Nordic walking in geriatric population – An evidence based seminar

Background: Aging is an involuntary and inevitable process that causes progressive structural and functional loss in the body, such as deterioration of functional capacity, muscle mass and strength loss, loss of bone mass and delays in reaction time, which are risk factors that lead to a loss of autonomy and increased risk of falling. Nordic walking is an activity involving specially designed poles used to push against the ground with each stride for the purpose of activating the upper body while walking. It is more intensive form of walking using muscles of upper body and lower body. It is safe, feasible and beneficial form of exercise training in older adults. Method: Evidences Reviewed from Literature search 2015-2021. It was taken from PubMed, Google scholar, Wiley online library. Conclusion: It can be stated that nordic walking training helps to improve wellness, physical strength, flexibility, quality of life and functional balance. Nordic walking is a non expensive and feasible option to improve fitness in elderly people. Nordic walking can be included as exercise prescription for elderly and it is one of the best way for elders to stay healthy. © This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.


Introduction
Aging is an involuntary and inevitable process that causes progressive structural and functional loss in the body, such as deterioration of functional capacity, muscle mass and strength loss, loss of bone mass and delays in reaction time, which are risk factors that lead to a loss of autonomy and increased risk of falling.
Elderly is defined as being 65years of age/older. (Land field et al. 2004).
Life expectancy has been increasing since 1970 because death rate for elderly aged 65 or older has decreased. Sarcopenic subjects more often experience tiredness during daily activity and there is increase risk of falling and are more prone to injuries. Physical activity can slow down the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function. It is impossible to prevent the decline of physical strength completely but appropriate physical activity can slow down speed of decline.
Nordic walking is an activity involving specially designed poles used to push against the ground with each stride for the purpose of activating the upper body while walking. It is more intensive form of walking using muscles of upper body and lower body. It is safe, feasible and beneficial form of exercise training in older adults.
Normal walking utilizes muscles of the lower half of body while nordic walking is a whole body activity that uses muscles of the back, arms, shoulder and neck. It reduces load on the lower body and helps people remain stable while walking. This form of walking requires the use of many muscles to increase walking speed with poles.
Nordic walking is well known as a useful exercise that provide stability to people who are old or have orthopedic problems and balance problem. It is also useful in patient with knee osteoarthritis and obesity.

What is Nordic poles?
Poles with thumb hole, hand strap and full size rubber feet. It increases stability and protect against fall. Minimum length is 79cm and maximum length is 135cm.

Benefits of Nordic walking
1. Tones the upper and lower body at the same time 2. Uses 90% of the skeletal muscles 3. Burns up to 46% more calories than ordinary walking 4. Reduces the pressure on knees joints 5. used for neck, shoulder and back problems 6. Poles propel the walker along, making it easier to move faster than normal without feeling the effort. 7. It is one of the most effective cross training techniques for athletes and sportspeople who require ultimate cardiovascular and endurance conditioning. 8. It is easy to learn and to keep up. 9. It combines exercise with the nature which has been proven to boost mood.

Conclusion
1. It can be stated that nordic walking training helps to improve wellness, physical strength, flexibility, quality of life and functional balance. 2. Nordic walking is a non expensive and feasible option to improve fitness in elderly people. 3. Nordic walking can be included as exercise prescription for elderly and it is one of the best way for elders to stay healthy.

Source of Funding
No fund was needed.

Conflict of Interest
There was no personal or institutional conflict of interest for this study.

Acknowledgement
Would like to thank my family & friends and their support & guidance.