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Back on all fours |
 It is 3 to 4 million years since Homo sapiens gradually evolved to become an upright biped rather than a quadrupedal ape-like creature.
This resulted in us being slower but with a bigger brain and thus more sophisticated in the tasks we could perform. We developed the ability to make tools and implements for hunting food and defending ourselves, but physical agility and the expenditure of a lot of energy was essential for survival up until quite recent times. However, now post-modern man in the technological world has become so smart (or maybe stupid) that survival is effortless and the need to expend energy to live comfortably has all but disappeared.
The consequences of this sedentary lifestyle with too much high energy dense food and the resulting obesity, medical complications and demands on our health service, are a concern. The ability to adapt to our new environment has not kept up with the pace of change and we now run the risk of having a health system that is overburdened with largely preventable lifestyle related diseases. To put energy consumption back into our lives is an enormous challenge.
Everything seems to be stacked against us achieving this. Having no time to exercise is probably the most common excuse, yet we should have more time because of the technological advances. Reality dictates the opposite. The whole global financial system is obesogenic and commercial forces reign supreme. Our motivation to be more physically active has been taken from us and putting it back is very hard.
So it’s back to basics. What we need is an activity that doesn’t seem too strenuous, is gentle on joints, uses as many of the muscles in the body as possible (preferably working out all four limbs), is time efficient (ie. gives a maximum workout in a limited time), and most of all is fun so that we want to keep doing it regularly and hopefully even become addicted to it. It also needs to be low tech, cheap, safe and yet accessible to just about everybody - even those with some disability.
 Well there is good news. Thanks to the Finns, one of the most physically active races in the world, a relatively new form of exercise has been developed based on the most aerobic of all activities, namely cross-country skiing. It fulfils all the above criteria. Ski poles have been adapted for brisk walking with or without snow (therefore great on the beach), but maintaining the cross-country skiing style.
Research at the US Cooper Institute in Dallas and elsewhere has shown that with Nordic walking poles one burns 20-40% more energy than walking at the same level of perceived activity without poles.
So what about the madness or funny look? Well we are dealing with a mad problem in a mad world and ‘left field’ solutions are needed. Try it and see (note workshop details below). 500,000 Finns, or 10% of their population, can’t be wrong and they have now stopped laughing about it - other countries are now taking it up equally enthusiastically.
Ed note: Andrew Binns is in an incentive scheme to sell the poles. For every 10 sold he gets a free pair, which he donates to the M+M+M project at Southern Cross University. The idea is that the poles are not sold in the shops, but are sold by accredited people who can provide training on how they are used, Dr Binns says.
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