Nordic walking

Nordic walking in a snow shower near Ilkley (West Yorkshire) in the north of England.

Nordic walking, originally known as ski walking, is a physical activity and a sport consisting of walking with poles similar to ski poles.

Origin

Nordic walking is defined as fitness walking with specially designed poles. It developed from an off-season ski-training activity known as ski walking, hill bounding or ski striding to become a way of exercising year-round. Ski walking and hill bounding with poles has been practiced for decades as dry land training for competitive Nordic skiers. Ski coaches saw the success of world class cross country skiers who used ski poles in the summer for ski walking and hill bounding and it became a staple of off-season Nordic ski training. Hikers and backpackers discovered that they could walk more powerfully with a pair of ski poles or trekking poles, often eliminating hip, knee, foot and back pain.

The first fitness walking poles with optional rubber tips (for hard surfaces, such as pavement) were designed by Tom Rutlin, utilizing Reflex strapless downhill ski pole grips and Reflex downhill ski pole shafts. They were introduced in the U.S. in 1988.^[1] These poles are a heavier design similar to trekking poles with a simple loop strap. Later the poles were sold without straps.

In 1997, a Finnish ski pole manufacturer Exel, working with Marko Kantaneva, introduced the trademarked Nordic Walker poles utilizing lighter one-piece cross country or Nordic ski pole shafts plus user-friendly Nordic style straps and "Nordic walking" became the accepted term for fitness walking with specially designed poles which are now marketed by nearly all major ski and trekking-pole manufacturers.

Description

Nordic walking is growing as an alternative to ordinary fitness walking because it can easily be mastered and can be performed year-round in any climate anywhere by a person of any age or ability who might otherwise walk without poles. It combines simplicity and accessibility of walking with simultaneous core and upper body conditioning and significantly enhanced aerobic effects quite similar to those of Nordic skiing. The result is a full-body walking workout that expends significantly more calories without a change in perceived exertion or having to walk faster, due to the incorporation of many large core, and other upper-body muscles which comprise more than 90% of the body's total muscle mass and do work against resistance with each stride. 'Normal walking' utilizes only 70% of muscle mass with full impact on the joints of the legs and feet.

Nordic walking can produce up to a 46% increase in energy consumption compared to walking without poles.^[2] It also has been demonstrated to increase upper body muscle endurance by 38% in just twelve weeks.^[3]

Benefits

Compared to regular walking, Nordic walking - also called poling, pole walking or urban poling, involves applying force to the poles with each stride. Nordic walkers use more of their entire body (with greater intensity) and receive fitness building stimulation not as present in normal walking for the chest, lats, triceps, biceps, shoulder, abdominals, spinal and other core muscles. This extra muscle involvement may lead to enhancements over ordinary walking at EQUAL paces such as:

• increased overall strength and endurance in the core muscles and the entire upper body
• significant increases in heart rate at a given pace ^[4]
• increasing vascular pathways and oxygen delivery efficiency
• greater ease in climbing hills
• burning more calories than in plain walking
• improved balance and stability with use of the poles
• significant un-weighting of hip, knee and ankle joints
• provides density preserving stress to bones

Equipment

Nordic walking poles are significantly shorter than those recommended for cross-country skiing. Using poles of incorrect length may add stress to the walker's knees, hips and/or back, diminishing the benefits of walking with poles. Nordic walking poles come in both one-piece, non-adjustable shaft versions, and telescoping two-piece twist-locking adjustable length versions. Nordic walking poles feature either grips with no straps, simple loop straps, Velcro sling type straps or special Nordic walking straps - a kind of fingerless glove, allowing power transmission through the strap and eliminates the need to tightly grasp the pole grips.

Unlike trekking poles, Nordic walking poles come with removable rubber tips for use on hard surfaces and hardened metal tips for trails, the beach, snow and ice. Most poles are made from lightweight aluminum, carbon fiber, or composite materials. Special walking shoes are not required. However there are shoes being marketed as designed for the sport, but comfortable walking, running or trail running shoes work great. ^[5]

Styles

Ski walking, hill bounding, hiking and trekking with poles were the original dry land training for cross country skiing. Accepted Nordic walking techniques vary offering a variety of viable choices making the activity accessible to the athletically challenged, and accommodating people of all ages and all fitness levels—including those with balance, stability and gait issues. One-piece poles will provide added security to those with balance issues because they do not include twist-locks or flip-lock systems that tend to rattle, vibrate and/or collapse unexpectedly.

The six principal variables distinguishing the different Nordic walking styles are (a) the location of the pole plant (from close to the front foot to close to the rear foot), (b) shoulder range of motion (from none to considerable), (c) elbow range of motion (from none to considerable), (d) elbow angle at pole plant (from nearly straight to an angle of 90 degrees or less), and (e) pole grip/strap configuration (from strapless poles, simple loops straps, Velcro slings to the true Nordic style fingerless-glove type straps).

Competition and Championships

Increasing numbers of running and walking events are beginning to welcome Nordic Walkers to participate. There are currently a number self proclaimed "Nordic Walking Championships", but currently there are no officially recognized and sanctioned championships.

Currently the primary goal of Nordic walking organizations and the movement is to increase global awareness and participation in the activity and sell ski poles - getting more individuals to successfully use Nordic Walking Poles in "Fun Runs", 5K's, marathons and such. Until national qualifying events are established in a majority of countries there can in reality be no "World Championships", "Nordic Walking Series - Spain Championship" or "Germany Championship" for Nordic Walking. And of course national qualifying events would require regional qualifiers to get there. It is not practical to have competitions in nordic walking because without rules, the events turn into a run.

There are a few self proclaimed Nordic Walking championship events such as the one held in the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 by Michael Epp in Austria.^[6]

In the United States the Annual Portland Marathon allows Nordic Walking on a road course over a marathon distance. This self proclaimed Nordic Walking championship.^[7]

In Spain, the most prominent competition is the Nordic Walking Series of Toni Duart, self proclaimed "Nordic Walking Series - Spain Championship". This self proclaimed "Spain Championship" was held in 2010 in Spain. The champion denounced irregularities and chaos in press.^[8][9]

There are other Nordic walking competitions at 10 km, half marathon and marathon distances: Swiss Walking Event (Swiss),^[10] Geislingen Half Marathon (Germany),^[11] 10 km and Half Marathon of Schwarzwald-Marathon (Germany).^[12]

See also

• Trekking pole
• Walking stick

References