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Physiological and Perceptual Responses to Nordic Walking in a Natural Mountain Environment

Background: Interest around Nordic Walking (NW) has increased in recent years. However, direct comparisons of NW with normal walking (W), particularly in ecologically valid environments is lacking. The aim of our study was to compare NW and W, over long distances in a natural mountain environment. M...

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Autores principales: Grainer, Alessandro, Zerbini, Livio, Reggiani, Carlo, Marcolin, Giuseppe, Steele, James, Pavei, Gaspare, Paoli, Antonio
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664736/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29039775
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101235
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author Grainer, Alessandro
Zerbini, Livio
Reggiani, Carlo
Marcolin, Giuseppe
Steele, James
Pavei, Gaspare
Paoli, Antonio
author_facet Grainer, Alessandro
Zerbini, Livio
Reggiani, Carlo
Marcolin, Giuseppe
Steele, James
Pavei, Gaspare
Paoli, Antonio
author_sort Grainer, Alessandro
collection PubMed
description Background: Interest around Nordic Walking (NW) has increased in recent years. However, direct comparisons of NW with normal walking (W), particularly in ecologically valid environments is lacking. The aim of our study was to compare NW and W, over long distances in a natural mountain environment. Methods: Twenty one subjects (13 male/8 female, aged 41 ± 12 years, body mass index BMI 24.1 ± 3.7), walked three distinct uphill paths (length 2.2/3.4/7 km) with (NW) or without (W) walking poles over two separate days. Heart rate (HR), energy expenditure (EE), step length (SL), walking speed (WS), total steps number (SN) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were monitored. Results: HR (+18%) and EE (+20%) were higher in NW than in W whilst RPE was similar. SN (−12%) was lower and SL (+15%) longer in NW. WS was higher (1.64 vs. 1.53 m s(−1)) in NW. Conclusions: Our data confirm that, similarly to previous laboratory studies, differences in a range of walking variables are present between NW and W when performed in a natural environment. NW appears to increase EE compared to W, despite a similar RPE. Thus, NW could be a useful as aerobic training modality for weight control and cardiorespiratory fitness.
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spelling pubmed-56647362017-11-06 Physiological and Perceptual Responses to Nordic Walking in a Natural Mountain Environment Grainer, Alessandro Zerbini, Livio Reggiani, Carlo Marcolin, Giuseppe Steele, James Pavei, Gaspare Paoli, Antonio Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: Interest around Nordic Walking (NW) has increased in recent years. However, direct comparisons of NW with normal walking (W), particularly in ecologically valid environments is lacking. The aim of our study was to compare NW and W, over long distances in a natural mountain environment. Methods: Twenty one subjects (13 male/8 female, aged 41 ± 12 years, body mass index BMI 24.1 ± 3.7), walked three distinct uphill paths (length 2.2/3.4/7 km) with (NW) or without (W) walking poles over two separate days. Heart rate (HR), energy expenditure (EE), step length (SL), walking speed (WS), total steps number (SN) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were monitored. Results: HR (+18%) and EE (+20%) were higher in NW than in W whilst RPE was similar. SN (−12%) was lower and SL (+15%) longer in NW. WS was higher (1.64 vs. 1.53 m s(−1)) in NW. Conclusions: Our data confirm that, similarly to previous laboratory studies, differences in a range of walking variables are present between NW and W when performed in a natural environment. NW appears to increase EE compared to W, despite a similar RPE. Thus, NW could be a useful as aerobic training modality for weight control and cardiorespiratory fitness. MDPI 2017-10-17 2017-10 /pmc/articles/PMC5664736/ /pubmed/29039775 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101235 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Grainer, Alessandro
Zerbini, Livio
Reggiani, Carlo
Marcolin, Giuseppe
Steele, James
Pavei, Gaspare
Paoli, Antonio
Physiological and Perceptual Responses to Nordic Walking in a Natural Mountain Environment
title Physiological and Perceptual Responses to Nordic Walking in a Natural Mountain Environment
title_full Physiological and Perceptual Responses to Nordic Walking in a Natural Mountain Environment
title_fullStr Physiological and Perceptual Responses to Nordic Walking in a Natural Mountain Environment
title_full_unstemmed Physiological and Perceptual Responses to Nordic Walking in a Natural Mountain Environment
title_short Physiological and Perceptual Responses to Nordic Walking in a Natural Mountain Environment
title_sort physiological and perceptual responses to nordic walking in a natural mountain environment
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5664736/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29039775
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101235
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