Weekly Nordic walking at Rotary Park

Walking outside in Whitecourt can be a bit dangerous in the cold months with icy spots lingering under freshly fallen snow and uneven terrain.  “During the winter months a lot of people want to stay inside because they aren’t comfortable going outside,” said Jason Wampler, kinesiologist with the McLeod River Primary Care Network (PCN) adding, “but a lot of our year is winter so it’s important for people to still get outside.”

Enter in the walking poles. Did you know that you actually engage your core muscles and increase your calorie expenditure by almost 20 per cent more compared to walking without poles? It’s true. “Research shows that if you incorporate poles you get a lot more increase out of your workout. You actually activate 90 per cent more of your muscles when you use poles while walking,” said Wampler.

The added stability of having four points of contact with the ground also boosts the confidence of users. In the case of slipping while taking a step, having the poles for support would likely go a long way to making people more comfortable being outside and being active in the winter.

Also referred to as “Nordic walking,” urban poling helps to improve balance and can be performed by people of all ages and almost all fitness levels. “One thing with the poles is that it does decrease the amount of stress we put on our lower extremities so any patients or people who suffer from any chronic pain that’s within the knees, hips, or ankles will be helped with Nordic walking which will alleviate some of that stress and will build strength in the upper body which will also help.”

In fact, research shows that it helps people who are recovering from any type of knee surgery, hip surgery, and other types of lower extremity surgeries which gives it a wide-ranging benefit for many different people.

Also on hand for the walk was Alberta Health Services Chronic Disease Management Nurse Kim Nendsa who helped guide first timers with setting the proper height for their poles and helped answer questions as well.  “Whitecourt is a northern town and we have winter for a long time so this is a great activity that people can do and make use of the excellent trail systems we have here,” said Kim.

The hope is to grow the activity locally and get more people outside in the winter. Jason says that by “giving more ideas, comfort, and confidence,” they hope to make it happen. For anyone who wants to try it out, pop by the Rotary Park pavilion on Thursday’s at 1:30 p.m. It’s completely free and no preregistration is required. “On your first day, we will get you to fill out a little form and that’s just so we can keep track of attendance.”

Poles will be provided during the walk and anyone interested in purchasing their own can do so at a reduced cost through the PCN. Since poles are one size fits all, they can be easily shared amongst multiple users. For more information please call 780-779-0079.