A Parkinson's patient's experience with using poles while walking:

Fitness trends

Some key statements from this article about fitness trends to watch in 2017 and thoughts about how Nordic walking addresses all those trends:

Quotations from the article	Nordic walking
"It's not about exercise at all, but about movement. That moving more throughout the day might be better than trying to find the best way to spend that single hour you've allotted to [exercise]."	Nordic walking involves you in full body movement
"…millennials flocking to big, expensive cities are looking for alternative (i.e., cheaper) ways to get around. As a result, walking and cycling commutes are picking up steam."	Nordic walking poles can be affordable, and you can Nordic walk anywhere
"…the need for better recovery habits will be the new focus of the wellness and fitness industry."	A typical Nordic walking program can be walking every other day, integrating rest into the schedule
"Intuitive training essentially means listening to your body and exercising in a way that honors how you're feeling on a day-to-day basis."	You can vary the intensity of a walk and integrate other kinds of exercise during a walk
"…for the average consumer, 'convenience remains king,' which is why live-streaming classes are gaining such steam."	Why livestream a coach yelling at you when you can listen to your favorite music while Nordic walking
"…there's a wellness tour that will cater to your every desire."	The International Nordic Walking Federation held their annual convention in Verona, Italy. Need I say more?
"Big gyms are trying to fight their way back to the front of the line by bringing boutique-style classes into their clubs, often at a fraction of the cost of similar classes at smaller, private studios."	Nordic walking programs can include aerobic and other movements, making it a possible addition to gym programs
"…wearables are getting smarter, with an element of artificial intelligence turning them from wearables to 'awareables.'"	You can track your Nordic walking progress and results with wearables

Good information about Nordic walking and why it's a great exercise activity.

Some help for low back pain

I came across a research article suggesting people with low back pain fared better with Nordic walking than with instruction about remaining generally active.

One limitation of the article: the researchers said the results showed those doing Nordic walking felt better but that the results weren't statistically significant. That is, the data wasn't strong enough to show the improvement could be attributed to something other than chance.

Does that mean Nordic walking isn't worth doing? More likely, some participants will tell their friends Nordic walking worked. Here are a couple of articles where the connection between Nordic walking and low back pain appeared to be statistically significant:

• "Nordic walking was used to rehabilitate a 48 year Woman who suffered from back and leg pain."
• "Chronic low back pain, a complaint often received from elderly women, was reduced by pole-induced power walking."

Research into the benefits of Nordic walking continues, something doctoral candidates might look into if they're looking for dissertation topics.

Amazing benefits of Nordic walking

Take a look at this list of benefits cataloged in a research article about Nordic walking and lower back pain:

• "…sciatica decreased"
• "…low back, hand, and leg pain were alleviated"
• …increased oxygen consumption, heart rate, and calorie expenditure"
• "…increasing stability and reducing loading"
• "…improved muscle strength and body balance"
• "…with chronic degenerative knee arthritis…pain reduced significantly"
• "…reduced pain and disability in patients with knee osteoarthritis"

Much of this comes from Nordic walking being full body and using more muscles.

Nordic walking and your back

A research article about the effect of Nordic walking for elderly women with low back pain yielded some positive results. The goal was to see if Nordic walking could "low back pain and change the spine shape in elderly women."

Points:

• "…low back pain decreased because the upper extremities were used together with the lower extremities during the exercises performed using the Nordic poles."
• "…strengthened the paraspinal muscles and enabled the participants to maintain a steady position for a long period, because the abdominal muscles, pelvic muscles, and sensory nervous system were used together."
• "…the effect of pain reduction in the muscle from the enhancements and the reduction of the weight load reduces the pain as a result of the normalization of the spine."

The overall effect was to reduce pain and make the back more stable. This is encouraging for people who might have posture problems. To encourage erect posture, look forward at some point in the distance, not at the ground all the time.

Some warm up moves prior to Nordic walking.

I came across this idea about what to do at lunchtime.

Walking with others

Some findings about the benefits of walking with others in nature.

• Less likely to feel depressed.
• Less likely to feel stressed.

Nordic walking gets you outdoors. Althoguht it increases the number of muscles used, other research I reported on indicates you don't feel like you're working harder. This makes it easy to socialize with others during a walk.

Give it a try!

Combined exercise for people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review

Why is exercise important for Type 2 diabetes patients? Combining resistance and aerobic exercise controlled glucose levels more extensively than one type alone.

Some additional thoughts from the researchers:

• How do different aerobic and resistance training modes affect glucose control?
• What are the effects of different training and progression methods?
• Is any one type of exercise more optimal than others?

What should Nordic walkers take from this? Consider supplementing with other forms of exercise.

Walking reduces HbA1c in Type II diabetic patients

An interesting review of different research studies found these results:

• Decreased HbA1c.
• Reduced body mass index.
• Lower diastolic blood pressure.

Interestingly, the review noted no significant improvements in systolic blood pressure or cholesterol levels. Other studies noted throughout this blog, on the other hand, noted significant improvements in those categories.

The interesting quotation was this: "Supervised walking was associated with a pronounced decrease in HbA1c (WMD −0.58%, 95% CI: −0.93% to −0.23%), whereas non-supervised walking was not." That means seek out a coach to keep you consistent and focused.