Take your walking to the next level with Nordic walking – A dynamic full-body exercise that uses specially designed poles to boost posture, stamina and overall fitness.
Nordic Walk It! provides a full calendar of sessions and events to improve posture alignment, muscle tone and flow of movement. Whether you’re building confidence in your technique, enjoying a social ‘Walk and Talk’ session, or powering through a challenging ‘Stride Out’ class, the instructors from Nordic Walk It! will ensure it’s fun and accessible for all.
Here’s how it differ from conventional walking.
In essence, Nordic walking is a more active form of walking, that uses specially designed poles to deliver a low-impact, full-body workout that enhances your fitness over-and-above that of an everyday stroll. It focuses on the correct and full engagement of muscles to enhance your flow of movement and propel your forward with ease and stability. This is very different to hiking where poles are utilised primarily for support and stability.
The term “Nordic walking” was coined in 1997, and originated in Finland during the 1930’s, initially as a summer training method for cross-country skiers.
With the multitude of benefits realised, and the ability to tailor the intensity to your needs, it has now evolved to a popular fitness activity for people of all ages and fitness levels, from recuperation, everyday fitness, to competitiveness.
Perfecting your technique is key to enjoy all the benefits. Qualified instructors run courses to help you understand how you move and how to enhance your flow of movement to build fitness and prevent injury. They also deliver regular walks to help you discover your locality, supporting you to maintain your technique and keep enhancing your fitness.
How it works ….
A whole-body exercise
Unlike a regular walk, Nordic walking uses your core and upper body muscles in addition to increasing the range of lower body muscles used.
Beneficial Technique
The Nordic walking movement of angling, pushing and stabilising the poles against the ground adds resistance, enhances your flow of movement, and creates the ability to maintain a continuous pace with ease, which neither jogging nor walking does.
Easy and Enjoyable
Although Nordic walking is more intense than regular walking, it doesn’t feel like it because the workload is being spread across your body and the poles act as support.
No matter how you feel at the start of a Nordic walk, you always feel uplifted and re-energised by the end.
Enhanced Range of Motion & Asymmertry
The pushing motion through the poles enhances the arm swing and stride length to create a larger, relaxed and regulated flow of movement compared to regular walking.
Improved Posture, Balance and Stability
Using the poles also encourages a more upright stance to align the body, reducing the urge to slouch, along with strengthening key spinal muscles, helping improve balance and reduce the risk of falls.
Core Strength
By using the poles you force the muscles in your abdomen and back to engage and work much harder than simply walking. This increases the stability of the hips, pelvis and lower back.
Balanced Muscle Engagement
By training and engaging both sides of the body equally, Nordic walking helps to isolate and correct muscle imbalances, prevent overuse and overtraining of one part/side of the body, allowing for better flexibility, coordination and movement control.
Joint Care
The use of the poles, redistributes your weight to reduce stress on joints and make you feel lighter on your feet. They also encourage more wrist, finger, ankle, knee, hip and spine movement that lubricates joints making them more agile and prevents stiffness.
Circulation
By constantly moving your hands and feet and engaging more muscles you increase your heart rate, promoting blood flow through the body especially in the extremities.
Osteoporosis and Bone Health
The whole-body nature of Nordic walking makes it an ideal weight-bearing, bone strengthening exercise. It also activates all the connective facia tissues that surround and support your muscle, organs and bones to improve the elasticity and mobility.
Weight Loss and Weight Management
Through enhancing your walking technique you burn up to 46% more calories than simply walking. Perfect for trimming inches and toning your body, especially those hard to tackle ares such as the upper arms, waist and back as you burn
Stress Busting
Walking and breathing in time with your pole action brings you into the present moment, allows you to re-engage your mind and body in a relaxing and meditative that can help you reduce stress and anxiety.
Finally, it’s Fun!
Ask any Nordic Walker and they’ll tell you no matter how you feel at the start of a Nordic walk, you always feel uplifted and re-charged by the end.
Discover Rutland with Nordic Walk It! :
Jo Douglas, Nordic Walking Instructor and Personal Trainer
www.nordicwalkit.co.uk or call Jo 0794 939 2018
