Every physical activity, practised regularly and seriously, has positive effects on your health and fitness. But every sport is different, and so are its benefits for your body. Here we look at the benefits of nordic walking — not just for your body, but for your mind too! Enough to find extra motivation to get the season started again soon, or a little courage for your next outings.
Benefits of nordic walking: a complete sport!
Some sports improve your endurance, others your strength, your flexibility or your coordination. Nordic walking has the great advantage of effectively developing all of these qualities while delivering a wide range of benefits.
Nordic walking is an endurance sport
Nordic walking sessions are generally quite long and train the body's ability to sustain continuous, prolonged effort. By alternating dynamic phases with slower ones, using walking poles specially designed for nordic walking, this sport helps develop and improve your cardiovascular fitness.
In general, your heart rate rises and stabilises during effort, working at a pace below the anaerobic threshold — meaning you are training your heart in endurance mode, building its capacity for sustained effort.
A weight loss ally
Regularly practising an endurance sport is of course excellent for your health and is one of the key factors in achieving sustainable, progressive weight loss! Estimated energy expenditure is 40% higher than with conventional walking.
In one hour of activity, you can burn between 350 and 500 calories. What's more, working at such a cardiovascular intensity outdoors genuinely boosts your stamina.
Check out the mistakes to avoid in nordic walking to practise this discipline correctly.
Which muscles does nordic walking work?
Of course, the first muscles engaged are those of the lower body, involved in walking itself. But the nordic walking poles, which propel you forward, bring another highly valuable quality: the pole movement amplifies the natural walking motion, working the shoulder, arm and abdominal muscles just as much as the lower body muscles!
It works 80% of the body's muscles! What's more, it engages the muscles of the torso and upper body in a flexible, gentle way, eliminating any risk of muscle injury.
The poles act as outdoor fitness tools, enabling a wide range of muscle-strengthening and stretching exercises. Through regular pole use, nordic walking durably tones your muscles and maintains your flexibility, as well as balance and coordination between your arms and legs — the foundation of safe, lasting mobility, especially in later years.
The mental health benefits of nordic walking
Like all sports — and group outdoor sports in particular — nordic walking has real benefits for your mental wellbeing. The satisfaction of reaching a goal, the sense of fulfilment and freedom, discovering a new environment and the simple pleasure of the activity itself all bring tremendous joy and a sense of wellbeing. Regular exercise triggers the release of endorphins, the hormones of pleasure. But there are also highly significant subconscious effects: self-worth, simple pride, the social dimension of a shared sport, and a renewed source of motivation in life. All in all, nothing but positives for your state of mind!
The benefits of nordic walking are wide-ranging and numerous. If you already love this sport, you're no doubt already convinced — but if you're just getting started or considering giving it a try, here are the reasons that will make you take the plunge! Many sports have their merits and benefits, but nordic walking has a great many, and it is also accessible to virtually everyone without any particular difficulty or costly equipment. All that's left to do is put on your shoes, grab your pair of poles, and off you go! Remember to kit yourself out with comfortable and resistant nordic walking clothing.
Nordic walking as a preventive health practice
While for some practitioners there may be drawbacks to nordic walking, practising it not only gives you all the benefits of an outdoor activity, but also provides an excellent means of preventing certain conditions and staying in good health.
Of course, nordic walking is no miracle cure or medicine! But, practised regularly and seriously, it generates preventive effects and has a positive impact on the prevention of various conditions:
- High cholesterol and type 2 diabetes: sustained endurance sport is excellent for lowering cholesterol levels. It goes without saying that diet must also be adapted, but nordic walking is a great way to "burn" bad fats — and to do so in a sustainable way.
- Asthma: practising nordic walking is excellent for improving respiratory capacity. This applies to healthy individuals as well as those who suffer from asthma, who will see their breathing improve after a few months of regular practice.
- Osteoporosis: walking progressively strengthens bones and helps slow their deterioration. It would be misleading to say it prevents it entirely, but it goes a long way towards avoiding premature decline.
- Joint health: tendons, ligament attachments and joints are all strengthened through the practice of nordic walking. However, this requires proper equipment and correct technique. If you experience significant ligament or joint pain after your walk, there is likely something to review in your movements, your shoes or your posture. With correct practice — without overdoing it or making violent efforts — you should be strengthening these structures, not straining them.
Wondering how often you should practise this sport to maximise its benefits? Read our article to find out how many times a week to go nordic walking.
