Everyday Systems

It looks cool. Anyone done it? Biggest drawbacks to me are (a) cost of poles and (b) having to buy a piece of equipment, which I'm nixing presently due to Shopping Luddite.

f

I love the idea of Nordic walking as well. There are some cool youtube videos on the sport. Apparently it is huge in some European countries. Shopping Luddite. Nice. My wife has me on that one.

Nordic walking is great. It is very easy to do and takes walking up a notch for me. It also takes some of the pressure off my knees which is also a good thing. I highly recommend trying it.
swimfit

I only know what I've heard from others, and they say it's great. I kind of feel that the thing with the ski-poles might just be a big headfake. When walking with the poles, you tend to keep a higher pace, take longer steps and you use your arms more. If you can do all those things without the poles, I guess that the workout will be just as good.

But as I said, I'm just guessing. And headfakes can be good (have you chopped your wood and churned your butter today?).

/Krister

My husband and I recently bought each other Nordic Walking poles as birthday gifts.

I love it! Skiwalking definitely engages my chest, back, shoulders, arms and abs more than regular walking and I'm toning up. And studies show that nordic walking burns 15 to 45 percent more calories than normal walking. Since walking is my "bread and butter" exercise, I like that I can get more "bang for my buck" by simply using the poles.

My husband also really enjoys using his poles. He has Muscular Dystrophy and the poles give him more stability, take pressure off his joints and help him move faster.

They are worth a try. =)