Why walking poles are so good for you!

Why walking poles are so good for you!

The next time you join us for one of our pack-free guided walks you might want to consider using walking poles.

 

Why poles? It has been shown that using walking poles will reduce the accumulated stress on the feet, legs, knees and back by sharing the load more evenly across the whole body.

Trekking poles can also:

• Protect knees, especially when walking down steep hills.
• Improve your power and endurance when walking uphill.
• Aid balance on uneven trails.
• Improve posture, making walkers more upright as they walk and in turn this can help breathing.
• Increase speed, especially going downhill.
• Provide extra stability.
• Reduce fatigue and improve endurance.
• Burn more calories by providing an upper body workout as well as a leg workout.
• Strengthen muscles that support the spine.
• Build muscles in arms, shoulders and neck.

Muscle up
Australian medicos are now looking closely at how trekking poles improve the exercise value of walking. The main exercise benefit is the increased blood flow that walking creates. Increased blood flow is what helps prevent heart disease and most of the other nasty things we’re trying to avoid.

Poles engage the upper body muscles in the walking. With 350 more muscles now participating in the effort, blood flow is increased another 20 per cent. Poles make a good exercise even better. That’s achieved without any need to go faster or carry weights and without any extra effort. In fact, the walking feels easier because our legs are less tired and we’re not wrecking our knees.

The health and fitness benefits of trekking poles are well recognised in Europe. German health insurers pay training course fees for their clients to learn pole walking techniques because walking with poles contributes to improved client well-being – enough improvement to reduce their health care claims!

Trekking poles can do a lot more than just replace that old bush “stick”, but many of the benefits are only available when the poles are used in a specific manner. These methods are easy to learn so check out the below technique and remember practice makes perfect!

Pole technique

1. Start with the poles behind.

2. Stepping off.

3. Dragging poles behind.

4. Let natural arm swing develop.

5. Begin to load up on the backswing.

Putting on the strap

6. Enter wrist strap from below.

7. Pass hand right through the strap.

8. Grasp the grip.

9. And now loosen the hands.