Load dynamics of joints in Nordic walking

Abstract

Recent years have seen a worldwide increase in people participating in Nordic walking (NW), with a heavy concentration in Northern Europe. This trend has led to abundant research in NW, which has the potential to reduce the load of the joints because poles are used during walking, and walkers may distribute part of their weight to the poles. A high exercise effect for NW is recognized now, and various studies are performed in the past. However, there are few studies focused on the various joint loads for NW. Therefore, as for examining having joint load reduction effect or not of the NW, it is with an important element judging the right or wrong of the application to everyday life of the NW for patients with joint disease and elderly people.The purpose of this study is to compare the joint load (lumbar spine, hip, knee and ankle joints) for NW to ordinary walking (OW) on a level surface and for going up and down stairs. Five healthy participants were asked to conduct NW and OW on a level surface and going up and down stairs equipped with force platforms. 3D inverse dynamics was used to calculate joint reaction force and joint moment in the lower limb joints. Then, the joint forces (compression and shear) at each of the lumbar spine, hip, knee and ankle joints were calculated using the Software for Interactive Musculoskeletal Modeling (SIMM). It was found that NW reduces the load of the lumbar spine and lower limb joints compared with OW on a level surface and going up stairs, but not going down stairs.