Nordic work-out poles apart

If you encounter someone - or a group of people - striding along with a pair of slim poles, you've probably come across participants in a new exercise and fitness technique called nordic walking. Charmian Smith joins a beginners' group and becomes hooked.

Sandro Roth demonstrates the nordic walking technique, a sort of bouncy walk that looks as if he's walking with four limbs - his arms and poles as well as his legs.

Roth, originally from Switzerland and now national training manager of the Wellington-based Nordic Academy, was in Otago recently to introduce people to the technique and train instructors.

A group of about 10 people gathered for an introductory course in the Dunedin botanic gardens and we soon found there was more to Nordic walking than meets the eye.

Those used to tramping with a pole may find it a little more difficult to get the new technique, he said.

It certainly takes some concentration to get the feet, legs, arms, shoulders and poles working in sync, but with a few practice runs up and down one of the lawns most of us got the basics of propelling the body forward with the poles, which alway remain facing diagonally backwards, unlike trekking poles.

"Relax your shoulders," Sandro says.

"Keep your arms straight - think of a hand-shake position; push from the shoulder not the elbow; push the pole past your hip; roll the foot through; don't twist your wrist."

There's a lot to remember, but when all comes together there's a natural ease to it.

Actually, it's a natural cross-walking technique that most of us have forgotten, but with poles as extensions to the arms.

Sandro leads us through a few warm-up exercises and we set off on a walk.

Although I walk around the gardens often, this time, to my surprise, I found myself going up some of the steep tracks faster and more easily than usual.

As we walk, tuis sing and parakeets squawk in the trees above, the rhododendrons are in flower, and the occasional perfume of a flowering shrub impinges on our senses.

Nordic walking is said to be able to create a meditative and calming effect, and I can see that once the technique becomes second nature, it could.

However, most of the time I'm concentrating on getting the left arm and right leg forward at the same time, pushing through on the pole which lengthens the stride, rolling the feet from heel to toe, letting go of the pole at the end of the swing, bringing it forward and grasping it before placing it back on the ground level with the opposite leg.

Nordic walking poles, unlike normal trekking poles, have a glove attached so they remain in position even though you are not gripping them.

We learn techniques for going uphill and downhill, and double-poling and then do a few strength exercises using the poles and our body weight to round out the workout.

Then Sandro demonstrates a few advanced, high-intensity, high-impact techniques for serious athletes, such as Nordic jogging, bounding, and striding uphill - luckily we don't have to try these.

I go home afterwards feeling muscles I've not used for a long time despite regular swimming and yoga, but also feeling the euphoria of having done a good workout in a glorious setting.

These poles were made for walking

Nordic walking is like engaging four-wheel drive instead of two, according to Daniel Sela, Dunedin Nordic walking instructor, personal trainer and exercise therapist.

The car uses more fuel in four-wheel drive (with us it's more calories) but it seems easier because the engine can transfer the power better with four wheels, he explains.

Trained in Germany, he has been teaching Nordic walking in Otago for almost four years.

Not only do the poles used give more stability, the technique can reduce impact on the joints and can be used in rehabilitation.

At the other end of the scale, many athletes include Nordic walking in their training, because it can make you work very hard.

Cross-country skiers use it for summer training, and they are some of the fittest people in the world, he says.

For other people, the great benefit is that it works both the upper and lower body, using about 90% of the body's muscles, as opposed to about 35% to 45% in normal walking.

As a result it burns more calories but actually seems easier to do.

It's ideal for people who want to lose weight or get fit.

In Germany national health insurance pays for Nordic walking classes from accredited trainers because of the health benefits, he said.

Like other forms of exercise, it's worth taking a class or two to begin with, because you won't get the full benefits unless you have the right technique.

Some people just "carry their poles", and if you do this with the shoulders high it can lead to neck and shoulder tension, whereas a proper Nordic walking technique can actually release neck and shoulder tension and help with back issues, Daniel said.

Surprisingly, 80% to 90% of Nordic walkers are women.

"I think it's that walking aspect. Men, if they want to exercise, want to go running - they want to feel it. But everyone who does Nordic walking with me says, `I didn't know it was that hard'. In the beginning, when you learn the technique, you feel the muscles a bit sore afterwards, especially in the triceps and the lats at the back - they are the muscles you usually don't use when walking," he said.

Nordic walking developed from cross-country skiing in the 1990s, but it is particularly strong in German-speaking countries such as Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

That's where new developments, such as Nordic blading and snowshoe walking, are happening, he said.