Benefits of Walking with Poles
-
Increase heart rate without increasing walking speed.
-
Increase calories burned by 20-25% (Porcari's study).
-
Decrease forces in the feet by up to 26% during walking (Porcari's study) as they absorb some of the shock.
-
Reduce strain on ankles, knees, and hips
-
50% of your body's muscles are in the upper body and are not exercised with walking or jogging. Using the poles tones and conditions your upper body.
-
Walkers found them to be a pleasant addition to their walking routine.
-
Walking poles are a deterrent to attack (bad guys look for folks without sticks or dogs).
-
Date magnet - everybody just has to come up and start conversations like, "Expecting snow?"
Why Not Just Racewalk?
Walkers can increase their calorie expenditure without equipment by adding vigorous arm movements or adopting the racewalk technique. However, some walkers find this style hard to adopt or cannot get up to the speed that will increase their workout. For them, the walking poles will provide the same benefits at their usual walking pace. If you generally walk with friends, adding poles to your workout rather than leaving your friends in the dust allows you to maintain your walking partner relationships.
Exerstrider Fitness Walking Poles
Exerstrider has a small variety of poles, both one-piece and telescoping/adjustable length.One-Piece Poles: A simple and effective design of aluminum alloy, modeled after ski poles with a comfortable grip and simple high carbon rubber tip. The poles are measured to fit your height, as are ski poles, and are not adjustable.
Exerstrider OS2 Fitness Trekker Poles: Adjustable length allows you to share them with friends from 4'2" to 6'2", and they collapse to 31 inches for storage. The ERGO/SC ergonomic strapless grips are very comfortable. Cushiongrip walking tips for pavement cover carbide steel tips for trail.
Exerstrider AT/S All Terrain Fitness Trekker Poles: 2-piece length adjustable fitness walking poles with the comfortable ERGO/SC grip. These are designed to go from street to trail, sand, and even snow for snowshoeing. They come with both the carbide flextip for trails and rubber fitness tips for sidewalks, and small baskets for soft trail or sand, plus larger baskets for snow.
