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Prevent osteoporosis with nordic walking
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Don’t be alarmed if you see groups of people who look like they’re walking on snow around the country. No, winter hasn’t done a sudden u-turn. They’ll all be Nordic Walking.
Nordic Walking is adapted from Nordic Skiing and its proponents say it gives you a total body workout. And that makes it an ideal exercise for preventing osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis New Zealand and the Nordic Walking Academy are working together to highlight its fitness and bone building benefits for people of all ages.
Julia Gallagher, executive director Osteoporosis New Zealand, encourages people to have a go.
“Nordic Walking strengthens the bones of the lower and upper body. This helps combat the effect of osteoporosis because the load taken through the arms when using the poles means that the bones in the upper and lower body are strengthened, and the impact on knees is reduced – so a great exercise for all those people with ‘wonky’ knees. Another advantage is that the poles assist with balance and therefore reduce the risk of falling.”
Nordic Walking is a technique first developed in the 1930s by Finnish cross-country skiers for summer training and became a recreational activity in the early 1980s.
It is now one of the fastest growing fitness sports. Sandro Roth and Andras Szucs of the Nordic Walking Academy are promoting the sport throughout New Zealand, teaching the correct techniques so that participants get the most benefit.
Andras is based in Wellington and says Nordic Walking has been shown to have many health benefits over normal walking.
“Nordic Walking is suitable for all age groups and abilities. People who have physical limitations find Nordic Walking enables them to exercise at a higher intensity compared to other activities.”
Nordic Walking got adapted to suit most people, and that’s one reason why it is one of the fastest growing activities right now. If you can walk – you can Nordic Walk, and the beauty of it is that you choose the intensity!
Nordic Walking activates more than 90 per cent of body’s muscles; offers 20-25 per cent greater cardio workout than regular walking; can burn up to 46 per cent more calories than walking and decreases the weight load and impact on the joints of lower limbs.
It also promotes upright posture and balance; strengthens and tones upper body; improves coordination; releases tension in the neck and shoulder area and develops core stability.
Nordic Walking is generally easy to learn, it is a cost-effective full body workout, that can be done anywhere at any time on any surface.
Nordic Walking is not just walking. After you learned the proper technique, you will discover that it can be very similar to a workout routine in the gym. You will do warm-up exercises and games, technique progressions, the actual Nordic Walk part, strength exercises and stretching. Together, your body weight, your partner’s body weight and the poles give you the perfect transportable gym. Even here intensities can be as high or low as you choose. You can turn your Nordic Walking session into an athletic high intensity session, or simply recreational to stay fit. Indoor sports don’t offer natural sunlight and fresh air, two very important components for our health and well-being, so get out and try Nordic Walking this summer!
Nordic Academy New Zealand owners Sandro Roth (National Training Manager) and Andras Szucs, and their team of qualified instructors are on a mission to bring Nordic Walking to as many New Zealanders as possible. |
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