TRENDSPORTARTEN: Nordic Walking – ein sportmedizinisches Konzept in Prävention und Rehabilitation

Abstract

The objective of the present report is to consider the potential benefit of the relative young sport called Nordic Walking in respect to the prevention and rehabilitation of ankle and lower leg injuries in general. For that purpose, we analyzed the available data from the literature concerning exercise physiology and biomechanics and compared it to our own biomechanical investigations. From a cardio-respiratory point of view, the benefit of Nordic Walking is equivalent to the one of jogging. The subjective perception of the effort (RPE according to Borg), however, corresponds to the one of walking. There is no cardiac risk. The biomechanical results indicate that the push-off forces during Nordic Walking (1.1 times body weight) are even slightly reduced compared to walking (1.2 times body weight). They are also lower than the push-off forces during power walking and drastically lower than the forces during jogging (2–3 times body weight). Considering the fact that the joint, tendon and muscle forces around the ankle joint complex are by far the highest during push-off, these results show the potential of Nordic walking in the rehabilitation process especially after Achilles tendon injuries/surgery or plantar fascitis.