MEDICAL RESEARCH AND NORDIC WALKING
Below are some references to publications about Nordic Walking and medical research. There are many more references available on the internet. Google "nordic walking research" to find others.
(Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport) Res Q. Exerc Sport 2002 Sep; 73(3): 296-300. Field testing of physiological responses associated with Nordic Walking. Church TS, Earnest CP, Morss GM. “Nordic walking, examined in the field, results in a significance increase in oxygen use and caloric expenditure compared to regular walking, without significantly increasing perceived exertion.”
(Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport) Res Q. Exerc Sport 1997 Jun; 68(2): 161-6. The physiological response to walking with and without Power Poles on treadmill exercise. Porcari JP, Hendrickson TL, Walter PR, Terry L, Walsko G. Department of Exercise and Sport Medicine, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, USA. “Power Poles can increase the intensity of walking at any given speed and, thus, may provide additional training benefits to walkers.”
Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, (J Cardiopulm Rehabil., 1996 Jul-Aug; 16(4): 245-50. Acute responses to using walking poles in patients with coronary artery disease. Walter PR, Porcari JP, Brice G, Terry L., LaCrosse Exercise and Health Program, University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, 54601, USA. “Cardiac rehabilitation patients can safely use 1lb walking poles to safely increase the intensity of walking exercise in Phase III/IV at a given speed.”
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 1995 Apr; 27(4): 607-11. Energy expenditure during submaximal walking with Exerstriders, Rodgers CD, VanHeest JL, Schachter CL, Department of Physical Education and Exercise Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1049, USA. “Perceived exertion does not change when using poles. Exerstriding provides a means to increase caloric expenditure during submaximal walking, a factor that may be of critical importance in enhancing health benefits, such as improving body composition and aerobic capacity typically associated with walking programs.”
Science News, Week of June 25, 1005, Vol. 167, No. 26. “Stepping off the scale” by Ben Harder. “Obese people walk with more efficiency than non-obese people; their extra weight does NOT correlate to adding extra weight to thin people.”