Five good reasons to use walking poles Press Release

© Leki

Invented by leading trekking pole manufacturer LEKI in 1974, trekking poles have fast become a common sight on our outdoor British landscape.  Many have already discovered the reasons why poles make for a better outdoor experience including Plas y Brenin National Outdoor Centre whose instructors use LEKI and who also offers LEKI poles to their guests.   However if you’re yet to be convinced, Dave Cheetham, marketing manager, at Plas y Brenin gives us five reasons why a good set of walking poles is a wise investment:

 

  1. Walk for longer: by distributing the weight between the upper and lower body muscles you can walk for prolonged periods of time.  What’s more, recovery is faster too.
  2. Walk faster: walking to a rhythm increases your pace and can help maintain your speed on tricky terrain - more of that great British outdoor air and all with less perceived effort. Inject some power into your walk: poles are like a 4-wheel drive for humans.
  3. Walk tall: using poles brings the posture upright, especially if using a pack when the tendency is to stoop forward. An upright silhouette also helps open the lungs and improve breathing.
  4. A handy companion: trekking poles have other uses too – use them to swipe away stinging nettles and brambles; for testing the depth of puddles before ploughing through them and clearing away the cobwebs on early morning walks.
  5. Concerned they’ll get in the way? Then try folding poles. One of LEKI’s best sellers, folding poles are fast becoming the pole of choice.  Check out the Micro Vario Carbon [pictured: Micro Vario Carbon Lady], SRP:  £144.95; https://www.leki.com/uk/

 

 

For more info on outdoor courses at Plas y Brenin visit: http://www.pyb.co.uk

 


For more information Ardblair Sports



21 Mar, 2016
While I understand all the plus points raised in this article/advertisement I still return to my personal policy of not using poles. I have always suffered from a rather poor sense of balance which needs to be continually challenged so as not to deteriorate further, as I found happened when I have used poles for more than an hour or so.
21 Mar, 2016
Poles come into their own when walking with small children. They can be wedged to provide makeshift handrails over rocky bits, or to block off less safe parts of a track, used generally for herding, and, poking small children up the butt improves their pace on steep hills! :-P
21 Mar, 2016
Press release or advert for leki? Seems the latter! And a best seller that is £144? And it's for ladies, how so? Disappointed by this, especially the five reasons, was expecting to read the findings of a study on the benefits of using poles, not just opinions from a pole seller.
21 Mar, 2016
Poles can also be used for jousting with cows - although the umbrella is usually more readily available and looks less vicious to onlookers. More seriously; Whilst I rarely use poles now, I always take them on a multi-day remote walk - I see them as part of my first aid kit. I'm sure the debate whether to use the wrist loops will go on for decades; use them and get maximum support from the poles v trip over and break a wrist due to your hand being trapped.
21 Mar, 2016
I used to resist using poles for this reason but have changed my mind. I've always had fairly rubbish balance (apparently it's because I have excessively mobile joints in my lower body). I went through a long phase that started a few years ago where my already poor balance became even worse. It was mainly caused by a history of bad ankle sprains (see above), the natural deterioration of balance that happens with age and a problem with my inner ear that started with a bout of labyrnithitis and went on for a couple of years. When my balance was at it's worst during this period I was forced to use two walking poles because I could barely walk on even slightly rough ground without spontaneously toppling over, espcially with a heavy sack. At the time, I was given some black diamond poles that fold up very small, which were a total life saver. They fold up enough so that they can go inside a 15litre rucksack on long rock climbs, via ferrata etc. I started using poles because I had to, but have continued to use a single pole even for walking short distances to crags and am now less convinced that using a pole will make my balance worse. I was always worried that I'd become dependent on the poles, that my balance would get worse and I would then have even more problems in situations where I didn't have poles. A physio persauded me otherwise. She said that what would actually happen is that my brain would receive extra positional feedback from the contact between the pole and the ground, and that this extra feedback would actually help my balance and proprioception to improve. No idea how well supported by research that view is, and I can see how it might not fit with the principle that you have to challenge your balance to improve it, but I found her argument quite persausive.
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