Key Walking Pole Features

Review what you need to know before getting Walking Poles…

You’ve done your research & decided Pole Walking looks like a lot of fun & you’re excited about all the benefits that come along with it.

Now you need to get a pair of Walking Poles so you can get started.

  • Where do you start?
  • What do you look for?
  • How do you know you’re getting a good deal?
  • What’s a good price?

These are all key questions to ask – with the most significant one being “What to look for?” – Once you know what to look for, you’ll know what you are looking at when you are comparing & you’ll know whether or not you are getting a good deal & paying a good price. Remember Walking Poles are used to turn a walk around the block into an efficient, effective, aerobic total-body workout – you want them to be able to hold-strong & support your weight as you push yourself forward off the ground. All while being comfortable both in the way they fit your hand to how they feel as they strike whatever type of ground you may choose to walk on.

Key Walking Poles Features

Important Elements:

Comfort

Whether you take up Pole Walking as casual activity you’re going to do only once & awhile or it’s something you really get into & are going to do it on a more regular basis – to get fit & healthy with. Your Walking Poles have got to be comfortable [when I have my Poles set right I don’t even know I have them on].

Adjustability

In the Height – To ensure comfort & maximized benefits it’s vital that your Poles are set correctly, not too high & not too low, you want to be able easily adjust the height for a custom-fit. [See Step 1- ‘How to set your Walking Poles’ to the correct height for you]

In the Palm-Strap – Walking Poles must be easy to adjust [both in the strap around the hand & the height of where your hand sits on the handle] so that you can fine-tune them to fit you just right. The Palm-Straps must be adjustable – so that the pressure you put on your Poles is in the palm/heal of your hand when you push-down or pull-back – in turn allowing you to relax the grip of your hand on the Pole handle itself. [See Step 1- ‘How to set your Walking Poles’ for how to set your Palm-Straps]

Quietness & Sturdiness

In the Pole Shaft – One of the most common issues with lesser-quality / lower-priced poles is the racket they make [there is nothing worse than being out on a walk & having your poles disturbing the peace & sending a constant vibration up your arms!] You want Walking Poles to make a soft, gentle sound as they strike the ground with no vibration at all.

Vital Components:

Handles

The Handles of good Walking Poles are best to be nub & groove free – with Cork being best for absorbing moisture, being warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer & comfortable to grip. [I have had to nurse more blisters then I’d care to remember from using poles with traditional ski-pole handles]

Palm Straps

The Palm-Straps must be designed so that they can be easily adjusted for a custom-fit – so that the pressure you put on your Poles is in the palm/heal of your hand when you push-down or pull-back – in turn allowing you to relax the grip of your hand on the Pole handle itself. [See Step 1- ‘How to set your Walking Poles’ for to how to set your Palm-Straps]

Locking Mechanism

Adjustable Walking Poles should allow for a custom-fit without giving–up safety or security [Keenfit Walking Poles Locking Mechanism is guaranteed to support up to 250lbs of pressure.] One of the most common issues with lesser-quality / lower-priced poles is the strength of their Locking Mechanism [there is nothing worse than walking along & having one or both your poles become shorter & shorter with every step or having one of them completely give-out & collapse on you!]

Shaft Material

Aluminum-alloy Walking Pole Shafts are known to be light-weight so that they aren’t a burden to lift from step to step – yet strong enough to support your weight as you push yourself forward off the ground.

Quietness & Sturdiness

In the Pole Shaft – One of the most common issues with lesser-quality / lower-priced poles is the racket they make [there is nothing worse than being out on a walk & having your poles disturbing the peace & sending a constant vibration up your arms!] You want Walking Poles to make a soft, gentle sound as they strike the ground with no vibration at all.

An Amusing Instructor’s Tale with Exerscuseful Seniors

I was asked to do a Walking Club starting in September at our Seniors Center. We had a Keenfit Certified... View Article

QUICK VIEW GO TO TESTIMONIAL

An Amusing Instructor’s Tale with Exerscuseful Seniors

I was asked to do a Walking Club starting in September at our Seniors Center. We had a Keenfit Certified Instructor come out in June and sell 20 sets of Poles. I also decided to become a Keenfit Certified Instructor after I bought Poles from this gentlemen named Ken.

I have lost 5lbs a month and am down 30lbs since using my Poles. I walk my 2 dogs and 2 cats down to the boat launch ever morning and night. One day I decided to count my steps and it worked out to 830 steps each way with a break and a sit down and a bit of yoga on the beach looking at the fishermen and Elk Island and some chit chat with neighbours.

My first class went well with 8 persons showing up. I walked with another fellow named Ken. He is approximately 40 lbs overweight and has a heart condition. We went to the Post Office from the Senior’s Center. The same distance as I walk to the boat launch from my cabin where I live.

The other seniors took off and went 3 times the distance we went. When we got back they said we cheated. I commented that was the distance I had been walking to attain my weight loss and that they were bullying us.

The second class produced the same amount of seniors but with a new person named Bev and she is approximately 30 lbs overweight. She walked with me and said “If this was all the distance I walked then it wasn’t worth the effort of getting up and meeting us” I said it was okay for her to walk with the other seniors. P.S. She has only come out 3 more times for she is too busy. I see her daily and everything is aching and she is putting on more and more weight. She says her back is bothering her. I asked her to bend her knees to stretch her hamstring and she says it hurts too much. She is an old friend and was a lifeguard with me years ago.
I am going to convince her in time. I cross my fingers.

I got home and thought about what happened and realized that I was 249 lbs. and 5’7″ when I started and without the Poles could not have walked to the boat launch like I had been doing for 5 months. The realization was I was carrying in reality approximately 100lbs of potatoes on my back walking any distance. So the amount you are overweight is the amount extra you have to carry around all day long. So the seniors who left us in the dust should have been fitted with 2 sacks of potatoes under each arm and see if they could walk even 830 steps.

My daughter has 18 month old twins and they weigh the equivalent of 52 lbs, imagine carrying them a full city block. Dream on I say.

I then called my 81 year old mother and asked if she was using her Poles.
She said no for her legs hurt when she was using the Poles (which is actually the opposite of what happens when most people use Poles.. they help your legs hurt LESS or not at all!). She has put on at least 35 lbs. in the last 2 years and she said it is okay for she is old and loves to eat. No I told her to stretch first and walk only 200 steps per time and see. Well it is day 4 and so far okay. By the way she is in great health but putting on weight everyday. My mom can walk on in the hallway where she lives. When she got the Poles in August, she was keen and 3 other friends also bought Poles. She walked too far and gave up for she never had time. She didn’t realize she also was now carrying 30 lbs of potatoes.

Her one friend Nancy is 120lbs overweight and asked to walk with them and my mom said no. We can’t walk with her she is too slow and can only walk a short distance. I said that was okay let her come with you and then pick her up on the way back. Well my mom stopped walking because of her extra weight and walked too fast and too far and of course Nancy had no one to walk with and personally was probably scared of falling down and being alone so she quit.

Wow I sure am working hard with this group. I am determined to see this through.

Angeline

An Angie Update:

I am fine and have lost 4 clothes sizes and dropped 1/2 a shoe size. 8 – 7 1/2 I feel great. The male friend of mine is now busy fishing and then hunting starts. Perfect, I love the fall. My girlfriends and myself fish off the pier. Cocktails and munchies and comfortable seats. We will be going out Pole Walking today. We catch pickeral, sunfish, bass, perch.

Talk later
Angie

Angie – age 63
Victoria Beach, Manitoba – CA