Nordic walking and the numbers your doctor talks to you about

Here's some information from a research article comparing the effects of Nordic walking and Pilates on glucose and lipid levels. The participants were women experiencing menopause and who were overweight.

Here are some results:

• Nordic walking. Significant reductions in:
• "…body weight (6.4%)"
• "…body mass index (6.4%)"
• "…blood glucose (3.8%)"
• "…total cholesterol (10.4%)"
• "…non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (16.7%)"
• "…low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (12.8%)"
• "…triglycerides (10.6%)"
• "…increase in HDL cholesterol (9.6%)
• Significantly smaller-although still favorable-changes, except for glucose and HDL cholesterol levels, were observed in the Pilates group (decreases of 1.7%, 1.7%, 1.6%, 5.3%, 8.3%, 7.5%, and 6% and an increase of 3.1%, respectively).

The researchers' conclusion: "Exercise training in accordance with the NW model causes statistically and clinically more significant changes in glucose and basic blood lipid levels than do Pilates and dietary intervention alone."