Nordic Walking During Fall Color Season

High School Cross Country Runners Doing A Little Cross Training

The weather is cooler and the fall colors are at their peak. Anytime is a great time for Nordic Walking, but fall is a fantastic time year to do some Nordic Walking – in the city, in the country and up in the mountains.

Even though I was the only one at the Elk Rapids Cross Country Invitational with Nordic Walking Poles, I know ski season is just around the corner. Nordic Walking isn’t just for skiers deprived of snow. Nordic Walking is ideal for ALL ages and ALL fitness levels. Nordic Walking Poles are certainly helping skiers get ready for ski season, but the vast majority of Americans that have discovered Nordic Walking are finding that the poles help to turbo charge their walking campaigns.

Does walking with poles look a little silly? Yes, but in Europe over 6 million individuals are walking with poles. And those of us here in the USA know for a fact that the poles make walking more effective, reduce stress to the weight bearing joints and help to burn more calories than regular walking because the arms are so much more actively engaged than regular walking.

For those of us that had to give up running, Nordic Walking is saving the day. The poles totally eliminate knee pain for many suffering from runners knee and those with other knee, hip and back issues are finding equal success. Individuals with weight issues are finding that Nordic Walking Poles help to encourage them to walk faster and farther, while burning more calories than regular walking. Individuals with balance issues are finding an improved balance and stability – including those with MS, Parkinson’s, Neuropathy and Post Polio.

In order to maximize Nordic Walking success it is important to use the correct length poles. Ideally your elbow should be at about 90 degrees and your forearm parallel to the ground when strapped into your Nordic Walking Straps and standing tall.

Real Nordic Walking Poles are equipped with Nordic Walking Straps – kind of like fingerless gloves. Real Nordic Walking Poles also include both metal tips for trail use, snow and ice, plus removable rubber tips for use on pavement and other hard surfaces. The rubber Nordic Walking tips act as both a shock absorber and a silencer so that you do not have to listen to the "clank" of the metal tip on pavement.

It is also important to note that one-piece Nordic Walking Poles are safer, lighter and much more durable than cheap twist-locking adjustable length/telescoping/collapsible poles. Everyday I receive emails and phone calls from individuals that are having problems with their poles equipped with twist-locks. I also receive the same feedback during my Nordic Walking Clinics from folks that accidentally purchase poles with twist-locks and find they won’t hold position or lock into place at all. Others tell of checking the "floor sample" at their local sporting good store and not being able to get the twist-locking system to work at all.

For more information about Nordic Walking technique check out: www.skiwalking.com/getStarted.asp

For information about durable one-piece poles that come with a Perfect Length Guarantee, 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and a Life Time Breakage Guarantee check out: WWW.SKIWALKING.COM

Don’t let the beautiful fall colors or Nordic Walking pass you by!

THE MANY BENEFITS OF NORDIC WALKING POLES MOTIVATE LAUNCH OF THE "NORDIC SPORTS USA" BLOG

The Nordic Sports Blog was launched to help promote all Nordic sports: Nordic skiing (cross country skiing), Nordic walking, Nordic running, Nordic snowshoeing and Nordic blading (in-line skating or roller blading with poles). These healthy activities originated in Scandinavia. And all of these Nordic activities include the use of sport specific poles – improving balance, stability and overall fitness.

Check out our new Nordic Sports Blog at: http://nordicsportsusa.blogspot.com
I love cross country skiing (Nordic skiing). Cross country ski racers are proclaimed to be the most aerobically fit athletes on the planet. Cross country skiing was the first of the Nordic Sports. Then came Nordic Walking. Nordic Walking Poles not only help to burn more calories than regular walking, the poles help to reduce stress to the weight bearing joints and improve balance/stability.

When I was forced to stop running marathons I discovered that Nordic Walking Poles helped to radically reduce the stress to my knee. My wife and I were never compatible as running partners, but Nordic Walking together has been fantastic. Now we are actually Nordic running (running with our Nordic Walking Poles) up the hills of our favorite trail here in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

As a ski coach I know that ski walking and hill bounding with poles are key components to summer training for ski racers deprived of snow. Walking with poles can help to turbo charge everyone’s walking campaign. Walking with poles can burn up to 40% more calories than regular walking. And that is why the American Nordic Walking System and WWW.SKIWALKING.COM developed the three basic levels of Nordic Walking – allowing ALL ages and ALL fitness levels to find the ideal level of exertion. More Nordic Walking info on how to get started walking effectively with poles can be found at: http://www.skiwalking.com/getStarted.asp

Given the many health benefits of Nordic Skiing and Nordic Walking it is important to look into Nordic Blading and Nordic Snowshoeing. Both of these activities take existing fitness activities and make them better by adding poles to increase upper body involvement/workout and improve balance, stability and back support. Blading (in-line skating or roller blading) and snowshoeing with poles really does help to eliminate back pain – helping to automatically improve posture without having to think about it. Adding poles to these fitness activities has proven to be a win-win situation.

Nordic Sports provide us with some unique fitness options that are huge and successful in Europe and doable here in the USA regardless of time of year:

Nordic Skiing: ideal anywhere there is snow. NO lift ticket required. Huge calorie burn, plus gentle on the weight bearing joints.

Nordic Walking: can be done successfully anytime of year and in any climate. Removable rubber tips make Nordic Walking doable on pavement, in the mall and on indoor/outdoor tracks. Remove the rubber Nordic Walking tips and you are good to go on trials, the beach, snow and ice.
Nordic Blading: in-line skating with poles requires dry pavement and hard surfaces. Nordic Blading is a great way to get a better workout while skating. Balance and stability are greatly improved.

Nordic Snowshoeing: can be done anywhere there is snow and may be perceived as easier than cross country skiing in certain terrain and in certain snow conditions. If it is a little icy for cross country skiing it may be the perfect time for Nordic Snowshoeing - adding poles to snowshoeing not only improves balance and stability, the stress to the lower back is often eliminated completely!

Poles are obviously a key to all of the fantastic Nordic Sports. It is important to note that Nordic Skiing and Nordic Blading are done exclusively with durable one-piece poles. And when it comes to Nordic Walking and Nordic Snowshoeing it has been proven repeatedly that one-piece poles are safer, lighter and much more durable than cheap twist-locking adjustable/telescoping/collapsible poles. I am contacted everyday from individuals that have experienced problems with their poles equipped with twist-lock systems. Skiers don’t use cheap twist-lock poles and neither should Nordic Walkers or Nordic Snowshoers. The cheap twist-lock poles included in many snowshoe kits often fail right out of the box and if not right out of the box they are not durable enough to hold up with repeated use.

Nordic Sports are huge in Europe and are improving the health and fitness of millions. Hopefully as more Americans become aware of the many benefits of Nordic Sports we will see an increase in Nordic Skiing, Nordic Walking, Nordic Running, Nordic Blading and Nordic Snowshoeing.

Nordic Walking Clinics A Success During Michigan Health Department #10’s Staff Meetings At The Michigan 4-H Foundation’s Kettunen Center

On Friday, October 10th I had the opportunity to offer an introduction to Nordic Walking to about 150 Health Department employees, followed by Nordic Walking Clinics for the most adventurous health department employees.

The setting was ideal – lakeside in the beautiful northern Michigan woods at the Kettunen Center, a complete conference and retreat facility owned and operated by the Michigan 4-H Foundation. The District Health Department #10 is the largest geographical health department in Michigan. The mission of District Health Department #10 is to promote and enhance the health of all individuals through education, prevention, intervention, and protection of the environment.

The mission of The American Nordic Walking System and WWW.SKIWALKING.COM is to provide helpful, proven and safe Nordic Walking Instruction and quality Nordic Walking Poles to as many North Americans as possible. After hosting hundreds of Nordic Walking classes during the past four years I have developed a pretty good feel for sizing everyone into the correct length poles. ALL our customers receive a perfect length guarantee. ALL sizes are in-stock and ready to ship. Once we know how tall someone is we select the perfect length poles for their height and we back it up with a perfect length guarantee. Our customer satisfaction rating is 100%! And every day we receive thank you cards and emails from happy customers all across the USA and Canada.

Perfect length poles help us to automatically walk with a super straight back - better walking posture is biomechanically a good thing. This improved walking posture when combined with the unique 4-Wheel-Drive type action of walking with poles radically reduces the stress to the shins, knees, hips and back. Nordic Walking is low impact and yet provides a highly effective workout - burning more calories and working more muscle groups than regular walking.

The American Nordic Walking System and WWW.SKIWALKING.COM are dedicated to the simple and proven facts that one-piece Nordic Walking Poles are safer, lighter and much more durable than cheap twist-locking adjustable length poles. Seniors and individuals with balance issues should never use poles equipped with twist-locking systems that can fail and collapse unexpectedly. While hosting Nordic Walking all across the country we consistently hear the same feedback from individuals that accidentally purchased twist-locking poles that failed and/or collapsed unexpectedly from discount stores, sporting goods stores and other sources. Many of our newest customers call us after they can’t get their twist-locking poles to set correctly and they ask us about our quality hassle-free one-piece poles.

Last night a lady called about her new twist-lock poles that, right out of the box, wouldn’t set correctly – obviously she didn’t purchase them from us. There were no instructions and no Nordic Walking DVD. She decided to order some one-piece poles from us in the perfect length for her height and was going to return the cheap twist-locking poles. Even the best twist-lock poles are not as dependable and user-friendly as quality one-piece poles sized correctly. When it comes to sizing, be sure that at a minimum all nine sizes are available from 100cm to 140cm in 5cm increments. And when it comes to Nordic Walking Straps, the best ones are patented by the Salomon Ski Company – don’t get scammed by the cheap straps from China. All of the Nordic Walking Poles from The American Nordic Walking System and WWW.SKIWALKING.COM are patented by the Salomon Ski Company.

Nordic Walking isn’t just for skiers deprived of snow during the summer!

Nordic Walking is ideal for ALL ages and ALL fitness levels.

Walking with poles is the best!