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I was skeptical about Nordic Walking when I first heard about it. It seemed like an attempt to take a stroll to a commodity, like, “You’re not Yes, really Walk until you do with those expensive trekking poles,” but after looking at the research behind it, my mind changed completely.
Nordic walking differs from simply “walking with sticks” and offers a number of advantages over normal walking. It burns more calories doing exercises more muscles, puts less strain on the joints and provides additional stability. While it’s beneficial for almost everyone, it’s especially helpful for the elderly, people new to fitness, and anyone recovering from an injury.
What is Nordic walking?
Nordic walking started in Finland, where cross-Cross-country skiers have been walking with poles for a long time in the warmer seasons. In 1966, Finnish physical education teacher Leena Jääskeläinen was the first to develop an organized pole running routine. In the 1990s, the first commercially available Nordic walking poles were made and the activity has been slowly building ever since.
Nordic walking combines special equipment and technique, resulting in longer strides and more muscle groups than walking with hiking/trekking poles or walking without poles. It’s cardio and muscle training in one.
The advantages of Nordic walking over simple walking
Research shows that Nordic walking is more beneficial than regular walking in almost every way. Nordic walking, when done correctly, combines the cardio benefits of a brisk walk with a toning of the legs, shoulders, arms and core and even burns more calories than regular walking. Since the impact of each step is distributed to the bars/arms, there is less stress on the joints and additional stability is achieved. Studies show that these effects are even present in Nordic walkers go slower than normal walking.
Like most other forms of exercise, Nordic walking also correlates with a decrease in muscle mass depression and anxiety, increases in muscle strength and improvements in endurance and flexibility, but one of the most interesting findings from the scientific study of Nordic walking is perceived exertion. Objectively speaking, exercise costs more energy than regular walking, but a study of overweight women found that it did Not perceive it’s harder than walking, and tended to keep going compared to other forms of exercise. It also gets you outside – a huge benefit about training in a gym
What equipment do you need for Nordic Walking?
To reap the full benefits of Nordic Walking, you need the right equipment. Along with a decent pair of trainers (or hiking shoes, depending on how rugged you get), a water bottle and some sunscreen, Nordic walking is all about the poles.
Nordic walking poles are not equal to hiking poles, ski poles, or walking sticks. The main difference is the wrist strap. In Nordic walking, the strap/glove puts pressure on the pole, making it thicker and larger, while trekking pole straps are usually simple loops designed to prevent you from dropping them.
Nordic sticks also have different “paws”. When walking on soft ground use a pointed one, but on firm ground Nordic poles have specially angled pads suitable for placement of the poles behind you when you walk.
Nordic poles come in two varieties: fixed length and adjustable. If you’re new, Customizable is probably the right choice, at least until you’re sure how long should they be for you. They’re not super expensive either: The top rated bars here are $130but you can find one Basic set for less than half.
Learning the Nordic Walking technique
It might seem a little silly to wonder about the technique of walking with sticks, but it’s actually such a different mode of locomotion that there’s a learning curve, and needs getting used to.
In the broadest sense, Nordic Pole Walking means taking longer steps than normal walking, aided by “pushing off” the poles in your hands. On the downstroke, when there is no pressure on the hands, Nordic walkers let go of the sticks and let them swing freely, on the upstroke they grab them. So there are a few things to keep in mind when starting out.
There is There are two ways you can learn to walk again: teach yourself or find a teacher. If you do it alone, tHere are a lot of useful guides on Nordic Walking technique online, including videos orn YouTube which are particularly helpful because they provide visual orientation, also.
If you’re new to the sport, out of shape or particularly uncoordinated, or taking up Nordic walking to recover from an injury, you should probably consult a trainer in your area to get the basics down. If you can’t find a trainer, search meetup.com for a local group near you. I’m sure a nice Nordic pro would be happy to teach a novice how to rope. And the poles.
