Nordic Walk Your Way to a Life with Strength and Stamina If you need something to take yourself to the height of fitness without straining your joints too much, nordic walking is definitely something you should consider working into your routine. With international marathons, world championships, and other popular competitions based primarily in Europe, nordic walking is getting popularized and recognized for its many health-enhancing attributes as it deserves. Isn’t it time you tried it out and saw what all the fuss is over? Nordic walking is the highly intuitive, simple, yet beneficial exercises of walking with the use of two specially constructed poles. These walking poles are essentially shorter versions of ski poles. As you might guess, the exercise evolved originally from skiing. During the off season, skiing pros often use these poles while walking to stay at their peak even when snow isn’t available. While originally the exercise was for pro skiing experts, its many recorded benefits have turned it into an activity everyone can enjoy. So, what are the benefits to nordic walking over just plain regular walking? The no-slip rubber tips on the poles allow for better traction and balance, for one thing. But more importantly, the poles help to reduce strain on hips, feet, and especially the knees, allowing people with arthritis or injuries in those areas to walk with much less risk of hurting themselves. Since nordic walking provides all the benefits of a cane with the benefits of exercise, it’s particularly popular for the elderly and the partially disabled. However, even completely healthy and strong people can enjoy nordic walking’s ability to burn up more calories. It’s also known to train stamina more effectively and increase the muscle development of the upper body. And all these advantages happen without having to walk faster or try harder! The simple inclusion of the poles allows you to get your upper body and core muscles into the act naturally, and that little addition will, over the course of a walk of reasonable length, add greatly the effectiveness of the exercise. It’s worth stressing that the correct type of poles should be used for this activity. Nordic walking poles aren’t as long as ski poles, and they are tipped differently to accommodate different sorts of terrain. Using poles of the wrong length can hamper the benefits of nordic walking by placing more stress on the body. And you needn’t worry about getting nordic walking poles that ‘fit’ you; many of these poles are marketed as being adjustable for different heights. Another easy way to differentiate nordic walking poles from other poles is the inclusion of helpful straps that allow you to use the poles without having to grip firmly on them constantly. This makes them superior to, say, an ordinary hiking stick. Nordic walking poles aren’t particularly expensive, so don’t be scared off by the starting investment. Your body will thank you in future for supporting it properly with tools that help keep the spine at ease and the joints thoroughly relaxed. Of course there’s nothing stopping you from walking the old-fashioned way… if you LIKE having aches and pains in your body that you don’t need to have!
Posted on: Mon, 02 Sep 2013 14:29:43 +0000
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