A brisk 30-minute walk five days a week is more effective than any other form of exercise for keeping weight down, according to new research by the London School of Economics published this week.

Dr Grace Lordan led the research, which took data from seven separate years of the Health Survey for England to work out the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist size and various types of physical activity. She focused on activities that increased heart rate and caused perspiring, including brisk walking, heavy housework, gym workouts, cycling, swimming and running.

A couple of weeks ago June, the national Nordic walking coach for New Zealand, and her husband Paul visited Bristol for a few days.  I had met them both last month at the international Nordic walking convention in Barcelona and had invited them to stay.

I’ve spoken before about the Nordic walking challenge events run by British Nordic Walking.  There are now about four a year and they are very popular with many in our club.  Janet Jenkins wrote this great article about them which I’m publishing as a guest blog as the next event is in a few weeks time.  Thanks Janet!

Whilst you were enjoying yourselves in sunny Bristol last weekend I was having a similar experience in Barcelona.  I was there for the annual International Nordic Walking Federation (INWA) convention.

The misty mornings and darkening evenings are a reminder that autumn is well and truly here.  So it’s time to think about your kit!  Here are some suggestions for what to wear to stay dry and comfortable Nordic walking this autumn and winter.

Footwear

Take a look at my blog Best foot forward – what shoes to wear for Nordic walking. 

In summary:

In my blog last week I looked at the benefit of steady state training for increasing your heart health.  I’m continuing the theme this week by discussing how you can improve your aerobic fitness through our Nordic walking classes.  Those of you who are using fitness trackers with heart rate monitors will particularly like this blog as I include a table at the bottom showing your heart rate exercise zones based on age.

What is aerobic fitness

An exercise like Nordic walking can help reduce your risk of heart disease. It can also help you control your weight, reduce blood pressure and cholesterol and improve your mental health – helping you to look and feel great.

We have some cracking longer walks coming up over the next few months, including an author visit, plus a new regular walk starting shortly in Nailsea.  They are too good to give just a brief mention to in our Newsletter so here’s more detail.

New Nailsea regular walk

So many of our walkers are using fitness tracking devices now that I thought it might be helpful to review their features and usefulness for Nordic walking.

There are a veritable cornucopia of options – from the humble pedometer to smart phones to wearables - plus a few others besides.  They offer a slew of benefits to help us improve our activity, fitness, sleep, weight and general health.  Are they worth the investment and how can we, as Nordic walkers, benefit from them?  Here are a few of the options:

Pedometers