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The History of Nordic Walking

Nordic Walking started in Finland in the early 20th century as a summer training exercise for cross country skiers. The real breakthrough of Nordic Walking as a practiced exercise came in 1997, when a Finnish company, in cooperation with athletes and sports medicine experts, invented a new wrist strap system to make the present-day Nordic walking technique possible.

Europeans adopted Nordic walking as a favorite activity because of it's time-efficient, low-stress, total body workout. Cross-Country skiing has been long recognized being one of the most effective body workouts for burning calories and building cardio-vascular fitness combined with reduced stress on your joints.

Now, thanks to Nordic Pole Walking, all this and more can be achieved without the skis and the snow, anytime:

  1. •all year round

  2. •in any climate

  3. •on any surface!

The Present

With the rapid growth and numerous benefits that are being experienced by this new form of physical activity it was to be expected that it would not be long before this style of walking crossed over the borders of Finland and was adopted into other countries as a preferred method of exercise for health/rehabilitation and fitness.

Beyond Finland, Nordic Walking has been well received in numerous countries such as Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Norway, and Sweden and is now progressing well into other countries such as Japan, Australia, Netherlands, UK,  and the USA.

Nordic Walking is experiencing accelerated growth and is now amongst the fastest growing new health & fitness activities worldwide.