Pole walking a better workout

By Amy Campbell

Everybody walks, but may not know how to make pole walking everyday activity into a special workout that uses over 600 muscles at once.

Nordic pole walking, also called urban pole walking, can be fun and give you a bigger workout than just walking. The secret to using more calories when walking is in how the poles are used. The easy and effortless pumping of your arms with the poles gets your upper body working compared to walking without poles which only uses your lower body. Nordic Pole Walking Facts:

• It can be done just about anywhere and on any surface from hard pavement to clay, sand, soil and grass

• It burns up to 46% more calories compared to normal walking

• It can reduce body pain by lowering the impact on your knees and hips by 30%

• All you need is a pair of Nordic poles and sneakers and you are ready to go!

This spring the Diabetes Prevention Project in Nipissing and Parry Sound districts  provided walking poles to a Centre near you. Check with your Health Centre at Wasauksing, Magnetawan, Shawanaga, Henvey Inlet, Dokis and Nipissing First Nation to find out more about pole walking. The North Bay Indian Friendship Centre, the Parry Sound Indian Friendship Centre, and the Madadjiwan Centre in Mattawa also have walking poles.

Staying active and healthy eating are two ways you can help to prevent chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity.