Nordic Walking is a total body workout and burns up to 40% more calories than regular walking. In many ways, Nordic walking resembles the elliptical machine found in most fitness gyms. It involves arm motion as well as leg motion. It increases balance, focus and of course, fat burn.
So What Is Nordic Walking?
Before you ask, it’s not how the Vikings did it. Nordic walking is a form of walking using modified ski poles. It started as a way of exercising during the summer in Nordic Europe. Nordic Walking was first developed in Finland by Cross Country Skiers, who are considered the fittest athletes in the world, as part of their summer training. Nordic Walking combines the positive training effects of running combined with the advantages of cross-country skiing.
A 30 minute workout on an elliptical machine at 2.5 mph can burn as much as 250 calories whereas 30 minutes on a treadmill at 2.5 mph may only burn 100 to 140 calories
Nordic walking offers more bang for your effort, but don’t mistake that it’s easy. It’s a demanding workout for the total body and involves you applying pressure with your poles to the ground. Because you are making use of your shoulders and upper arms to create pressure in pushing off and down again, you are engaging your abdomen, upper and lower as well as your back to complete the motions.
So whether you ski or not, want to invest in walking sticks or not, the concept behind Nordic walking is to build body strength, endurance and muscle tone. It saves time on adding crunches or muscle isolating exercises to your regimen. While the elliptical machine is not exactly Nordic walking, it is a very close approximation and offers one of the highest burning, total body workouts in the least amount of time.
To find your own nordic walking poles, check out these locations:
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