In Praise of Nordic Walking Poles

I have had my Nordic Walking Poles for week now and have not used them until tonight. Fantastic! My knees and back are shot, complete and total junk, and while I can get around, walking certainly is no pleasure.

I left work in time to go to a small park nearby. While walking through the parking lot at work I was thinking to myself, this is crazy, my knees are killing me, what the hell do I want to go walking for? I had spent most of the day on my feet on the concrete shop floor. The trip to the car after work was painful. Well I decided to go and try it. What the hell, if my knees and back hurt I could always quit. I drove home got the poles and my walking spikes and headed off to the park.

One small step for mankind, one huge step for a couch potato! I walked! I enjoyed it. I walked fast. I am not using the poles right, but I ACTUALLY WALKED WITH LITTLE PAIN IN MY KNEES AND BACK! It was fantastic! This is the first time that I have enjoyed walking in a long long time!

The sky was deep colbalt blue in the deepening twilight and there was a sliver of a very young moon out. The air was clear and pleasantly cool. I crunched through the fall leaves along a wide rushing creek. It was fantastic, like being young again...almost.


I started sweating! My decrepit knees were moving well enough, that I was getting an aerobic workout! It does not take much at this point, and I have to watch not to over do it until I get conditioned, but this is first time in a very long time where I had to slow down for my heart and lung capacity. Usually I can't walk fast enough due to pain to worry about my heart and lungs. The poles are just wonderful. I climbed about 50 feet up a very steep hill. Did great going up. Coming down was a little shaky at first until I figured how to take small steps and keep the poles positioned in front of me. I would have not attempted this steep hill with out the poles.

I am not sure how far I walked, but I was out for an hour and moving the whole time! I did have to slow down, but again it was for heart not the the knees. Sitting here writing this, I notice my arms are a bit stiff, but knees and back are no worse than if I had stayed at home. I am tired, pleasantly tired...like I went out and did something useful. It is a great feeling.

Sure some of this is the novelty of it, but pain is pain, and I walked today with those poles in a fashion that I have not for quite some time. It was like being let out of a prison!

I had never heard of Nordic Walking Poles until the Old Baguette mentioned them in her blog. Thank you, my dear for introducing me to something that just may turn my life around.

It was certainly good to get outside and take a relatively painlessly walk again. The poles are like having four wheel drive. Again thank you Old Baguette!

EDIT 11-26-10 Old Baguette, it seems as though some one likes our blog entries:

Nordic Walking USA

An unidentified male from Pittsburgh.