Nordic walking versus natural walking: an easy approach to comparing metabolic demands

Johnny Padulo, Enzo Iuliano, Antonio Dello Iacono, Mirjana Milić, Manuela Rizzi and Luca Paolo Ardigò

International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 2018, vol. 18, issue 5, 686-692

Abstract: The aim of this study was to compare the metabolic demands of Nordic walking (NW) versus natural walking (WK) using a highly reproducible protocol in a natural environment. A total of 14 physically active subjects (3 males and 11 females, 36.6 ± 8.3 years, 63.1 ± 11.4 kg, 1.67 ± 0.06 m) walked at a freely chosen speed along a 2.5-km course in a game reserve, using NW and WK in a random order. They were monitored for speed with a mobile phone global positioning system (GPS) receiver, and for lap average and maximum heart rate (HR) with a belt HR monitor. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significantly higher lap average HR (p = 0.004) and maximum HR (p = 0.004) in NW compared with WK. Due to its increased metabolic load, NW revealed to be an effective means for improving cardiovascular fitness in populations with a low tolerance for exertion. Using this simple and ecological approach promises to be effective for further evaluation of other variables and/or use in other contexts (e.g. high altitude and climbing).

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1080/24748668.2018.1514565

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