Popularity of Nordic walking

These statistics about Nordic walking in Germany will give you an idea of what's possible here in the US. Check out this general statistic: "In 2013, around 1.34 million people in Germany aged 14 years or older went walking, or Nordic walking, in their spare time several times a week."

Let's do the math:

• Population of Germany in 2013: 80.62 million. That means there was 1 Nordic walker for every 60 people.

• Population of US in 2013: 316.5 million. At the same rates as Germany, there would have been over 5 million Nordic walkers in the US.

How many were really in the US? One estimate I found places 2 million Nordic walkers in the US. Let's assume that's a correct estimate based on rigorous surveys. That's not too much more than Germany, which has one-fourth the population of the US. In other words, there is much to be done in spreading the word.

Interesting facts about walking

I found some interesting comparisons about frequency and speed when people walk. The research took place on 2 footbridges and on 2 shopping floors, and the participants were walking naturally. The observations covered walking frequency, velocity, and stride length.

Observations:

• Average frequency of approximately 2 steps per second and a velocity between 4 and 5 feet per second on the shopping floors.
• On the footbridges, an average frequency of just under 2 steps per second and a velocity closer to 4 feet per second.
• The step-length on the shopping floors and the footbridges are almost the same with average values of 2 1/2 feet for men and just over 2 feet for women.

• Men walked with a higher velocity than the women.

• Women walked with higher frequency than men.

• There is a linear relationship between walking velocity and frequency which is different for men and women.

One way this helps us in Nordic walking is to make us aware that different people have different walking characteristics. That means when walking in a group, you want to take those characteristics into account so you don't leave people behind.

Think about it. What are some ways to do that with a group of people?

Comparing Nordic walking with conventional walking and band-based resistance exercises

An interesting research article on the effects of the different kinds of exercises. This one compared Nordic walking with regular walking and band-based exercises. There was a control group that didn't do anything so the researchers could see just how much difference exercising made.

Method:

• The Nordic walking and regular walking groups exercised 3 days per week.
• The resistance band group worked out 2 days per week.
• Each exercise period  was 30-40 minutes, not counting warm-up and cool down.
• Dimensions measured:
• Strength.
• Cardio-respiratory.
• Flexibility.
• Balance.

Results:

• Upper body strength improvement:
• Resistance band: 22.3%
• Nordic walking: 11.6%

• Cardio-respiratory fitness improvement:
• Nordic walking: 10.9%
• Walking: 10.6%

• Flexibility improved across the board.

• Balance didn't improve significantly.

Conclusion: Nordic walkers showed improvement in the most categories, leading the researchers to conclude Nordic walking was the best all around activity of the group.

Thoughts:

• Those with chronic balance and other issues will benefit from using poles.

• One way to use Nordic walking poles as part of balance improvement  is to use the poles for initial balance and then lift the poles for different lengths of time to help you practice your balance.

• If you're up to it, you can use variations to the Nordic walking workout to increase the intensity to work strength and cardio-respiratory systems.