Would Nordic Walking Be A Good Exercise Option For You?

Regular physical exercise – taken on a frequent and consistent basis – is recognised as a major factor in improving health levels and lowering the probability of – or avoiding completely – numerous health problems and diseases. We are probably all aware of this – however, it can still be very hard to summon up the motivation to exercise on a regular basis. For many people, the perception of exercise is that it is physically exhausting, boring and costly (membership fees for gyms can be surprisingly high). It can also be difficult to find the time to fit exercise into your daily routine.

One form of exercise which most of us carry out every day is walking. It’s an important influence on the overall health and fitness of an individual. When undertaken on a regular basis, walking has the potential to provide many benefits to an individual’s health. It can help to lower the risk of stroke and heart disease as well as reducing blood pressure. It helps to combat depression and anxiety. It will help you to sleep better – you will have more energy and feel less fatigued throughout the day. It can even help to reduce the probability of getting certain types of cancer. Some recent research suggests that it may possibly help to avoid Alzheimer’s disease. It will also burn calories and help you to lose weight.

There’s no need for any special equipment to start walking – all you need is a comfortable pair of shoes. You can also fit walking into your daily routine whenever it’s most convenient for you. If you can walk for half an hour a day, 3 or 4 times weekly, then you will quickly begin to see – and feel – the benefits. If you can slowly work up to 10,000 steps daily – the equivalent of 5 miles for most people – you will really see a difference. You will look better and feel better.

If, having gradually increased the distance and time that you walk for each day, you would like to get more out of your walking workout, then you could try Nordic walking. Nordic walking is a fairly recent development which originated in Finland when skiers wanted a method of keeping fit in the summertime and a means to prepare for the winter skiing season. Basically, it involves walking with adapted ski poles. It’s a bit like skiing without the skis – or the snow.

Nordic walking has two main advantages. First of all, it uses the upper body and encourages the use of muscles which would not be heavily employed during conventional walking. Secondly, it decreases the load on the lower body joints and muscles.

These two factors result in even further benefits in comparison with conventional walking. There is a 20 to 40% increase in the rate of energy expenditure – and the additional upper body movement promotes agility and flexibility.There is less stress in the lower body muscles and joints as a consequence of reduced lower body loading. For some walkers, the use of poles might have safety benefits – and this could allow people recovering from injury or illness to get a higher intensity workout than would otherwise be possible.

Whether you opt for conventional or Nordic walking, the potential health benefits are huge. If you have any medical conditions, or if you haven’t exercised for some time, then be sure to seek the advice of your doctor before embarking upon any new fitness routine. However, just as long as you are sensible and start slowly at first, building up over time, then you should be able to achieve some very significant health benefits by choosing a walking exercise regime.

Discover how Fitflops exercise shoes can boost the effectiveness of your walking workout. They are specially engineered to increase the amount of work done by the lower body muscles when walking. Both women’s and men’s Fitflops are available in a wide selection of colors and styles.