‘Ski’ on concrete

To outsiders, Nordic walking is a contradiction in terms. How, they ask, can a person do cross-country skiing on dry land?

The sport employs some of the same skills needed for skiing on frozen or snowy ground — minus the skis, of course. Essentially, Nordic walking is propelling one’s body along in a controlled and rhythmic pattern using special poles that enable a person to achieve a high degree of aerobic conditioning.

“At first I couldn’t imagine what a Nordic walk was,” says Carolyn Goldman, 65, a client at Bethesda’s F.I.T. Inc., a personal training studio that is believed to have the only organized Nordic walking group in the Washington area. Now, almost six months later, she is a convert.

“It gives you a much better workout [than regular walking],” she affirms. Pushing off on cement is like pushing off on ice, she says.

A critical action in Nordic walking is pushing down and back with poles while each leg is moving forward in line with the opposite arm. Done correctly, the method burns up many more calories than those lost with conventional walking techniques.

Fitness professionals — especially those who both practice and teach cross-training — praise the sport for its ability to improve body tone and musculature as well as cardiovascular function. A tenacious Nordic walker will feel “the burn” later in his upper arms, abdomen and thighs.

An experienced one such as New York-based trainer and fitness consultant Martica Heaner, author of “Cross-training for Dummies,” also can feel the “high” associated with long-distance running. Ms. Heaner, affiliated with the Peninsula Hotel’s spa in New York, warns that “just because you walk with the poles doesn’t mean you are Nordic walking. You must learn how to use the poles to enhance your walk — the forward lean, propelling your body forward, going faster than normal. Once you master this, walking becomes very challenging.”

By contrast, walking with hand weights is not recommended, she says, because “holding light weights while swinging your arms can magnify the force on the joints, and this can be stress to elbows, shoulders and even backs.”

A study of Nordic walking’s physical benefits done by the Cooper Institute in Texas four years ago reported as much as a 46 percent increase in oxygen consumption and caloric expenditure, and an increase in the heart rate of between seven and 10 beats a minute.

While considered low impact, Nordic walking is not an exercise for weaklings. Yet it also is one that people of all ages can enjoy for little money beyond the cost of the poles.

Taking at least one class from a trained coach, alone or in a group, is a recommended first step, however. Web sites such as www.nordicwalking.com and www.nordicwalker.com provide names of certified coaches around the country.

Ms. Heaner emphasizes, too, that Nordic walking is an ideal component of cross-training, which incorporates various activities into a weekly or monthly regimen.

Robert Sherman, a fitness consultant who is F.I.T.’s owner-president, has had a female client with knee-replacement surgery become a successful Nordic walker. “Part of what attracted me to it [the sport] is it is a way of life,” he says. “The Nordic way, to be outdoors and have a sense of adventure in a real environment.”

The studio sponsors classes early morning and early evening to avoid the hot sun.

The sport, which began in Finland less than a decade ago as a summer training exercise for dedicated cross-country skiers, is slightly more than 1 year old in this country, and — surprise — it got started in New England rather than California, where often the latest workout regimens gain popularity first. Europeans have embraced it wholeheartedly, and today there are said to be some 3 million people around the world who Nordic walk.

Until it becomes better known, though, participants are likely targets of teasing from puzzled onlookers who assume pole-wielders striding about under the summer sun are clueless.

“I didn’t know it was going to snow” and “Need directions for the north pole?” and “Lost your skis?” are just some of the comments that erupt spontaneously from observers.

Nordic-walking fans have the last laugh. In addition to poles, which cost between $100 and $120 depending on the style chosen, all the equipment needed for a workout is a pair of athletic shoes and an area wide enough to keep from running into others in their path.

Because the poles come complete with both rubber and metal tips, practitioners can walk on cement, mud, sand or grass. The rubber “claw” tip, which faces toward the back, is best on hard surfaces and can be removed to reveal a metal tip that is better on slippery ground.

The carbon composite shaft that reaches just to the underarm is lightweight for easy handling. Leki makes a pole similar to a trekking pole that is extendable and can be adjusted to the user’s height. Excel’s brand is solid. Supporters of the latter believe a solid pole offers the walker better support.

The hand strap for gripping the pole is slightly different on each brand as well. All models are different from poles used in trekking or cross-country skiing because Nordic walking calls for different body maneuvers and form.

The technique is easier to perform in person than to explain in words. As described on www.nordicwalking.com, “the stride begins as the heel touches the ground and ends when the toe together with the ball of the foot pushes itself off the ground. The pelvis lifts up high and the general posture is taut and forward leaning. The upper and lower torso are involved in a clearly defined counter-swinging motion during which the mid-torso muscle groups are actively worked. Opposite arms and legs swing alternately forwards and back.”

The grip is different with each design, explains Mark Fenton, a former Olympic race walker who has a degree in biomechanics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Your wrist is internally rotated — that’s the biomechanical term. Most trekking poles have a single strap, whereas Nordic straps envelop the wrist and ball of the hand so you can apply a lot of force on the pole without having to grab it with a death grip.”