FITNESS
NORDIC WALKING
By Harry Fenton K
eep calm. Breathe. steady, steady. squeeze trigger. CRACK! Good, the first target has fallen. Breathe
slowly, CRACK! Blimey, this is difficult. Three shots to go. CRACK, CRACK, last one, CRACK. Breathe again. Well done, all targets down. Right, stop lying around, get back on your feet, sling your rifle on your back and off you go. Only another 20km to the finishing line. In January 1981 I was part of my
Regiments` biathlon team, competing in ski-ing and shooting competitions. Biathlon races are a highlight of the Winter Olympics and make great TV. Boxing apart, there cannot be a more demanding sport. At the end of a 40km race we were all totally exhausted, every muscle having been pushed to its limit. As usual, I was there just to make up the numbers. We were encouraged to train for cross-country ski-ing by going running during the summer months. This was fine for our cardiovascular fitness but did little for our upper-bodies and increased the risk of injury by running long distances. At about this time a physical education teacher in Finland introduced “walking with ski poles” as a form of exercise for her sports students. The Finnish Association of Recreational Activities developed special poles for the activity and the term “nordic walking” was born. Cross-country skiers now train throughout the summer by Nordic walking as the form of exercise is seen as a great way for them to keep up their overall fitness, with little risk of injury. i recently qualified as a nordic walking
Instructor and spent a large part of the Course learning the correct walking technique. as a fitness fanatic and personal trainer I was very interested to see how demanding the walking was and how I would feel the following day, after spending several hours Nordic walking. I
found that, once the technique has been learned correctly, the effort, and benefit from it, comes somewhere between walking briskly and jogging. the scientific research backs that up. Nordic walking uses about 90% of the body`s muscles, more than running, swimming and cycling. This is because the arms are brought into use moving the poles in a slightly exaggerated style and the legs stride out longer than when strolling with friends or walking the dog!
“IT USES ABOUT 90% OF THE
BODY’S MUSCLES”
Also, because the body is upright and unsupported, many muscle groups are utilized in stabilizing the body. Shoulder muscles, abdominals, pelvic floor and back muscles are all brought into action. Regular Nordic walking is sure to increase the strength of all of these muscles and their associated joints and increase their range of use.
Due to all these muscles working, there
is a greater cardiovascular demand on the respiratory system. This means you need to breathe a bit quicker and deeper. Uptake of oxygen is about 20% higher when using poles at a comfortable speed. This can go higher still as the Nordic walkers` speed increases. Not surprisingly, calorie use is also about 20% higher than when walking normally and pulse rate is up by around 6%. However, it doesn`t feel as if you are working harder than when walking without poles at the same speed. This is probably because the effort is shared between arms and legs so no muscles are overworked. After my training course I felt the
muscles that had been worked most were my triceps (back of arm), abdominals, backside and lower legs. I had only needed to breathe hard when we were walking fast uphill. Mostly, I could walk and carry out a conversation at the same time. One of the great things about Nordic walking is that it is a very social activity. You can get fitter whilst chatting to your friends when you don`t even notice the effort you are putting in!. An hour’s Nordic walking probably uses up somewhere between 300-400 calories depending on speed and terrain and your level of fitness. The technique is easy to learn, most
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