Nordic walking as a full body exercise
Research comparing upper
body involvement in Nordic walking versus regular walking showed
"…when Nordic poles are used, many muscles in the arms, shoulders, chest,
and back are used and energy consumption is increased."
Here are some
details:
- Purpose of the study: "…assess the effect of Nordic pole walking on the electromyographic [monitoring electrical signals generated when muscles are used] activities of upper extremity and lower extremity muscles."
- Nordic walkers and regular walkers performed their walking activity on a treadmill for 30 minutes at a time.
Here's what they
found out:
- "…the activities of the biceps brachii, triceps, deltoid medius, and latissimus dorsi [upper arm, shoulder, and upper back] increased remarkably when Nordic poles were used compared with when Nordic poles were not used."
- "…muscle activities of the rectus femoris, lateral hamstring, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius [front of thigh, back of thigh, front of lower leg, back of lower leg] did not show big differences between when Nordic poles were used and when Nordic poles were not used."
Thoughts about the
results:
- This study supported the idea that Nordic walking is a full body exercise because it involves the upper body as well as the lower body.
- However, the researchers did not find a difference in the use of the leg muscles between Nordic walkers and regular walkers even though previous studies by other researchers suggested that was the case.
What can Nordic
walkers take away from this?
- The involvement of the upper body will improve upper body conditioning and will also improve cardiovascular conditioning.
- However, it still remains to be seen whether use of the poles actually helps people walk faster. The authors of this study said the previous research showed that use of the polls helped engage lower body muscles but that this particular study didn't reveal that. In other words, Nordic walkers' legs got the same exercise benefit as the legs of regular walkers.
At this point, the
overall assessment of Nordic walking is that it provides a greater exercise
benefits over regular walking.
