Quality Over Quantity! Interval Walking Improves Fitness & Health

Health-conscious folks have been known to carry around pedometers to track the number of steps they walk everyday. The target number: 10,000 steps, as a foundation for a healthy lifestyle. Conscientious walkers can now update their device from a pedometer to a smartphone and forget about 10,000 steps with the latest study from Dr. Shizue Masuki of Shinshu University in Japan who found an effective way to increase overall fitness and decrease lifestyle-related disease through Interval Walking Training (IWT).
๐๐ฉโ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข๐ช๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ , ๐๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค ๐จ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐ช๐ข ๐๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐๐จ๐ช๐ก๐ฉ๐จ. ๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐๐ฎ ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฌ๐จ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ข๐ค๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ.
Interval Walking Training is the method of walking at 70% of the walkerโs maximum capacity for 3 minutes, then at 40% of their capacity for the next 3 minutes. This is continued for 5 or more sets. Dr. Masuki studied a group of 679 participants with a medium age of 65 over the course of 5 months. Every two weeks data was collected from participants at a local community office and via the internet through the data measuring device (triaxial accelerometer). The triaxial accelerometer is a device that beeped to let the walker know when they were at least 70% of their peak aerobic capacity (VO2peak), and at 3 minutes to switch. It recorded their walking data to the central server at the administrative center for automatic analysis.

VO2peak is the amount (volume) of oxygen (O2) the body is able to use during physical activity. It is the milliliters of oxygen used by kilogram of body weight per minute. It is determined by measuring the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the participants breath. When the VO2 number reaches a figure and plateaus during intense exercise, that is the maximum amount of oxygen the person is able to utilize, and is an indicator of fitness. The higher the number, the more they are able to use, and the more intensely they can exert their body. Endurance athletes such as cyclists can have VO2peak in the 70s but please donโt measure yourself against elite endurance athletesโ it takes years of intense training to achieve a VO2peak of 70+.
Dr. Masuki found that her method outperformed the recommendation of the American Heart Association that to achieve peak oxygen capacity 75 minutes a week of high-intensity workout is needed for improvement. Participants in Dr Masukiโs study had significant improvements in their aerobic capacity (VO2peak), with 50 minutes of IWT a week. Improvements to their VO2peak were plateaued above 50 minutes a week.

With the study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Dr. Masukiโs participants achieved a 14% increase in VO2peak and a 17% decrease in lifestyle-related disease through IWT. This method is highly desirable due to its ease of maintenance. Many participants remained highly motivated and went beyond their prescribed regimen and it does not require any expensive equipment to walk.(1)
๐ฅ๐ข๐กโ๐ฆ ๐ง๐๐ฃ-
Did you know that many shopping malls around the country open early in the morning and allow walkers to use the concourses for exercise? If you live in a cold climate or canโt afford a gym membership, check around at your townโs local malls to see if they open early for walkers. Even if the malls donโt open early near you, you can pop over during lunch or after dinner for a brisk interval walk. Itโs a fantastic and free means of getting exercise.
There are numerous phone apps available for interval training that will allow you to enter your interval parameters to alert you when to hit your max effort and when to shift back to a more comfortable resting pace. Simply search for โinterval timerโ or โhiit timerโ and a bunch of apps will appear.
Source:ย Shinshu University, Japan. November 1, 2019
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