Walking: More Effective Than You Might Think

By Rob Sharp, The Independent UK. Posted February 1, 2009.

It's cheap, you can do it anywhere and you have a usefully instinctive knowledge of how to do it. Whether you are working off a belly acquired over Christmas or looking for a regular way to improve your health, putting one leg in front of the other is the way forward.

The NHS advises that walking 10,000 steps a day, or 5 miles, can give you a healthy heart and reduce your body fat. It's good for your circulation and lungs and can improve your cardiovascular fitness.

"We emphasize that to do walks close to your house, you need no special walking gear or shoes. Virtually anyone can do it," says Moira Halstead, promotions manager for Walking the Way to Health, a government organization that promotes healthy walking. "In financially strapped times like these, you can save money on petrol, gyms and buses and get fit in the process. Everyone can go at their own pace. Even the slowest walker can do it and not hold other people back, as might happen in other sports."

Walking boosts the activity of the muscles of our lower body and helps to build them up. It can also improve our bone density, because it is a weight-bearing activity. And as it is low impact, it does not place unnecessary strain on the joints, as running can.

The best way to do exercise-walking is to team up with a friend. "There's nothing like walking with someone else," says Martin Christie, a London personal trainer who specializes in the pole-based Nordic walking. "All the studies show that if you go out with someone else, you are much more likely to stick to it. Get a friend, choose which type of walking you want to exercise with, and then go for it."

Regular walking can reduce the risk of coronary disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, osteoporosis and arthritis. It can help you to cope with anxiety and stress, and may even reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. The NHS claims that anyone can turn back the clock three years by getting even a small amount of exercise, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

You can build walking into your daily routine -- by incorporating a longer walk into your daily commute, for example. Experts recommend that you stop driving to the local shops, or get off the bus one stop early and walk the rest of the way. Equally, taking a walk in your lunch hour, or after a meal, cuts the amount of fat your body stores.

But if you want to step it up a level, there are a number of types of exercise walking "techniques" that are a bit more demanding and offer greater fitness benefits. I took to a London park with Christie to try out a few of the techniques.

Nordic Walking

Nordic walking is essentially propelling yourself along with the help of hand-held poles angled back at about 45 degrees. The technique allows you move faster by taking the load away from the knees and hips and bringing the upper body into play, making the exercise more comfortable.

When I first tackled it, it was easy to make elementary mistakes, like moving the same-side arm and leg at the same time, but I was soon able to get into a basic rhythm. I quickly felt the pull on my upper body, and the poles aided my natural walking motion. "Because we are using our body above the waist, it works the back, chest, arms and stomach," Christie explains. "And, as it uses more muscles, it burns 20 percent more calories, which increases to 46 percent with good technique."

The important thing is to remember to move the poles in a natural movement, angling them back, and with the arms relatively straight. Then, swing the arms from the shoulders rather than bending the elbows. Crucially, make sure that you move your left arm forward along with the right leg, and vice-versa -- and then work yourself as hard as you can. (See www.nordicwalking.co.uk.)

Pacer Poling

Pacer poling makes use of similar techniques to Nordic walking, but it employs a different kind of pole. Christie explains that the ergonomically designed handle makes the extension of your arm and the handling of the pole much easier, and allows you to propel yourself more efficiently. Essentially, what you are getting is more power for less effort, and this puts less strain on your body.

"Lots of people find the handle more comfortable," Christie says. "There's no strap [which Nordic poles have], so you can pick it up and go straight away." He says that many people find the technique easier to learn than other forms of "equipment assisted" walking. "As with Nordic walking, in a single session you should be able to learn all the basics you need."

As Christie suggests, these poles are easier to use than the Nordic ones, but they do more or less the same thing. I would almost certainly opt to use these if I had to choose. Equally, I can see how they might be easier for elderly people to use than other types of pole.

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