Michael Mosley: How Nordic walking could boost your workout
Ever heard of Nordic walking? It’s a technique that uses poles to drive you along as you walk. It looks a bit like skiing but you don’t need any snow! In fact, Nordic walking first gained popularity in the 90s when skiers used it for summer training and has since exploded worldwide.
The long poles keep the muscles in your body engaged, transforming a regular walk into a more intensive, full body workout. Research shows Nordic walking gives you a bigger fat burn and unique health benefits – like improved back posture – compared to regular walking.
In this episode of Just One Thing, Michael reveals why you should pick up some poles!
Burn more calories!
Nordic walkers used almost twice as many muscles as the regular walking group
Nordic walking is a bit more strenuous than regular walking because it engages both the upper and lower part of the body. In a recent study from Italy, participants were put into two groups, either Nordic walking or regular brisk walking. For six months they walked an hour a day, three times a week. At the end, while both groups had improved their fitness, the Nordic walkers – who were swinging their poles and engaging more of their upper body – lost the most body fat. Nordic walkers used almost twice as many muscles as the regular walking group so it's no wonder they saw greater benefits!
Benefit your back!
In another recent study, 80 volunteers with chronic lower back pain either started Nordic walking or continued with their normal routine. The Nordic walking group completed ten one-hour training sessions over a four week period. At the end of the study, they experienced significant reductions in pain, along with better fitness, strength and flexibility. On top of the physical differences they saw a psychological benefit, reporting improvements in their mental health after Nordic walking.
Nordic walking vs HIIT
How does Nordic walking compare to other forms of exercise? In a study at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, rehabilitation patients were divided into three groups: Nordic walking, moderate training (which was equivalent to 30-45 minutes of elliptical training) and high intensity interval training (HIIT). After 12 weeks of performing these exercises twice weekly, the results showed that Nordic Walking led to greatest improvements in functional capacity compared to the other exercises.
What is functional capacity? Dr Jennifer Reed, who carried out the study, explains it as “activities that you would do during your normal day-to-day routine that require physical effort. How we measured functional capacity in this trial was by using a six-minute walk test – we asked our participants to walk around an indoor track as quickly as they could for six minutes. And that distance measured at the end of the six minutes represents our measure of functional capacity.”
In the podcast, Michael Mosley says he’s surprised the Nordic walking group came out on top, as he expected that HIIT would steal the show! To find out more, listen to the episode about HIIT on ±«Óãtv Sounds!
Nordic walking gets more muscles going
“Nordic walking does lead to an improvement in upper and lower body strength, core strength [and] posture that comes with regular use of the Nordic walking poles, as well as gait, or speed of walking. All of those elements likely contributed as we observed an improvement in functional capacity following the Nordic walking group.” explains Dr Reed.
How to get started
The best thing about Nordic walking is that anyone can do it. If you can walk, you can Nordic walk! The technique isn’t hard either. There are some great videos available online which break down how to do it really well.
Like regular walking, once you get started it’s pretty easy to build it up, as Dr Reed explains: “Start with a few minutes, establish the technique. But once you're comfortable you could begin with 10 minutes building to 150 minutes over the course of the week.”
So there you have it! Grab this challenge buy the poles, and get Nordic walking!
Nordic walking gets more muscles going
“Nordic walking does lead to an improvement in upper and lower body strength, core strength [and] posture that comes with regular use of the Nordic walking poles, as well as gait, or speed of walking. All of those elements likely contributed as we observed an improvement in functional capacity following the Nordic walking group.” explains Dr Reed.
How to get started
The best thing about Nordic walking is that anyone can do it. If you can walk, you can Nordic walk! The technique isn’t hard either. There are some great videos available online which break down how to do it really well.
Like regular walking, once you get started it’s pretty easy to build it up, as Dr Reed explains: “Start with a few minutes, establish the technique. But once you're comfortable you could begin with 10 minutes building to 150 minutes over the course of the week.”
So there you have it! Grab this challenge buy the poles, and get Nordic walking!
Burn body fat with Nordic walking!
Dr Michael Mosley reveals why you should pick up some poles!
