.
Dr. Chen Yu-pin
Taipei Municipal Wanfang Hospital
It certainly has some scientific basis, including the study done most recently in 2018. They showed that slow jogging effectively improves various factors for older people - muscle mass, strength, and even the composition of the body and the fatty structures - because this type of exercise is very suitable for older people.
After a few minutes of slow jogging, you will start to sweat, as you burn energy without overexertion. Hsu has created a handy mnemonic to explain the benefits of slow jogging. No pain or stiffness, no puffing or panting. Slow jogging is also perfect for people of any age with knee problems, chronic health issues, high blood pressure, and so on.
Dr. Liu Han-wen
Taipei Wanfang Municipal Hospital
We would suggest regular exercise to control chronic diseases and diabetes anyway. If you don’t already have a habit of regular exercise, you can start with something gentler like this. As soon as you start, it will, to some extent, help to control your blood sugar or your weight.
Slow jogging is a very low risk but effective workout. And it can be adapted to suit any schedule. Why not give it a try?