Nordic Walking News

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Further to my posting on Monday, January 29, 2007 re: New Nordic Walking 24 Hour World Record...

Here is a real nice message received from Mike Gates from http://www.poleabout.com.au in Australia. Mike set the original Nordic / Pole Walking 24 hour world record on March 12th, 2005 when he walked 138 km in 24 hours.

Here is what Mike says about Kari Helgasvaara, who recently broke the Nordic Walking 24 hour World Record, beating the previously best set by German Bernd Beigl.

Kari's new World Record of 156 km in 24 hours, broke Bernd's previous best by 200 metres.

"I wish to personally congratulate this gentleman Kari the Finn on his great effort in undertaking such a challenge as I know only to well being a very keen Pole / Nordic Walking Ultra Sport junkie, of the commitment, pain and suffering, both physically and mentally one goes through; in not only doing the event but preparing for the big day as well. But more importantly it is fantastic to see he had the ability to push himself to his limit and come out on top, please let him know it was an awesome effort."

Mike Gates
http://www.poleabout.com.au

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I'd just like to ask you, particularly if you are UK based (but if you are not why not check this out anyway?) - To go to this new Nordic Walking Forum (Below) and to 'please' contribute!!!!

http://www.NWtalkback.upandrunning.co.uk

The reason for my request is that Jonathon, who has set up this new Forum, is the General Manager of a UK chain of specialist running shops called 'Up & Running'. Jonathon has linked up with 'Nordic Walking UK' (UK's INWA representatives) to help promote Nordic Walking on our side of the 'Pond'. Jonathon is doing his bit to support us, so lets do our bit to support Jonathon and his company. At the very least we can all do this by supporting his Forum!

We need all the help we can get if Nordic Walking is to realise it's potential in the UK (or in any other country come to that) and here we have a chain of specialist running stores keen to come on side with us, so lets please go and check out and contribute:

http://www.NWtalkback.upandrunning.co.uk

And...If you have an 'Up & Running' store in your area why not go and check it out. At the very least please checkout their online store at:

http://www.upandrunning.co.uk

http://www.upandrunning.co.uk

David Downer
Editor

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Members of the 'Friskis & Svettis' exercise association, Aberdeen, Scotland will meet on Sunday 11th February 2007 for an afternoon of Nordic Walking, or as they call it 'Viking Hiking'...It's got a nice kind of ring to it don't you think? Ed.

After the walk there will be a tea party to celebrate the group's 5th Birthday. They now run 7 weekly sessions with anything up to 25 participants of varying ages at each session.

Most walks last one hour and everyone is welcome! After each walk participants enjoy a welcome cup of tea or coffee together. Poles can be hired for a nominal fee and tuition is free. Group leaders are all trained volunteers.

'Friskis & Svettis' is a Europe wide non-profit making exercise association based in Sweden, offering ‘Viking Hiking’ sessions and 'Exercise to Music' classes. It was founded in 1978 and currently has 370,000 members in 11 countries, most of them in Sweden and Norway.

The Aberdeen Co-ordinator is is John Greig and John can be contacted on: 01224 321088 or e-mail PandJGreig@aol.com

Website: http://www.fsaberdeen.co.uk

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I am very grateful to Stuart Montgomery for putting together this training course.
As well as being a fellow INWA Nordic Walking Instructor Stuart is a Director of Tour Operator XCuk Ltd http://www.xcuk.com the company who are providing the Nordic Walking News cross-country skiing holiday to Norway this coming February.
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Welcome to Week 9 of our 10-week course.

It is intended mainly for those joining our cross-country skiing holiday in Norway next week. Snow conditions are excellent in Norway right now, with over a metre of snow and more falling, and a great time is promised. (For details of the holiday see http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm).

But the course will also benefit anyone who wants to improve their fitness. If you missed the last eight weeks, please go back to our posting of 4 December where you will find the overall rationale. Please also remember that in earlier postings we described mobilisation exercises for you to do before every workout, and muscle stretches to do after every workout.

Nordic Walking

During this course we have increased the intensity of your Nordic walking sessions. First we added some speed work. Then we introduced hill-work. Then we increased the duration of your sessions. Then we did still more speed work. Then we asked you to introduce some double-poling. You are now working quite hard – well done!

This week we want you to ease off a little. Do the same number of sessions as last week, but in general don’t work just quite so hard. The one exception to this rule is that, in place of one of your longer sessions, we want you to repeat the “time-trial” you did in Week 1. So, after warming up, go out Nordic walking and walk for exactly one hour on a route that you can measure, ideally the same route you used in Week 1. Walk at a brisk but comfortable pace. You should feel that you are having a good workout, but you should still be able to maintain a conversation throughout.

How far did you walk? Was it further than the distance you managed on Week 1?
We hope so!

Muscle Toning

We continue to work on mini-squats, which are great for toning the legs.

This week, like last, do three sets of 12 repetitions of this exercise in the course of the week:

CATEGORY A

Hold each mini-squat for a count of ten.

CATEGORY B

Hold each mini-squat for a count of five.

CATEGORY C

Hold each mini-squat for a count of three.

Muscle Toning and Balance

Throughout the course we have been using mini-squats to help our ski-balance as well as tone our muscles. We have developed a sequence of exercises, with a total of nine positions. Here is the sequence once again. (Remember to hold on to the back of a chair if you feel unsteady during this exercise.)

1 Squat slowly down into the basic position. Hold it for a count of five.

2 Without standing up, shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the left foot. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

3 Now shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the right foot. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

4 Now shift your body weight a little forward, over the balls of your feet. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

5 Now shift your body weight a little backward, over your heels. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

6 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the left, over the ball of your left foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

7 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the right, over the ball of your right foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

8 In the second last movement of the sequence, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the left - over your left heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

9 Finally, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the right - over your right heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position and then stand up. And take a well-earned rest

Try to find time to do this routine five times during the course of the week.

Happy training!

Stuart Montgomery (Director - XCuk Ltd)

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Have you booked your place on our cross-country skiing holiday? With less than one week to go there is still a last minute chance that we may be able to accept your booking but don't delay visit the website today:

http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm
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Congratulations to Kari Helgasvaara, a 43 year old Nordic Walking Instructor from Finland (now based in Spain) who recently broke the unofficial Nordic Walking 24 hour World Record, previously set by German Bernd Beigl.

Kari's new World Record of 156 km in 24 hours, broke Bernd's previous best by 200 metres.

The event was organised by the city of Le Seu d'Urgell and Exel poles distributors in Spain 'OK 2 Play'. Many locals turned out to support Kari for his record attempt and some national level Spanish athletes also joined in with their poles.

In training for the event Kari focused on distances of 40 - 80 kms and he averaged 100 km a week. Kari complemented his Nordic Walking training with swimming, running and power training exercises.

The event received local media coverage from both newspapers and television. In an interview afterwards Kari said...

"24 hours of Nordic Walking is the most exhausting thing I have ever done but at the same time one of the most memorable".

After the event Kari, who lives in Oviedo, in the North of Spain returned home to continue in his more usual role of organising Nordic Walking activities for the public and leading Nordic Walking training groups twice a week. Kari has done many promotions in Spain in co-operation with INWA's (International Nordic Walking Association) Spanish member association.

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=====================================================================================
I am very grateful to Stuart Montgomery for putting together this training course.
As well as being a fellow INWA Nordic Walking Instructor Stuart is a Director of Tour Operator XCuk Ltd http://www.xcuk.com the company who are providing the Nordic Walking News cross-country skiing holiday to Norway this coming February.
=====================================================================================

Welcome to Week 8 of our 10-week course.

It is intended mainly for those joining our February cross-country skiing holiday in Norway. Snow conditions are excellent in Norway right now, with over a metre of snow and more falling, and a great time is promised. (For details of the holiday see http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm

But the course will also benefit anyone who wants to improve their fitness.

The course is progressive. So if you missed the last seven weeks, please go back to our posting of 4 December where you will find the overall rationale, as well as an explanation of the three “categories” that we refer to below. Please also remember that in earlier postings we have described mobilisation exercises for you to do before every workout, and muscle stretches for you to do after every workout.

Nordic Walking

In recent weeks we have been increasing the intensity of your Nordic walking sessions. First we added some speed work. Then we introduced a little hill-work. Then we increased the duration of your sessions. Finally, last week we asked you to add still more speed work. So it has grown into a fairly challenging workout – congratulations on keeping it up!

This week we will not ask you to work any harder. We want you to do the same pattern of Nordic walking sessions as last week. But we will ask you to experiment with a different technique: double poling. We’ll talk more about that in a minute. First, here are the session plans once again:

CATEGORY A

This week do three Nordic walking sessions of 35 minutes plus two sessions of 65 minutes. And include two 2-minute bursts of speed in each of the three 35-minute sessions.

In addition, do some hill-work in one of the 65-minute sessions. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat ten times.

CATEGORY B

This week do two Nordic walking sessions of 35 minutes plus one session of 65 minutes. And include two 2-minute bursts of speed in each of the 35-minute sessions.

In addition, do some hill-work in the 65-minute session. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat eight times.

CATEGORY C

This week do one Nordic walking session of 35 minutes plus one session of 50 minutes. And include two 2-minute bursts of speed in the 35-minute session.

In addition, do some hill-work in your 50-minute session. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat five times.

Introducing Double-Poling

Standard NW uses alternate arm poling, but for a slightly different workout you can do some double poling, in which you plant both poles at the same time and use them to push yourself forward on to your next stride. You will need to experiment with the number of strides between each double pole plant, and find out what suits you...

...Some people take two strides, some three, and some four. You will probably find that if you pole hard you will take more strides, and walk more slowly, than if you pole lightly. Double-poling with two strides will therefore tend to boost your speed. Double-poling with three or four strides will tend on the other hand to favour muscle endurance and strength.

Experiment a little. Then when you have found your own style, add a two-minute double-poling session to each of your 35-minute walks.
Double poling can feel quite hard on the shoulders and upper back, so do take it easy to begin with.

Muscle Toning

As usual we continue to work on mini-squats, which are great for toning the legs.

This week, like last, we want you to do three sets of 12 repetitions of this exercise in the course of the week:

CATEGORY A

Hold each mini-squat for a count of ten.

CATEGORY B

Hold each mini-squat for a count of five.

CATEGORY C

Hold each mini-squat for a count of three.

Muscle Toning and Balance

Throughout this course we have been using mini-squats to help our ski-balance as well as tone our muscles. Recently we added a few more moves to our sequence of balance exercises, to make it a very effective sequence of nine positions. Here is the sequence once again. (Remember to hold on to the back of a chair if you feel unsteady during this exercise.)

1 Squat slowly down into the basic position. Hold it for a count of five.

2 Without standing up, shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the left foot. (In moving across, you mainly pivot at the ANKLES.) You should achieve a position in which your left foot, knee, hip and shoulder are all in line vertically. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

3 Now shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the right foot. In doing this, you achieve a position in which your right foot, knee, hip and shoulder are all in line vertically. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

4 Now shift your body weight a little forward, over the balls of your feet. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

5 Now shift your body weight a little backward, over your heels. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

6 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the left, over the ball of your left foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

7 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the right, over the ball of your right foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

8 In the second last movement of the sequence, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the left - over your left heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

9 Finally, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the right - over your right heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position and then stand up. And take a well-earned rest

Try to find time to do this routine five times during the course of the week.

Happy training!

Stuart Montgomery (Director - XCuk Ltd)

=====================================================================================
Have you booked your place on our cross-country skiing holiday? With less than two weeks to go there is still a chance that we may be able to accept your booking but don't delay visit the website today:

http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm
=====================================================================================

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Ok folks - I have the documentary proof - An elderly gentlman was recorded on film taken back in 1968, somewhere in England, walking with two 'wooden' ski poles using the poling technique similar to that of cross-country skiers eg what has widely become known today as Nordic Walking.

Ok, agreed that there was no suggestion in the recorded film at the time that this was being referred to as 'Nordic Walking' but it was definately recognisable from the filmed evidence to be what we now call Nordic Walking...

So the Brits were first! Not our American friends or the Finnish friends either but the Brits - and yes it was definately a British gentleman and it was definately in Britain!

Perhaps a more appropriate term for the activity we know think of as Nordic Walking would be 'English Country Pole Walking'?

There can be no denying this because the evidence is recorded on film for all to see...

Ok - So how can you see this 'proof'? It's very easy... Just watch the film 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' - No I haven't taken leave of my senses... I'm serious; Honest :-) and you will see a a very brief shot of Grandpa Potts (who is definately an Englishman), Nordic Walking!

The exact spot in the film is when the inventer Charactacus Potts first drives 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' out of the garage having faithfully restored it to it's former Glory. Jeremy and Jemima jump aboard and as 'Chitty' drives away, Grandpa Potts can be seen setting out Nordic Walking in the opposite direction (don't blink because you will miss it).

Now - So where does C1907 come into this? Well that's simple. 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' was filmed in England in 1968 but the film was staged in the early 1900's - Remember (if you have seen it) that the film starts out with Chitty (in her racing days) winning the Grand Prix races in England, France and I think it was Germany? In it's final race (on the screen I think it said 'British Grand Prix' 1907) 'Chitty' crashes - Which is what leads it to be bought and restored by Charactacus Potts.

So that puts an approximate date line on the setting for the film C1907 - I therefore wonder if the film makers know something that Nordic Walking historians don't eg that what we now know as Nordic Walking was a popular country activity in Great Britain in the early years of the 20th Century...

Should we now re-write the Nordic Walking history book? :-)

David

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My thanks to Francis Mitchell - Managing Director of Nordic Walking UK http://www.nordicwalking.co.uk for this posting from the INWA (International Nordic Walking Association) newsletter. Nordic Walking UK are the UK representatives for INWA http://inwa.nordicwalking.com and offer instructor training at venues throughout the UK and Ireland. They are also the UK importers of Exel Nordic Walking poles and accessories.
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INWA’s Finnish member association ''Suomen Latu' recently launched the results of their Nordic Walking survey for 2006. The number of people Nordic Walking in Finland seems to remain at 1.5 million people this year (out of a population of approx 5.1 million). 720,000 Finnish residents Nordic Walk at least once a week.

Nordic Walking is extremely popular especially among women. 26% of women Nordic Walk regularly and 50% of Finnish women have tried Nordic Walking. Nordic Walking has also become more popular among men each year. Nowadays 11% of men Nordic Walk regularly versus in 1999 when the number was only 4%.

Nordic Walking is most popular among over 65 year old people. 39% of over 65's Nordic Walking at least once a week. Nordic Walking is also popular amongst 50-64 year old people with 23% of them Nordic Walking regularly.

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So you love Nordic Walking? Then the holiday to consider in 2007 must be a Nordic Walking Holiday...

If the idea of a Nordic Walking holiday interests you, then keep an eye on this website because very soon now I will be launching the Nordic Walking News, 2007 Nordic Walking Holidays program.

We will be starting small (with just two holidays) but plans are now in place and accomodation and walking guides have been arranged. So, I am delighted to announce that in 2007 you will be able to join Nordic Walking News on an escorted Nordic Walking Holiday in one of my favorite holiday destinations...

THE ALGARVE - PORTUGAL!!!

I fell in love with the Algarve on my first visit 7 years ago and I have been returning ever since. Our base for our two 'one week' Nordic Walking Holidays in May and October is the historic town of Silves, once a Moorish capital and still boasting a fortress and sturdy city walls. Our Nordic Walks will take in both countryside and coastline and I know you will be in for a real treat.

So, as they say - watch this space as full details will be available real soon...

Nordic Walking News has arranged for some fantastic Nordic Walking Holidays in the Algarve, Portugal in 2007 - I hope you will be able to join us.

For your reassurance - The Nordic Walking News, Nordic Walking Holidays are being provided by "XCuk Ltd" a licensed UK Tour Operator (ATOL Protected www.caa.co.uk/atol)

Note: XCuk Ltd are the Tour Operator who is also providing the Nordic Walking News - Cross Country Skiing Holiday to Norway, in February.

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=====================================================================================
I am very grateful to Stuart Montgomery for putting together this training course.
As well as being a fellow INWA Nordic Walking Instructor Stuart is a Director of Tour Operator XCuk Ltd http://www.xcuk.com the company who are providing the Nordic Walking News cross-country skiing holiday to Norway this coming February.
=====================================================================================

Welcome to Week 7 of our 10-week ski readiness course.

It is intended mainly for those joining our February cross-country skiing holiday in Norway. Snow conditions are excellent in Norway right now, and a great time is promised. (For details of the holiday see http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm).

But the course will also benefit anyone who wants to improve their fitness.

The course is progressive. So if you missed the last six weeks, please go back to our posting of 4 December where you will find the rationale for the course, as well as an explanation of the three “categories” that we refer to below. Please also remember that in earlier postings we have described mobilisation exercises for you to do before every workout, and muscle stretches for you to do after every workout.

Nordic Walking

In recent weeks we have been increasing the intensity of your Nordic walking sessions. First we added some speed work. Then we introduced a little hill-work. Last week we increased the duration of your sessions.

Now - in addition to all that! - we want you to add still more speed work. As before, be sure to keep the fast bursts down to a pace at which you can still manage a conversation, albeit with fairly short sentences. And do try to maintain good Nordic walking technique even when you are going fast.

As usual we will work in the categories selected in Week 1:

CATEGORY A

This week, like last, do three Nordic walking sessions of 35 minutes plus two sessions of 65 minutes. But now include TWO two-minute bursts of speed in each of the three 35-minute sessions.

In addition, like last week, do some hill-work in one of the 65-minute sessions. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat ten times.

CATEGORY B

This week, like last, do two Nordic walking sessions of 35 minutes plus one session of 65 minutes. But now include TWO two-minute bursts of speed in each of the 35-minute sessions.

In addition, like last week, do some hill-work in the 65-minute session. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat eight times.

CATEGORY C

This week, like last, do one Nordic walking session of 35 minutes plus one session of 50 minutes. But now include TWO two-minute bursts of speed in the 35-minute session.

In addition, like last week, do some hill-work in your 50-minute session. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat five times.

Muscle Toning

As usual we continue to work on mini-squats, which are great for toning the legs.

This week, like last, we want you to do three sets of 12 repetitions of this exercise in the course of the week:

CATEGORY A

Hold each mini-squat for a count of ten.

CATEGORY B

Hold each mini-squat for a count of five.

CATEGORY C

Hold each mini-squat for a count of three.

Muscle Toning and Balance

Throughout this course we have been using mini-squats to help our ski-balance as well as tone our muscles. Last week we added a few more moves to our sequence of balance exercises, to make it a very effective sequence of nine positions.

This week we increase the amount of time you hold each position. (Remember to hold on to the back of a chair if you feel wobbly during this exercise.)

1 Squat slowly down into the basic position. Hold it for a count of five.

2 Without standing up, shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the left foot. (In moving across, you mainly pivot at the ANKLES.) You should achieve a position in which your left foot, knee, hip and shoulder are all in line vertically. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

3 Now shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the right foot. In doing this, you achieve a position in which your right foot, knee, hip and shoulder are all in line vertically. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

4 Now shift your body weight a little forward, over the balls of your feet. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

5 Now shift your body weight a little backward, over your heels. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

6 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the left, over the ball of your left foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

7 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the right, over the ball of your right foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

8 In the second last movement of the sequence, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the left - over your left heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of five.

9 Finally, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the right -over your right heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of five. Return to the basic position and then stand up. And take a well-earned rest

Try to find time to do this routine five times during the course of the week.

Happy training!

Stuart Montgomery (Director - XCuk Ltd)

=====================================================================================
Have you booked your place on our holiday yet? There is still time to book! ALL Standards including beginners very welcome. For full details visit:

http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm
=====================================================================================

.
=====================================================================================
I am very grateful to Stuart Montgomery for putting together this training course.
As well as being a fellow INWA Nordic Walking Instructor Stuart is a Director of Tour Operator XCuk Ltd http://www.xcuk.com the company who are providing the Nordic Walking News cross-country skiing holiday to Norway this coming February.
=====================================================================================

Welcome to Week 6 of our 10-week ski readiness course.

First, a word for those who have not seen our earlier postings on ski readiness:
This course is intended mainly for those joining our February cross-country skiing holiday in Norway (for details see http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm ). But it will also benefit anyone who wants to improve their fitness.

The course is progressive. So if you missed the last five weeks, please go back to our posting of 4 December where you will find the rationale for the course, as well as an explanation of the three “categories” that we refer to below. Please also remember that in earlier postings we have described mobilisation exercises for you to do before every workout, and muscle stretches for you to do after every workout.

Nordic Walking

In recent weeks we have been increasing the intensity of some of your Nordic walking sessions – first by adding bursts of speed and then by introducing some gentle hill-work.

This week, in addition, we want you to increase the duration of your Nordic walking sessions, by adding five minutes to each one.

As usual we will work in the categories selected in Week 1:

CATEGORY A

This week do three Nordic walking sessions of 35 minutes plus two sessions of 65 minutes. Include a two-minute burst of speed in each of the three 35-minute sessions.

In addition, do some hill-work in one of the 65-minute sessions. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat ten times.

CATEGORY B

This week do two Nordic walking sessions of 35 minutes plus one session of 65 minutes. Include a two-minute burst of speed in each of the 35-minute sessions.

In addition, do some hill-work in the 65-minute session. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat eight times.

CATEGORY C

This week do one Nordic walking session of 35 minutes plus one session of 50 minutes. Include a two-minute burst of speed in the 35-minute session.

In addition, do some hill-work in your 50-minute session. On the kind of slope that we described in Week Five walk up for about 200 metres and then immediately turn around and walk back to the bottom. Repeat five times.

Muscle Toning

As usual we continue to work on mini-squats, which are great for toning the legs.

This week, like last, we want you to do three sets of 12 repetitions of this exercise in the course of the week:

CATEGORY A

Hold each mini-squat for a count of ten.

CATEGORY B

Hold each mini-squat for a count of five.

CATEGORY C

Hold each mini-squat for a count of three.

Muscle Toning and Balance

We have been using mini-squats to help our ski-balance as well as tone our muscles. This week we add a few more moves to our sequence of balance exercises, to make it even more effective. (Remember to hold on to the back of a chair if you feel wobbly during this exercise.)

Here is the basic routine that you have been doing:

1 Squat slowly down into the basic position. Hold it for a count of three.

2 Without standing up, shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the left foot. (In moving across, you mainly pivot at the ANKLES.) You should achieve a position in which your left foot, knee, hip and shoulder are all in line vertically. Hold for a count of three. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of three.

3 Now shift your body weight straight across until it is almost all over the right foot. In doing this, you achieve a position in which your right foot, knee, hip and shoulder are all in line vertically. Hold for a count of three. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of three.

4 Now shift your body weight a little forward, over the balls of your feet. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of three. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of three.

5 Now shift your body weight a little backward, over your heels. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of three. Return to the basic position.

This week we want you to add the following four positions, immediately after Position 5:

6 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the left, over the ball of your left foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of three. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of three.

7 Now shift your body weight diagonally forward to the right, over the ball of your right foot. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of three. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of three.

8 In the second last movement of the sequence, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the left - over your left heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of three. Return to the basic position, without standing up, and hold it for a count of three.

9 Finally, shift your body weight diagonally backward to the right - over your right heel. Be careful not to fall over: this is not a stable position. Hold for a count of three. Return to the basic position and then stand up. And take a well-earned rest

Try to find time to do this routine five times during the course of the week.

Happy training!

Stuart Montgomery (Director - XCuk Ltd)

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Have you booked your place on our holiday yet? There is still time to book! ALL Standards including beginners very welcome. For full details visit:

http://www.nordicfitnessonline.com/blue/nordicskiing/nordicskiing.htm
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Tom Rutlin the originator of the concept of 'fitness walking with specially designed poles' back in 1985 and founder of US based company 'Exerstrider' has announced the launch of the first 'Exerstrider' Nordic Walking Park in Europe (Netherlands). It is situated in Beesel Brüggen and Swalmen (Between Venlo and Roermond).

The park has five resort hotels in or around it and each of these will offer instruction in Exerstride method Nordic walking along with free use of Exerstrider poles for guests. It has 110 kilometer of trails with 11 routes and 7 cross routes. Brochures and route maps are available in the Tourist Info centers. Check out the online video at:

http://www.tvl.nl/site/load.php?page=38&item=2516

then click on "Speed video af"