Synonyms in a broader sense
Walking, Nordic walking, power walking, walking, SportWalking and especially Nordic Walking are among the most successful trend sports of recent years. Both sports belong to the field of endurance sports and are suitable for almost all people who want to train their cardiovascular system. Walking and Nordic Walking are best suited for people who have either never done sports before or who may have not been active for years.
These two sports are also of great importance in medical rehabilitation, not only after orthopedic surgery, but also to successfully increase the stress level after internal medicine procedures. These sports are particularly suitable for patients with heart diseases, such as coronary heart disease (CHD), or after bypass surgery. In these cases, however, the sports activities must be performed in a dosed manner and, if possible, under expert guidance.
Both disciplines are also equally suitable for long-term weight reduction in cases of pathological overweight (obesity) and are therefore practiced by many people. The scientific training and physiological principles are almost identical for both sports, and are therefore explained in the first part of this topic. The third sport in this category is jogging. Differences between the disciplines are then explained specifically, especially with regard to technique and equipment for the respective sport.
Training scientific basics
Whatever your reason for choosing to do walking or Nordic Walking, knowledge of some of the basics of training science is essential. In order to achieve a positive effect on the cardiovascular system, or to lose weight through sport, regular training is necessary in the first place. Training in the sports medical sense has the goal of increasing or maintaining performance.
The most important prerequisite for an increase in performance and weight reduction is that the sport is performed regularly and several times a week. The intensity and duration of the respective training unit is of secondary importance. In order to achieve a continuous improvement in physical fitness in the beginner’s area, a targeted training session at least twice, better three times per week is necessary.
At the beginning of physical activity, a training of 20-30 minutes three times a week is much more effective than training 60-90 minutes once a week. Training effects are based on adaptation processes of the body. The human organism reacts to regular, adapted training stimuli with an increase in performance.
To achieve lasting success, however, it is equally important to provide the body with sufficient recovery phases. In the beginner’s area, there should be a break of at least 24 hours between two units of endurance training. Ambitious recreational athletes can shorten this break time, or set different priorities in the respective training units, e.g. after a longer endurance training session they can do a strength training session the next day.
