Slow Jogging: all you need to know to get started
What you'll learn
- The theory and practice of Slow Jogging, a running style elaborated in Japan by Professor Hiroaki Tanaka
- What makes Slow Jogging different from running
- Why running is hard but Slow Jogging is not
- What is Niko Niko pace
- Why running at walking pace makes more sense for our fitness than just walking
- How to save your knees
- Posture and rythm
- How to do it on your own
- What are the common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Borg Scale – rating of perceived exertion (RPE)
- Your Niko Niko pace, your individual pace with smile
- Exercise as prevention in the aging process
Requirements
- Recommended materials include Slow Jogging: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Have Fun with Science-Based, Natural Running
Description
Until recently unknown outside of Japan, now gaining more and popularity worldwide, SLOW JOGGING is an exercise method elaborated by Prof. Hiroaki Tanaka based on years of research at Fukuoka University, Japan as well as his impressive running career. The term “slow jogging” was chosen for emphasis, that even though we are talking about a sport traditionally associated with moving fast, slow can be a perfectly good way to do it. It is a an efficient, healthier, and pain-free approach to running for all ages and lifestyles.
The key is what we call niko niko pace. In Japanese, niko niko means “smile”. Unlike traditional training, that requires concentration and effort, Slow Jogging is more like taking a walk, at the intensity light enough to enjoy conversation or, if by yourself, to just smile. For most beginners it means jogging at a walking pace.
But Slow Jogging is not just about the pace – it’s also an injury-free running technique, allowing safe beginning and efficient progress. This course covers everything from the introduction, basic steps with detailed explanation of the landing technique to the theory and science behind it.
By the end of this course you will be ready to start the exercise habit you will be looking and a life-long injury free jogging experience.
Who this course is for:
- All those tired of the ”no pain no gain approach”
- Over trained or/and injured runners and athelets
- Beginners
- Those of you who always thought running is not for them
- Sports and running instructors
- Those of you who want a manageable exercise habit that you will be looking forward too
Instructor
Hiroaki Tanaka, Ph.D. and Professor at Fukuoka University, Japan, was the founder and director of its Institute for Physical Activity. Born in 1947, he was a forever-young author of numerous books on slow jogging and healthy lifestyle. His surprisingly efficient training method, a result of many years of research, helped him complete a marathon in 2:38:50 at the age of 50. Known as Japan’s running guru, the legendary scientist inspired runners all throughout his country, from elite long-distance runners to the elderly and those suffering from lifestyle diseases, to slow down and jog with a smile for a health body and mind. He passed away in 2018.
Noriko Sato was born in 1980 in Fukuoka, Japan. She graduated from Exercise Physiology at Sports Science, Fukuoka University. Noriko has been running all her life and ran her first marathon at 22. Back then she participated in Prof. Tanaka’s seminar and first learnt about Slow Jogging. It has become the base of her training. Now Noriko works as a certified instructor and promotes Slow Jogging as a board member of Japan Slow Jogging Association. She is not only a great athlete herself, but also a Guinness World Record holder for the fastest marathon run by a married couple with the aggregate time of 5 h 28 min 23 sec ran with her husband, Kenta Sato in Tokyo Marathon 2014. In 2019 she had her first child and now enjoys a busy life of a working slow-jogging mum. Her marathon personal best is 2:38:50 (Tokyo Marathon, 2014).
Magdalena Jackowska, research assistant at the Fukuoka University Institute for Physical Activity, certified slow jogging instructor and head of International Slow Jogging Association. Originally from Poland, Magda (often called Maggie) has lived in Japan for the last 13 years. Co-author of slow jogging books, slow-jogger and island-lover. She has slow-jogged her way through marathons and ultra-marathons all over the world – currently trying to juggle her work and passion with being a mum of two young boys. After the passing of Prof Tanaka in 2018 Magda tries to keep his great work alive though Slow Jogging workshops, YouTube channel and Facebook.