Nordic walking- in non Nordic Countries

By: Heinz Golz

Nordic walking was launched in Finland in 1997 as a summer health work out for cross country skiers . It was afterward promoted by the Finnish government to encourage the people to exercise . About 760,000 Finns exercise with this walking on a regular base.
The Nordic walking extended fast in the Nordic countries like Norway Sweden Germany , where more people are familiar with Nordic style skiing .
In Finland ,at the summer, the average each day temperature is consistently higher 10°C . We also know that all the countries mentioned here are mostly cold countries. So what happens in the hot countries where the average summer temperatures
Are around 30 c ? Is this kind of activity suitable for those countries , where there is no snow at all ?
I am living in a hot country with summer temperatures about the 30 c.
From my own practice I can assure you It is suitable also to hot countries but I have to emphasis the following subjects :
Walking time: Early morning , is my favorite time . The air is most of the time not polluted .The car traffic is low . You have a possibility to see the daybreak . Not Many walkers .
Clothing: Use light clothing as possible . Light shirt .Short trousers. A hat if you will meet the hot sun !
Footwear : There are especially designed shoes for Nordic Walking , but a good walking shoe or a running shoe can also do the job .
Water : Very important ! I usually carry on my backside a water bag , with a pipeline so I don't have to leave the walking poles for drinking .
Walking poles : Using the walking poles with gloves is unbearable .The hands feel very hot and sweaty inside the gloves. The solution is to use walking poles without gloves but they should not be the kind with flat cork shaft . The reason of course is that the sweating hands are sliding on the shaft, so you can't give that push with the hands , which is a part of the Nordic Walking .
This brings to the conclusion that the shaft has to be the kind with curves which fit the fingers. With this kind of shaft you can "play " with the way you are holding the walking poles : Before sweating in the hand palms , you can have a full hold on the shaft . later on you can hold the shaft with the thumb and index finger only.
Another way is to put the thumb on top of the shaft , and with the remaining fingers grip the shaft slightly . As we can see there are Nordic Walking solutions also for the not so North countries .

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Heinz Golz is the owner of Nordic Walking webSite . He is and ardent Nordic Walker himself . For more information on Nordic Walking , Nordic Walking Poles and more related Equipment visit the web site Nordic Walking , and start walking .

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