General fitness, health and nutrition · Public discussion

Re: Walking poles - seeking advice

Started by Gordon · · Last activity · 2 posts · 221 views

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General fitness, health and nutrition
Published
10 September 2004
Last activity
13 September 2004
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Gordon
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  1. Ian <[email hidden]> wrote

    Quoted message said:

    I need to get myself a couple of walking poles and am trying to work out
    which ones to get and how much I need to pay. Funds are a bit short at
    the moment so I don't really want to waste money if I can avoid it. If
    I've understood things correctly the price seems to vary based on what
    the poles are made of, whether they have anti-shock, what the handle is
    made of and whether it's positive angle or not etc. Not having used one
    before I've really no idea whether any of this really matters or not.
    Everywhere I look there seems to be Leki poles which seem to be fine but
    are quite expensive. So .... would welcome any general advice or
    recommendations. I'm only going to be using them for pretty basic
    walking (i.e. walks such as you'd find in the Pathfinder guides).


    I wonder why you 'need' them? Do you have problems with your knees?

    I bought a pair and they spend nearly all their time in the boot of my
    car, I only ever use one for balance, especially over boggy ground, and
    after carrying them in my sack a few times I resented the extra weight.
    I wouldn't spend too much if you only do the kind of walks I am now
    capable of.... ;-)
    --
    Gordon

  2. Ian said:

    Yes, my knees are the problem.

    Poles are very good for bad knees (why I started using them), but as
    well as poles it's worth doing some work on building up the muscles
    around the joint as they support it and take some of the strain. The
    better shape the supporting muscles are in, the more the muscles will
    take the load from the joints.

    Low impact exercises are clearly best for this, as it's impact that
    generally causes the problem. I personally found that doing a lot more
    cycling, especially spinning lower gears with my feet clipped into
    pedals, was of /enormous/ benefit. I started using poles as I more or
    less had to do something to walk down from a Munro without considerable
    discomfort, it's now rarely a problem outside of a very long day. Cross
    country and telemark skiing as well, though that's not really as
    accessible as cycling! Roller skating I've found good too.

    Pete.
    --
    Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
    Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
    Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
    net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

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