Mark Sisson: The Japanese Walking Hack That Outperforms 10,000 Steps A Day : 1287
The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey
Dave Asprey
4.6 • 7.3K Ratings
🗓️ 3 June 2025
⏱️ 87 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Most people think 10,000 steps a day is the gold standard for health, but it’s outdated, inefficient, and often damaging. In this episode, you’ll discover a smarter, faster way to walk for longevity, fat burning, and total body resilience.
Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience:
https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR
Host Dave Asprey sits down with Mark Sisson, bestselling author, primal health pioneer, and founder of Primal Kitchen. With over 40 years at the forefront of fitness and ancestral health, Mark has helped millions rethink everything they thought they knew about cardio, running, metabolism, and movement. He was one of the first to challenge the chronic cardio myth, helped popularize ketosis and fat-adapted performance, and now returns with a new message: walking right, not more, is one of the most powerful biohacks for human performance and aging.
They dive into the Japanese walking interval method that outperforms 10,000 steps, and explore the critical link between foot health, barefoot shoes, and the brain-body connection. Mark also shares why he trains just 20 minutes a week, why too much saturated fat might backfire, and why performance should never come at the cost of your mitochondria. You’ll learn how to build muscle and endurance with less effort, how to reverse foot dysfunction with every step, and how to age with strength, intuition, and freedom.
This episode hits hard on biohacking, functional movement, longevity, self-quantification, and the real science of walking smarter, not longer. It’s also packed with insights on ketosis, nootropics, sleep optimization, and why perfectionism ruins health gains.
If you’re serious about Smarter Not Harder strategies, tuning into your body, and reclaiming your natural performance potential, don’t miss this one.
You’ll learn:
• Why zone 1 walking beats zone 2 training for longevity
• How foot dysfunction leads to systemic breakdown
• The hidden brain-glute-big toe connection no one talks about
• Why Mark no longer runs or eats ribeyes
• The minimum effective dose for strength, mobility, and fat burn
• Why perfectionism in wellness is toxic and what to do instead
Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade is the top podcast for people who want to take control of their biology, extend their longevity, and optimize every system in the body and mind. Each episode features cutting-edge insights in health, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, hacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living.
Episodes are released every Tuesday and Thursday, where Dave asks the questions no one else dares, and brings you real tools to become more resilient, aware, and high performing.
**Go to www.peluva.com and use code ‘DAVE’ for 15% off **
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Resources:
• Dave Asprey’s New Book - Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated/
• Mark’s Website – www.peluva.com
• Mark's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearpeluva/?hl=en
• Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com
• Dave Asprey’s Website: https://daveasprey.com
• Dave Asprey’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/daveasprey
• Upgrade Collective – Join The Human Upgrade Podcast Live: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com
• Own an Upgrade Labs: https://ownanupgradelabs.com
• Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com
• 40 Years of Zen – Neurofeedback Training for Advanced Cognitive Enhancement: https://40yearsofzen.com
Timestamps:
• 00:00 – Trailer
• 00:43 – Intro
• 01:13 – Mark’s entrepreneurial journey
• 04:53 – The rise of health blogging
• 05:40 – Why cardio might be hurting you
• 17:53 – Foot health and performance
• 20:54 – Barefoot and minimalist footwear
• 33:30 – Launching PVA Shoes
• 42:59 – Diet’s role in foot recovery
• 43:38 – Why comfort matters in footwear
• 44:12 – Personal footwear hacks
• 45:03 – Building a footwear brand
• 46:21 – Fashion vs function in foot health
• 49:17 – Simple foot strengthening tools
• 52:35 – What history reveals about shoes
• 58:47 – Walking and brain optimization
• 01:06:41 – Protein, aging, and nutrition
• 01:19:50 – Longevity and biohacking wins
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you've been listening to the show, you know that I just came out with my new book, |
| 0:04.8 | heavily meditated this May. It's the fast path to remove your triggers, dissolve stress, |
| 0:10.1 | and activate inner peace. Go check it out at Dave Asprey.com backslash books. |
| 0:18.2 | 83% of people, according to the American Podiatric Association, complain of foot pain in their lives. |
| 0:22.6 | Like that makes the 17% of us who don't have foot pain. |
| 0:25.2 | We spend a lifetime in these restrictive, cushioned, narrow, raised up shoes thinking we're protecting our arches and we're protecting our feet. |
| 0:34.9 | There's a reason that we put something on the bottoms of our feet, |
| 0:38.3 | but it doesn't have to be that thick. |
| 0:39.9 | Even though you might be running 80 miles a week, |
| 0:42.0 | the intrinsic muscles of your feet have atrophied. |
| 0:44.3 | They don't know what to do. |
| 0:45.8 | Imagine a baby wore mittens all the time, |
| 0:48.1 | how dysfunctional their hands would be. |
| 0:49.5 | For 2 million years, we were barefoot, |
| 0:51.1 | and then for the last 4,000 years we had minimalist footwear it's only in the |
| 0:54.2 | 1600s the notion of fashion footwear came in what are the best foot strengthening exercises that |
| 0:59.8 | i could do you're listening to the human upgrade with dave asprey mark you're one of the |
| 1:08.8 | o gs in the nutrition field. |
| 1:11.2 | We know each other since the very start of Bulletproof. |
| 1:15.0 | And you started out with a yogurt shop in 1982, back when frozen yogurt was a health |
| 1:20.0 | trend, and you've been just pushing the boundaries for how many years that, 80s, 90s? |
| 1:25.5 | Yeah, yeah. |
... |
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