Nordic Walking… Building Bones, Burning Fat

By Robert Sweetgall

In 1984 and 1985, when I walked 11,208 miles through all 50 states of America, I averaged 31 miles/day at a 3.5 miles/hour pace at a metabolic rate of 5 calories per minute. Today, 25 years later, I still walk 3.5 miles/hour. However, my body is burning 7 calories per minute. The difference is a pair of walking poles.

The Discovery
My “pole-walking’ discovery came 19 years ago in 1990 when I met Tom Rutlin, the inventor of Exerstriding® (more recently termed Nordic Walking). Rutlin, saddled with lower leg Achilles tendon issues, discovered that by pushing downward on walking poles with each stride, pressure was taken off the feet, ankles, knees and hips…all while giving the upper body a great workout. The net result: 40% more upper body engagement and a 40% increase in calorie expenditure.

Skepticism vs. Reality
At first I was skeptical of this claim. However, as soon as I started walking with Exerstrider® walking poles, I could feel the difference. Interestingly, a few years later, a University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse study by John Pocarri, PhD confirmed a 38% increase in muscular endurance for ”Nordic Walking” women compared to 0% increase for plain “Fitness Walking” women over a three month training period. Both groups had significant cardiovascular improvements (approximately 15% increase in oxygen uptake), but the Nordic Walking women achieved this improvement at 3.5 miles per hour, while the Fitness Walking women had to walk 4 miles per hour to gain the same benefits. This proves that by properly walking with poles at a very comfortable, non-forced 3.5 mph pace, you can achieve the same cardio and caloric (and more muscle strengthening) benefits than speed-walking at 4 mph.

Technique is the Key
Technique starts in the arm swing. To fully engage all the upper body muscles, the pole-planting arm should pivot/rotate from the top of the shoulder joint with a motion similar to the way you would “pump” the arm of an old-fashioned well to get water on the farm. In this pumping action, your arm remains fully extended throughout the entire pole-plant cycle without flexing the wrist and just a very slight bend at the elbow. The poles are always angled back toward the heel of the foot and the rubber shock-absorbing tips land alongside the heel on the opposing foot (right pole/left foot). The pole tips land with a gentle force that you increase during the push-off phase of the stride (that’s when most of the muscle work is accomplished).

Learning the Technique/Getting the Rhythm
After teaching Nordic Walking to thousands of people, I discovered that people learn the Exerstriding/Nordic technique through two methods.
• The Drag Technique: Walk in natural rhythm with your arm swinging freely just as you normally walk, and with your poles held with a firm but not tight grip. Swing your poles along your sides such that the tips of the poles drag along the ground. Once you get “in rhythm” (that’s the right pole moves ahead as the left foot plants and then the left pole moves ahead as the right foot plants), start picking the poles up gradually so the tips just avoid scraping the ground as you start pushing off on the poles by exerting a downward force/thrust. Note, it is this downward force/push on the poles that engages all the upper body muscles while increasing your metabolic rate 40%.
• The Kick-Start Technique: In this alternative approach, put your arms and legs in the exact Exerstriding/Nordic form (just as if you froze your body in the middle of your gait) with your left pole tip pressing into the ground right alongside the right heel of your foot. Next, launch into your next step by pushing off your left pole, enabling your right pole tip to land at the back of your left heel. This kick-start will help you establish the proper right/left foot arm rhythm and coordination, and from this point on you will continue the pattern naturally. By the way, if you do get out of sync stop immediately and “kick-start” yourself back into rhythm. Approximately 50% of adults learn by “dragging” and the rest of us learn by “kick-starting.”

Natural Movement
So natural is this Exerstriding/Nordic motion, yet most walkers and hikers walking out of sporting goods stores with “hiking poles” have no clue as to how to use them correctly. That’s why Exerstrider walking poles come with a comprehensive instructional DVD and the Exerstrider manual enabling you to learn the correct technique. Unfortunately, most “Nordic Walkers” who learn by the so-called international Nordic technique get sized with poles that are way too short. This results in weak muscle engagement with a metabolic increase that falls well below the 40% increase discussed above.

The Equipment
While many frugal walkers think they can jury-rig an old pair of ski poles into Nordic Walking poles, in 19 years of Exerstriding/Nordic Walking, I have never seen a single person stick with their jury-rigged poles over the long haul… and for good reason; the poles just don’t feel comfortable enough to walk with consistently.


Do It Right: From top to bottom, here are the design features that work best.
• The grips on the poles should be ergonomically shaped to fit the hand with a flange for the hand to press against (not a straight-down cute cork handle with some contraption of straps). Grips with straps are totally unnecessary if the grip is designed correctly with the ergo/flange form.
• The shaft, often a high-alloy strong and lightweight aluminum, can be either solid one-piece construction, or it can be telescoping (adjustable). Most people prefer telescoping shafts for convenience of storage and flexible use (people of different heights can adjust the poles to their needed settings.)
• The bottom of the poles should have a shock-absorbing rubber “foot” that bites/grips into surfaces such as asphalt, concrete, gravel, grass, etc. Ideally, if you can remove the rubber foot and expose a steel carbide pointed tip, you will have the ability to Nordic Walk on sandy beaches, rough terrain, snow, etc. Screw-on baskets provide flotation on these softer surfaces. As far as sizing/pole length goes, your poles should be sized long enough so that your forearm is in a dead-horizontal plane when your arm is dropped straight down from the shoulder and the pole tip is angled back, touching the ground at the back of your heel (see photo).

Getting Started
At first, take it easy. If you’re accustomed to 45 to 60 minutes walks, do not think you can comfortably go out the first day and Nordic Walk three to four miles. Just try five or 10 minutes. Concentrate on good form: the pole plant, the arm swing, the push off, the rhythm of arms and feet in contra-latteral synchronous motion. Then gradually, as your arm and upper body muscles acclimate, increase the duration of your workouts. Remember, one mile translates to approximately 1,000 repetitions for your right and left triceps muscles, so doing too much too soon will result in muscle soreness the next morning, but not if you take it gradually, progressively adding a minute or two extra each day. Just think, if you added two minutes a day, day after day, you’d be Nordic Walking 30 minutes a day after just two weeks of acclimation.

Robert Sweetgall has walked seven times across America, presented workshops, and seminars to over 5,000 corporations, hospitals, health departments, schools, and communities and has written 17 books on walking, wellness, and active living. He walks the talk across America, speaking to more than 100,000 children on heart disease and walking. To learn more about Robert and Creative Walking, Inc.’s professional programs and resources, please visit www.creativewalking.com.