Smart Walking Seniors – The Poles Have It!

Pole Walking Not Just for Seniors

I’ll never forget, I was 42 years old, I had transformed my overweight and out of shape body and lost 30 lbs (in just 6 months) by using Walking Poles. Yet I found myself a little confused.  Everyone that I had told about this secret European fitness phenomenon found it interesting, but not 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 80 say “I don’t need help walking”….well I can assure you Olympic cross-country ski athletes certainly don’t either.
 
Pole Walking originated in1930’s, when the cross country ski coaches of Finland were struggling to keep their athletes in peak performance during the off season.

It soon became popular with the average person once the total-body benefits and the overall fun of the activity were discovered.  Now and for almost two decades it has been the activity of choice for millions of Northern Europeans.
 
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.
 
Seniors Walking Smarter With Poles
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 to 75 year 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, and adding Poles simply makes sense. Plus once they find out that Pole Walking not only makes walking more beneficial, then it’s not surprising they are excited and can’t wait to get going.  Walking with Poles increases their cardio by 20% and their calorie burn by up to 48%.  Better yet, it actually takes LESS effort to do and is easier on their bodies by lessening the impact whey they hit the ground by 26% – a huge bonus if they have any back, hip, knee, ankle or feet challenges.
 
“I am 87 years old and am now walking a mile a day non-stop thanks to my poles and nothing hurts and I feel great.” Margaret
 
If the easy cardio benefits and less impact isn’t reason enough to encourage Seniors, another benefit is how walking with Poles gives them a wonderfully tall feeling – naturally aligning their spine and strengthening their core while engaging over 50% more muscles than if they were walking ‘without’ Poles. This in particular helps burn the unwanted back-fat and floppy-arms that all mature women hate!
 
It’s funny how this ‘professional athletic cross-training exercise’ is seen as an activity for ‘old or injured people.’…Well, I say ‘too bad’ for those younger people who don’t realize that it isn’t …and ‘way to go’ for those lucky, open minded, older (smart) folks who are willing to give it a try!
 
Walk on everyone!