‘Japanese Walking’ Is Going Viral, and Doctors Say It Actually Works

Between work, kids and everything else pulling at your schedule, squeezing in an hour at the gym can feel impossible. A simple walking trick making the rounds online might be the fix nobody expected, and August’s National Wellness Month is a good excuse to try it. It’s called Japanese walking, and it’s popping up everywhere from group chats to doctors’ offices this summer. How Japanese Walking Actually WorksThe method comes from exercise scientists at Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan. The gains leveled off once fast-walking time passed about 50 minutes a week, so more isn’t necessarily better.