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Japanese people stay fit for life without visiting a gym
- rasengan 6y agoPlease speak with your physician or another professional before undertaking any kind of advice like this. Walking is a great calorie burning activity and can absolutely help when it comes to obesity and such. However, skinny != fit. If you want to be fit, there's no shortcut. Eat healthy, hit the gym (or other real training activity), don't abuse drugs and delete social media.
- geophile 6y ago> and delete social media Interesting advice you snuck in there. Might not be a bad idea, but necessary for fitness? Not so sure.
- rasengan 6y ago> Might not be a bad idea, but necessary for fitness? Not so sure. I agree, I'm not so sure as well, and anything that comes to making changes to your physical body should be consulted with a professional. That said, I have seen people using social media and they literally sit around on instagram/fb/twitter _all day_ with their neck and backs in some weird contorted position for 0 constructive/positive net gain for themselves or society.
- shuntress 6y agoMaybe instead of "delete social media" they should be encouraged to contribute. Use social media to foster good habits (rather than bad ones). For example, starting/joining groups based around encouraging members to stick to fitness routines.
- agumonkey 6y agoTo an extent internet is a strong break to healthy activities. It sucks time and motivation.
- mrlala 6y agoAs he says posting on HN... This place (like any messageboard) can be as toxic as anywhere else in it's own way.
- blix 6y agoPlease speak with a medical professional before... walking?!? Walking is the most basic, most fundamental human physical activity. Hitting the gym deserves a lot more scrutiny.
- rasengan 6y agoWe live in a diverse society, and HN is just as beautiful as our society in its diversity. However, there are people who absolutely shouldn't walk without consulting with their physician.
- steeleyespan 6y agoAnd apparently they're so infantile and stupid that they need to pay a professional to tell them if they can stand up, or take a step.
- tenebrisalietum 6y agoNo, but maybe they have a pre-existing condition and could be in danger if they walk too much or walk uphill--and may not possibly realize it? A friend of mine, who is obese and takes a lot of medication, and also who has recovered from COVID, started getting really lightheaded when we walked uphill about a block to our parked car.
- blix 6y agoSounds like your friend realized it. Listening to your body and seeking out professionals if it sends negative signals is probably a better strategy than asking a doctor before any activity, unless you already know you have serious medical conditions. I was once in a similar situation where after recovering from surgery I found I could only walk short distances before becoming lightheaded and tired. I asked a medical professional for advice. He told me to get over it. I'm lucky I didn't have to pay for this information.
- voisin 6y agoWho are these people that shouldn’t walk without consulting a physician? The only people who shouldn’t walk would be those who had explicitly been told not to walk (e.g. letting a bone heal), but I imagine anyone going to their doctor to ask if they can walk would be laughed out of the room.
- FriendlyNormie 6y agoJapanese are essentially a different species with a completely different physiology.
- newfeatureok 6y agoIs there actually any evidence to suggest someone who walks, say, an hour daily is less healthy, controlled for diet than any other physical activity?
- koreanguy 6y agoover hyped , they have the largest suicide rates in the world , the japanese even have a forest where stressed people go to commit suicide. every nation is fit
- rasengan 6y agoUnfortunately, the suicide rate in Korea is also high (as are many other nations). This is off topic from fitness.
- mbesto 6y agoThis trope needs to die. They literally do not have the highest suicide rate in the world, far from it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_r... In fact, the US is very close to it. (14.3 vs 13.7)
- sandworm101 6y agoThere is also some overhyping of Japan's extended lifespans. A statistically significant number of japan's very old have been linked to various forms of fraud, enough to impact average lifespan calculations. After several horrific cases (deaths not being reported) a nationwide effort was made to locate the very old (>110). Many have not been located. Many of those small japanese villages with phenomenally old populations were a myth. People were staying on the books long after death. "More than 230,000 elderly people in Japan who are listed as being aged 100 or over are unaccounted for, officials said following a nationwide inquiry." https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11258071 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11258071
- 0x2d123 6y agoIt's amusing that every positive thing about Japan or Korea will have someone going "AcKtuALLY, Japanese/Korean kill themselves more, blah blah blah..." as if to invalidate them, whether or not it has anything to do with the subject. To that point, I'd rather take my life by my own free will than succumb to avoidable diseases/health complications as a result of the failure of my society and its institutions.
- kawfey 6y ago...by walking.
- CapitalistCartr 6y agoI am doing a great job on the not-going-to-the-gym part; one of these days I need to get back to the walking part.
- GhostVII 6y agoI think it's more likely diet rather than exercise that makes the difference. Can't outrun (or outwalk) a poor diet, and you can be a healthy bodyweight while eating "unhealthy" food and not exercising by just limiting the quantity you are eating. I would argue that to be healthy you should exercise a reasonable amount and have some muscle rather than just being at a good weight. Gives you a stronger body, and helps your mental health (which Japan seems to struggle with).
- etangent 6y agoThere are limits to diet. In Eastern Europe people just eat potatoes with tons of fat and occasional piece of chicken, arguably the worst diet, and obesity is far lower than in the US.
- apcragg 6y agoDiet isn't just types of food consumed but also the amount. Also fat isn't 'unhealthy' but that's a different misconception.
- etangent 6y agoFat is indeed quite healthy as long as its calorie count does not exceed daily recommended, which is extremely easy to do with fat as its energy rich.
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- spike021 6y agoI have consistently lost weight on both trips I took to Japan despite not necessarily eating very healthily. I think a large part of it is all the stairs/passageways into and out of train stations. Obviously some have escalators but some don't or during rush hour it's easier to just take the steps. In the Bay Area we don't have a transportation system with that kind of infrastructure. New York City's subways would be a bit similar, but most of the stations I've been to there have much fewer stairways.
- speedRS 6y agoAnecdotal, but this mirrors my experience as well; without fail I lose weight on every trip. I’m not necessarily doing that much touristy stuff either but I walk significantly more than I do back home (I also work from home which probably doesn’t help). Part of it might be that I have more time as I’m in Japan for a holiday but I also find most of Japan more interesting to walk around and the cities are more densely packed with fewer stretches of empty land. I also don’t have a car which probably forces more walking but I often actively chose not to catch a train as well, even if it makes the trip a little longer.
- blakesterz 6y ago"Most Japanese citizens live in very walkable cities where public transportation is convenient, safe, and affordable, and not many households own cars." I want to believe that quote is true. I know very very little about Japan and the people who live there. Internet says about 70% of people there own a car. Doesn't that mean people who live in Manhattan (or other walk-able cities in the US) should have similar fitness levels? I also know little about fitness levels of people who live anywhere, but does it follow that if it's the walkable city making the difference, then people in Paris, NYC, London... any walkable city would have the same fitness level?
- TrainedMonkey 6y agoYou are comparing an entire country with a single downtown. I will let you work out for yourself why that can lead to misleading results.
- leobabauta 6y agoI will let you work out for yourself why that sounds condescending.
- TrainedMonkey 6y agotouche )
- helen___keller 6y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_share https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_share suggests otherwise (compare tokyo/osaka to NYC, SF)
- FreezerburnV 6y agoI don’t know much about the rate of car ownership in Japan. But I do know that public transit in Japan is insanely good and the cities are definitely walkable and all of it is quite safe. Trains are always on time. You can see small children riding them on their own. You can get almost anywhere you want to go using them. It’s actually phenomenal and it makes me angry to come back to the states after being there for any period of time because I suddenly need to drive again. (That said groceries would be more problematic if living there and I’m sure there are places you need to get to via car if living there, but most of the time a train has been fine for me as a visitor or when I was living on a military base. Only needed a car to get to the gate to leave and then walk to the train station)
- jelliclesfarm 6y agoi dislike these kind of articles for it's click baitey'ness. worse..someone might take it seriously.
- rgrieselhuber 6y agoI recommend the book Deep Nutrition on this topic.
- latexr 6y agoThis is a clickbait title. It has as much information as (the more obvious) “Japanese People Say Fit for Life With This One Neat Trick”. The HN title should be edited to mention the author’s conclusion that Japanese people stay fit by walking.
- agumonkey 6y agoWalking is Amazing but clearly not the main factor here.
- xwdv 6y agoNever forget even if your gym free life style is keeping you fit, you would be so much more fit if you actually went to the gym.
- matt_s 6y agoIf you want in-depth reading on this topic I would suggest The Okinawa Program. Excerpt from the amzn marketing blurb: > scientifically documented twenty-five-year Okinawa Centenarian Study, a Japanese Ministry of health–sponsored study. This breakthrough book reveals the diet, exercise, and lifestyle practices that make the Okinawans the healthiest and longest-lived population in the world. I can't offer any infomercial-like anecdotes about how life-changing the book is because it sits on my bookshelf. I need to get that off my bookshelf, re-read it and introduce some new habits.
- fomine3 6y agoIt should noted that even salary in Okinawa is worst in Japan, they lives longer.
- kneel 6y agoI've lost a lot of weight through the pandemic which is surprising for me because I've basically stopped rigorous exercise. I attribute this to lower appetite, regular walks and little to no alcohol. I did not expect to lose this much weight.
- 627467 6y agosomething similar happened to me. I returned to my target weight naturally just by being away from office snack temptations (and possibly additional stress from WFH).
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- kristofferR 6y agoAdults in Japan walking an hour a day on average seems too high, seems like an exaggeration honestly. If not - is their public transportation that bad? Or do they just skip public transportation for short trips?
- 627467 6y agoWhy is it "that bad"? Is great (public) transportation, one that takes your exactly A to B with no delay or energy expenditure? I thought the point of this article is to demonstrate how this arrangement (of walking enough between A and B) has positive aspects.
- leobabauta 6y agoThey might walk 10 minutes from home to the train station platform, 10 minutes from the station to their office, and 10 minutes to lunch. Then reverse all of that for an hour total. Sometimes it’s a 15 minute walk, so that would make up for those who only have to walk 5 minutes.
- decafninja 6y agoTokyo at least, has one of the best urban public transportation systems in the world. I'd rank it at least one of the top 3 cities.
- auganov 6y agoI find the discourse around exercise to be very peculiar. Despite scant evidence, the belief that exercise is important to health [0] is extremely prevalent. Even in those cultures that aren't too athletic. Anything to the contrary is highly controversial among both scientists and the general public. You usually only see this when politics are involved, and even then the opinion will be more evenly split. And this is such a benign subject! Sometimes studies will find very little benefit or even negative effects, yet the conclusion will still include the obligatory paragraph talking about how exercise must be so great and necessary. Have to wonder how many don't get published because the result was "wrong". Even without properly controlling for unrelated conditions [1], you'll have a hard time finding a credible study that gives you more than 3-4 extra years (vs absolutely zero exercise). [0] As in life expectancy, rather than some subjective measures. [1] Which would only make the projected life expectancy gain go down not up. The studies that we have so far almost certainly establish a ceiling for life expectancy gains. It could very well be 0. There are very few plausible scenarios under which it would turn out that we're actually underestimating gains. One would be that there's some specific form of exercise that gives you big gains and most people just do it wrong.
- voisin 6y agoIs life expectancy the only benefit worth discussion? How about lower blood pressure, or benefits to various blood markers? Or denser bones?
- lostmsu 6y agoBlood pressure on its own is not an issue, same for blood markers. I can see denser bones being a benefit, if it is proven to reduce the effects of getting a trauma.
- auganov 6y agoNo, but when you define it that way it's hard to have a discussion about "health". Generally if people aren't dying or aren't living in pain it's unclear what's a good measure or if it can be considered indicative of physical "health". It's also pretty rare that something would cause great suffering without reducing life expectancy. There's absolutely a ton of evidence showing improvement to some markers. But similarly you could "improve" them with many drugs and people would naturally be skeptical on whether there's a real improvement to health without trying to treat some specific condition. And you'd usually defer to life expectancy to make the determination.
- 1_over_n 6y agoLast time I checked Spain, japan, and singapore all had longest lifespans. I’m pretty sure people have to work till later than average in those countries. What if having “purpose” (a vocation) for longer is more important than dietary or exercise factors.
- flipcoder 6y agoAre these step counts really as much as they sound like? My fitness tracker hits above 10,000 steps even the days I stay indoors, just from walking around the house doing things, although I do pace around more than most.