gtcbay.com

Then came hiking poles – originally just ski poles that made hiking much more efficient. Ski coaches, like myself, for decades have had their top skiers use their ski poles for hiking, hill bounding and ski walking during the summer when deprived of snow. Nordic Walking Poles evolved directly from this special concept of fitness training with poles.

Backpackers found that ski poles eliminated their sore knees and/or backs. Back packers were then offered the option of adjustable length trekking poles that appeared to conveniently fit into their backpacks. Here in the USA ski poles and trekking poles have been used for decades on the Appalachian Trail, hiking in the Grand Canyon and other off-road locations.

During college I experimented with running with poles after my winter of studying abroad in Africa and returning in the spring to a challenging collegiate track season. As a young coach back in 1981 I started having my runners and skiers use their ski poles to hike and run the dunes here in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I discovered right away that the poles eliminated shin and/or knee pain for any of my athletes with shin splints or runners knee.

A few years later, fellow American Tom Rutlin added rubber tips to downhill ski poles to help urbanize walking with poles. Rutlin called his walking pole concept Exerstriding.

During the 90’s “Nordic Walking” was successfully launched in Finland. EXEL of Finland introduced the fist official “Nordic Walker” Poles. Swix of Lillehammer, Norway soon followed. These new Nordic walking poles were a one-piece design – proving to be much lighter than trekking, hiking and downhill poles. They were also sized according to each individual’s height – as they are for skiers, just shorter in length. Special fingerless glove-type straps were also added. Both SWIX and EXEL utilized Salomon patented straps. These special straps eliminate the need to grip the poles and allow the hand and wrist to remain unlocked, relaxed and much more effective. These special straps are used today by all of the top cross country ski racers around the world.

Today over 7 million Europeans are walking with poles – in the cities, out in the country and up in the mountains. Nordic Walking is the fastest growing fitness activity in Europe.

Here in the USA I have had the privilege to introduce Nordic Walking to high school and college sports teams, fitness centers, doctors, physical therapists, nurses, senior centers, YMCA’s, grade schools, middle schools, high schools, runners, skiers and other groups including multiple sclerosis (MS), parkinson’s (PD) and diabetes support groups – all ages and all fitness levels. My sturdy and dependable one-piece Nordic Walking Poles have proven safe and effective replacements for many that use canes and/or walkers. When I host Nordic Walking Clinics I only supply one-piece poles and ensure that participants have the correct length poles. Using the Perfect Length Poles and correct technique help to ensure success.

Perfect length poles help us to automatically walk with a super straight back – better walking posture is biomechanically a good thing. This improved walking posture when combined with the unique 4-Wheel-Drive type action of walking with poles radically reduces the stress to the shins, knees, hips and back. Nordic Walking is low impact and yet provides a highly effective workout – burning more calories and working more muscle groups than regular walking.

As a ski coach I can not, with good conscious, recommend twist-locking adjustable length/telescoping/collapsible poles for Nordic Walking. One-piece poles are safer, lighter and much more durable. I host Nordic Walking Lessons everyday, speak at seminars and provide presentations on Nordic Walking. Participants often bring their own poles and those with adjustable length poles typically report problems with their twist-lock mechanisms. Once they have the opportunity to test drive our user-friendly one-piece poles equipped with real Nordic Walking Straps they are always surprisingly impressed and typically replace their twist-locking poles with our quality one-piece poles.

The American Nordic Walking System and WWW.SKIWALKING.COM also provides a safe and effective teaching program. There is an ideal level of exertion and intensity level for any age and any fitness level.

Unfortunately cheap twist-locking poles from China have flooded the market with extremely poor quality twist-locking adjustable length poles for trekking, snowshoeing and Nordic Walking. Many of these poor quality poles are destined for the landfill. Seniors and individuals with balance issues should especially avoid these cheap twist-locking poles. One-piece poles have also proven superior for every day use and Nordic Running.

Walking with dependable one-piece Nordic Walking Poles is the best!