Dr Michael Mosley said he was “completely wrong” about certain exercises, explaining that they can help you lose more weight, prevent heart disease, relieve back pain and provide a full-body workout.Health and welfare experts speak BBC podcast Only one They say that Nordic walking with poles burns more calories, works more muscles, and improves your quality of life.
Dr Mosley, famous for his 5:2 and Fast 800 meal plans, said he thought it was for “older walkers” who couldn’t walk without it. However, he explained: “It turns out I was completely wrong. Using poles like this actually increases the intensity of your walk, turning it into a full-body workout. It can lead to better fitness and weight loss than walking. In fact, recent studies have shown that Nordic walking has surprisingly good benefits for people with heart disease. I did.”
Dr. Mosley said Nordics “may help you burn more fat without going any further or faster.” He cited a study in which researchers randomly assigned 38 middle-aged people to walk briskly for about an hour three times a week for six months. Half of them were asked to do Nordic walking, and the other half did regular walking. Both groups improved in health, but only the pole-swinging group saw a significant decrease in body fat.
he said: You’re probably working almost twice the muscles involved in your upper body when you’re walking pole-jumping, which also helps improve your posture, which is very necessary for me. Nordic walking is also effective for lower back pain. In the case of low back pain, Dr. Mosley in a recent study randomly assigned 80 volunteers with chronic low back pain to one hour of Nordic walking, two to three times a week for four weeks, or simply a normal lifestyle. He said he asked them to continue. At the end of four weeks, the Nordic walking group reported significantly reduced pain, along with increased fitness, strength, and flexibility. They also reported that his mental health improved by 23%.
Dr. Jennifer Reed of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute described tests performed on heart patients. He said patients were randomly assigned to one of these three groups and performed specific exercises twice a week for 12 weeks at a rehabilitation center.
“Over the course of a 12-week program, we found that Nordic walking led to significant improvements in functional capacity. All of our groups led to improvements in functional capacity, but none of our groups actually led to significant gains. It was Nordic walking.
“Functional capacity refers to activities of daily living that require physical effort and that you would perform in your daily life.The way functional capacity is measured in this study is to Using the 6-minute walk test, we asked people to walk around an indoor track for 6 minutes as quickly as possible, and that distance measured at the end of the 6 minutes represents a measure of our functional ability. “
She explained that the group doing Nordic walking came out on top and was “surprised” by the result. she said: “I think it helped for a number of reasons. One is that Nordic walking improves strength, upper body, lower body, and core muscles. Also, regular use of Nordic walking poles improves my strength. , increased self-confidence, improved posture, and increased walking speed. All these factors may have contributed to improved functional ability after the Nordic walking group.”
