Slow Jogging

Running is America's most popular participatory sport, yet more than half of those who identify as runners get injured every year. Falling prey to injuries from overtraining, faulty form, poor eating, and improper footwear, many runners eventually, and reluctantly, abandon the sport for a less strenuous pastime. But for the first time in the United States, Hiroaki Tanaka's Slow Jogging demonstrates that there is an efficient, healthier, and pain-free approach to running for all ages and lifestyles. Tanaka's method of easy running, or "slow jogging,” is an injury-free approach to running that helps participants burn calories, lose weight, and even reverse the effects of Type-2 diabetes. With easy-to-follow steps and colorful charts, Slow Jogging teaches runners to enjoy injury-free activity by: . Maintaining a smiling, or niko niko in Japanese, pace that is both easy and enjoyable . Landing on mid-foot, instead of on the heel . Choosing shoes with thin, flexible soles and no oversized heel . Aiming for a pace of 180 steps per minute . And trying to find time for activity every day Accessible to runners of all fitness levels and ages, Slow Jogging will inspire thousands more Americans to take up running and will change the way that avid runners hit the pavement.

Hiroaki Tanaka, PhD, is a professor at Fukuoka University, Japan, and the founder and director of the Fukuoka University Institute for Physical Activity. Currently he is the director of the Japanese Academic Running Society and an adviser to the Asashi running shoe company. Tanaka lives in Fukuoka, Japan. Magdalena Jackowska, a professional linguist, translator, and interpreter from Poland, is a research assistant at the Fukuoka University Institute for Physical Activity and a slow jogging instructor. She has completed more than twenty marathons and ultra-marathons all over the world, all in slow jogging style. Jackowska lives in Fukuoka, Japan.