Power walking / Nordic walking

Every day cycling through Perlacher Forst, I see these serious looking but stupid people, purposefully striding along the path, elbows flying, fists clenched. It looks like it comes right out of a Monty Python Ministry of Silly Walks sketch. It looks stupid. Some even use ski poles to propel themselves like their feet are inadequate.

Do any TTers own up to this pattern of walking? Don't do it. It looks stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

its called nordic walking, its the new trend. And although it looks pretty mmm... "intense", it is very good for you as it doesn't place as much stress on your joints and keeps your heart rate at an acceptable level.

but you have to be over 50 in order to qualify for a Nordischerlaufausübungsgenehmigung.

It's what Harold in Neighbours does every morning!

And look how fit Harold is - he was at sea for 10 years, but still managed to swim around Australia and emerge in Erinsborough long after he was presumed dead. Gee. What a guy.

So as usual you are forbidden from doing it without a certificate?

Yeah they have these marked out paths where you have to go and strut your stuff while a dude with a clipboard takes notes on inclination of ass, extension of arm and steeliness of eye. Only after a strenuous 2 hour demonstration of ability do you get your Nordischerlaufausübungsgenehmigung. Quite tough from what I hear.

Hi
If their elbows are flying they are power walking incorrectly, it is a controlled movement where the hand would come no higher than about the bottom of the ribcage. Shoulders relaxed, no swing, roll the foot and lean slightly forwards.
You can do courses and they are quite good. Surprisingly energetic to the tell the truth and far better than jogging apparently (if you are going to run, then run, jogging is not so great for your joints and makes you saggy - at least that's what our sports trainer says). So I might well look stupid, but I don't really care.
As for Nordic Walking, no I don't do that. Lekki poles belong in the mountains.
The latest trend is Nordic Blading, so roller-blading with poles. The only people that I know that do this are either from Sweden or are winter sports professionals as it helps them to keep up their cross-country skiing technique to some extent.
Katrina

yeah, it is told that nordic walking or power walking are much better than jogging for losing weight cause you can better control your pulse and you aren't damaging your joints. i feel i need to sweat when i work out.

Well, I've been a jogger/runner all my life and my breasts are not saggy...yet...and I'm almost...eek...40.

For once, I'm thankful that I have a lot of French blood in me - French women have very 'elastic' skin...

Back to the topic - it does look silly, but I suppose it's low impact - but so is riding a bike - I'll take that over any other sport out there(except skiing - and I'm not talking about that crazy cross-country stuff).

What's with all the people in Munich who carry those hiking poles around?

I first saw them used by trekkers in mountain ranges or through forests, mainly being used by older people, so assumed they were used as a walking stick; maybe for balance and to take some of the strain - but now they seem to be everywhere.

I can't figure out why you would use these when strolling through an inner city park.

Does anyone on TT use them apart for serious hiking? Are they for some sort of health benefit or have any use on a casual walk through a park?

Topics merged by admin

It's for Nordic Walking, the latest in cool and healthy sports.

Most people agree it looks stupid, but admit that it's also probably good for you.

Thanks.
Going by the info above the Nordic walkers are supposed to be swinging their arms for excercise?
I've seen some wrist action flicking the poles a little with their stride but I thought the people excercising without them tend to use more arm action.
Anyway, will take more notice next time I'm out.

It´s really Nordic talking. They walk also. Its a Yapping type of walk. Observe them next time. you´ll see what I mean.
take care,
space

Sad attempt to make walking appear to be a respectible form of exercise!

I was pondering starting a poll, about which sport looks the most ridiculous - there are some fine contenders here, all of which the natives seem able to partake in with no sense of fun or irony. You've got power walking (my favourite - typically the domain of the over 50 and under exercised, some lycra is obligatory, like the pained facial expression and bizarre hand actions). Then there's nordic walking, great if you need sticks to get you along level ground. The nordic walker is usually a bit younger but with more lycra - looks almost as stupid. they usually go round in larger groups which increases the fun factor. Then there are the different tricot clad cycling duffers who attain 20Km/h tops but have all the gear. Not to mention some of the joggers.

I'm sure all these sports are really good for you but have these people no shame?

Go on PiePiper, do the the poll.
Don't forget roller blading. I know some people love it - but what became of roller skates? At least roller skaters don't need 5 sets of padded fluro protection for each body part and they don't need to stick their bums out so far to move a few metres. (Similar to the bizarre zombie like hand actions of the power walkers).
If you roller blade, good for you, honest - but it should still go in the looking-silly poll. And tuck your bum in.

How could I forget the roller bladers... Especially the loving couples who waft along hand in hand (usually totally blocking the fucking cycle path). Sooo romantic... The poll? I'll see what I can do...

[rant]
I hate these stupid "nordic walking" sticks. I hate the stupid noise they make on concrete. I especially hate the racket they make when you pass a pack of elderly german hikers in an otherwise peaceful countryside. I hate the fact that the Germans (and especially elderly Germans) seem to have taken to them more than any other people. I hate the fact that they actually take more energy and effort than normal walking. I hate the fact that they actually make you more unsteady on your feet than otherwise. (Have you ever noticed that "Bergrettung" use one very long pole rather than these stupid things.) I also just hate them blindly and irrationally and wish people would go back to carrying those stupid little power-walking weights.
[/rant]

Why do people in Munich insist on walking with "Nordic Poles" while walking around the city centre, dont you usually use them on hills! Its not as if Marienplatz has much of a gradient is it? What do you think?

Topics merged by admin

I posted this in the "Munich News" thread as well regarding the ban on Nordic Walking. For all those actually interested in Nordic Walking, do read this article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung as well. It is an article about the apparent health benefits from Nordic Walking. It seems that the benefits to the joints, in comparison to other sports like running, is not as great as people believe it to be.

Sorry, the article is in German.
Cheers,
MajorB

doesn't the article just say that they haven't actually found any evidence yet, rather than actually disproving the benefits. I would imagine purely common sense would suggest that it isn't so stressful on the joints to walk.

They say that they haven't fully evaluated the results of the tests yet, but that it already now seems to indicate that it is not as beneficial as people believed it to be.

Yesterday I came across Nordic "Night" walkers!! with headlamps and reflectors right in the middle of the city

It's okay, we have nightsights and tracers.

The other day in the Marienplatz S-Bahn/U_bahn station, the lady walking next to me, maybe in her 70s, was wearing a nice green velvet outfit, heels, the whole deal.. and, I swear to god, was nordic walking from the S-Bahn to the escalator.

Maybe it's become a replacement for a cane. Looked pretty damn stupid though.

Was she nordic walking? I mean, pumping hard with the poles? Or was she just walking with poles, using them as replacement canes, as you suggested? Because I know a few old people who like to use hiking poles in the winter because they feel more secure with two and they are better on the slippery ground.

and sounds stupid when Germans refer to it as "Nordik Vaal-King"

she was using the poles like a nordic walker, so yes, she was nordic walking. It wasn't slippery at all, I think she was just looney.

Sounds loony-like, that's for certain.

Just came across this topic. I don't know why, but for some reason those Nordic walkers really freak me out. Individually they look fairly harmless, but there's something unnerving about the way they roam around the parks in hordes, like packs of wolves. But my scariest encounter with Nordic walkers happened a few months back, when I saw a group of them - the usual 60-somethings - setting off from the local sports club. The first thing that caught my eye was that one of them was wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, which seemed rather odd, especially as it was winter. Then I noticed that another had a colourful handkerchief tied round his head, and yet another had one of these Palestinian tea-towel things like Colonel Ghaddafi. They were all wearing weird stuff. I know Nordic walkers are possibly all a bit off their rocker anyway, but this was seriously unnerving. Then it dawned on me: it was Faschingsdienstag! I still shudder when I think about it.

I don't know whether it's beneficial or not for the knees, ankles etc, but I really wonder how much wear and tear it puts on the wrists, elbows and shoulders. Those joints are not designed to absorb the shock of a stick hitting the ground with every step.

Encountered a couple of these creepy Nordic Walking creatures again today, getting on the bus in the Englischer Garten. Both dressed the same, and must have spent a fortune on their kit - NW sweatshirts, NW pants, NW shoes, NW-god-knows-what-else, and of course the sticks. Dunno if it's a sport, but it's turning into a huge industry.

Just looked at what I wrote before - I think I was getting my Ghaddafi's mixed up with my Arafats, but anyway, those Arab freedom fighters may be a scary bunch, but nowhere near as scary as the local over-60's sports club assembling en masse in their full Fasching-Nordic-Walking combat gear. It was months ago, but I'm still traumatised.

I know the types. Used to see them doing of all thigs, walking all over the British countryside. Whole busloads of them everywhere. It was during the 80s in Britain. I used to call them Guppies - Geriatric Urban Pensioners.