Nordic Walking is fitness walking with the use of poles. Unlike trekking, it requires the poles to be placed at 45 degrees to the ground to give a more propulsive effect with the ground when pushing through the poles.
Ordinary walking is a great way to start being more active but to keep improving you will need to walk for longer or to go faster – that’s where NW comes in.
By using the poles you use more muscles which significantly increases the amount of calories burned without making you feel you are pushing yourself too hard. The poles actually help to propel you along so you could be working as hard as if you were jogging but will feel comfortable, not too breathless and there will be no strain on the knees and joints that can sometimes occur with more vigorous exercise.
By burning around 20 – 50% more calories than normal walking at the same speed. In a recent article it was shown that Nordic walking can mean an increased exercise intensity of up to 67% more than normal walking at the same speed! This article covers the reasons behind Nordic walking’s excellent weight loss properties allowing us to burn more calories without the increased effort.
This means that rather than burning around 300 calories per hour when normal walking you could have burnt 400 plus per hour by using Nordic walking poles! This exercise plus a good diet will undoubtedly result in excellent weight loss.
I recommend that you should undertake Aerobic exercise for 45 minutes to an hour 4-5 times a week. Because the exercise will be carried out at a low to moderate exercise intensity, more fat will be burnt as fuel than carbohydrate and you will not get the feelings of muscle soreness and fatigue. When you Nordic walk, the workload is spread out across the whole body meaning less stress is placed on the joints of the lower limbs and lower back. This also contributes to a reduction in muscle soreness or aches and pains. If anything I find that following a good workout the shoulder muscles and trapezius (muscle between the shoulder and neck) feel that they have had a workout. This is mainly due to the fact that we are not used to walking using our arms too!
Advantages of Nordic walking include exercising outdoors, you can exercise alone or with friends and family, you can do it anywhere and you can enjoy the wildlife and natural beauty of the surroundings at the same time. You can enjoy this great exercise whatever your age or fitness level and its fun!
