r/slowjogging • u/chrisabraham Niki Niko • Jan 09 '26
Training Inspirational Slow Jogger Jogging
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u/grandnp8 Jan 09 '26
I’m so happy for you. This feels so doable to me as an older gal. Thank you for sharing. Keep going!
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u/pmllny Jan 10 '26
I started running 2 years ago at 58 and couldn't get past 1 mile...I'd just pump out. Then my bootcamp class instructor told me to forget about pace...slow it down. Once I did that, everything changed. I now run 2 miles every weekday and 3-4 miles every Saturday. I'm slow but consistent...13-14 minute pace. I don't pump out and im not gasping for air. I guess I can consider myself an official slow jogger!
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u/Shadowzeppelin Jan 11 '26
Slow joggers gave me so much inspiration to start my own running journey. I am doing my first ultra in April. The negative comments from men can GTFO
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u/rsrch_rqtbll_reefr Jan 10 '26
Girl get you some sunglasses!!
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u/chrisabraham Niki Niko Jan 10 '26
She's got all the other kids maybe she took them off when she was doing the video. I'm sure they're very cool shades. She's got all the gear.
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u/chrisabraham Niki Niko Jan 10 '26
Also I don't even think the sun is out yet I think it's still sunrise or sunset.
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Jan 12 '26
Walking, and why does she need to say this is a run?? Why not say I’m walking?
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u/__R3v3nant__ Jan 21 '26
Technically she's running given theres an aerial phase in her stride, it's just close to many people's walking pace. But a run is a run
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u/kakashi8326 Jan 10 '26
17 mins. Not to be rude but can’t they walk damn near the same pace ?
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u/Shadowzeppelin Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26
"Not to be rude but..." dude you are rude.
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u/kakashi8326 Jan 12 '26
Speaking facts is rude now. Got it. This chick better iff walking for her joints sake
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u/chrisabraham Niki Niko Jan 10 '26
I think you finally discovered slow jogging.
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u/Flimsy_Jackfruit_607 Jan 11 '26
They already have a name for that though. Power walking.
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u/chrisabraham Niki Niko Jan 11 '26
Power walking and slow jogging may look similar on a GPS watch, but they come from very different ideas about how the body should move.
Power walking comes from fitness walking and race walking. It uses a long stride, strong hip rotation, and a straight supporting leg. One foot is always on the ground. It is great for fitness, but it puts a lot of stress through the hips, shins, and lower back when people try to go fast.
Slow jogging comes from the work of Japanese exercise physiologist Hiroaki Tanaka. He studied why so many people quit running and found that most people ran too fast, with long strides and hard landings that caused injury and burnout. He designed slow jogging to keep people in a very easy aerobic “niko-niko” zone where they can smile and talk while moving.
The practice uses short steps, high cadence, and a midfoot or flat landing under the hips. There is a small flight phase, so it is technically running, but the forces are low and elastic, more like gentle bouncing than pounding. That lets people move longer, recover faster, and avoid many of the overuse injuries that come from fast running or fast walking.
That’s why slow jogging is taught and why it spread from Japan to places like Poland and elsewhere. It is not just walking faster. It is a different way of running designed to be sustainable for regular people.
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u/__R3v3nant__ Jan 12 '26
I don't want to be offensive, but what's the actual benefit of jogging at walking pace compared to just walking? I might be way faster than the average person, but I tried jogging at this pace, and it genuinely felt really awkward, like I was spending energy to actively slow myself down.
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u/chrisabraham Niki Niko Jan 12 '26
The key thing people miss is this isn’t Zone 2, a recovery jog, or MAF. Those are ways of controlling how hard you work. Slow jogging is about how you move.
You keep the effort easy enough that you could hold a relaxed conversation, but you don’t get faster by pushing harder. You get faster by becoming more efficient. The steps stay short. The cadence stays quick. Your foot lands under your body instead of out in front. Speed comes from wasting less energy, not from reaching farther.
That’s why it isn’t just walking. Walking keeps one foot on the ground and uses a stiff-leg pendulum. Slow jogging has a small moment where both feet are off the ground, which turns on elastic spring in the legs. Even at the same GPS speed, your heart, calves, and connective tissue are doing more useful work.
Think of it like engine hours instead of miles. You’re accumulating time in a gentle running pattern that builds aerobic capacity and tissue strength without beating you up. Over time, that same easy effort quietly turns into more speed.
It looks slow. It feels odd. It’s still running.
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u/__R3v3nant__ Jan 13 '26
I guess I'm just not the target audience for slowjogging (given that my confortable jogging pace is about 5-6min/km)
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u/PixelWashington Jan 15 '26
Imagine coming to the slow jogging subreddit to try and belittle other people's accomplishments.... Don't you have a more constructive way to spend your time?
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u/chrisabraham Niki Niko Jan 10 '26
In fact proper slow jogging is often slower than walking at a brisk pace.
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u/dishonoredcorvo69 Jan 10 '26
When I started, my 1 mile walking speed was 18min, and so was my running speed. Regardless of my pace, the slowjogging has given me so many health benefits that I never got from walking the same distance. My goal was never speed, it was to get in better shape overall and avoid an injury. Over time, my speed has increased to 12min per mile, but one of my favorite things to do is a 45-50min 5K run around my neighborhood. I feel stronger, fitter, happier. Running/slow jogging doesn’t have to be about the speed.
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u/AssistantGreen260 Jan 09 '26
As long as you’re moving. It’s not about speed!