Smart Walking Seniors!
– Beyond 50 Magazine

I was 42 years old and had recently transformed my overweight and out-of-shape body and lost 30 lbs (in just 6 months) by using walking poles – yet I was confused and hurt. Everyone that I had told about this “secret’ European fitness phenomenon found it interesting but wouldn’t consider it for themselves. For some reason though, they couldn’t wait to tell their Moms or Dads about it.

It was, and still is, amazing to me how a cross-training exercise for Olympic cross-country ski athletes can be seen as an activity only for old or injured people?

It’s surprising how many people out there let this stigma stop them from even giving walking poles a try. I’ve even had seniors over the age of 80 say, “I don’t need help walking.” Well, I an assure you, Olympic cross-country ski athletes certainly don’t either.

Pole walking originated in the 1930s, when the cross-country ski coaches of Finland were struggling to keep their athletes in peak performance during the off season.

Pole walking (also known as Nordic Walking) isn’t new – it’s just relatively new to North America. So it is understandable that it is still seen as a mystery to many why anyone would want to walk around with a pair of poles (resembling ski poles) in their hands, without skis strapped to their feet or snow on the ground.

Though Pole walking is literally for everyone from the casual, average walker to the more serious, athletic walker – the people who seem to be most instantly and naturally attracted to it are 55 – 75year olds (with a large amount of happy, healthy 75 to 98 year olds as well).

I think the reason for this is that most people in this age category already love to walk. They walk socially, for fun and for exercise, so adding poles simply makes sense. Plus once they find out that using poles makes walking more beneficial (increasing their cardio by 20 percent and calorie burn by up to 48 percent) and that it actually takes less effort to do and is easier on their bodies (lessening the impact with which they hit the ground by 26 percent – a huge bonus if you have any back, hip, knee, ankle or feet challenges) – then it’s not surprising they are excited and can’t wait to get going…Read Full PDF