Adieu Winter 2014-15: Shifting To The Non-Snow Season
SeniorsSkiing.com Will Be Publishing This Summer.
One of our best ski tours of the season came at the beginning of April at Walden Pond. We go there occasionally throughout the year to reflect on the messages of Henry Thoreau and to take a picture or two of the “pleasant hillside” where he built his tiny cabin. When we skied in, the trails along the ridges surrounding the pond were chopped up and icy, so we scooted around the snow-covered ice on the edges, thinking that Henry probably walked this way when the snow at Walden got too thick. It’s a short ski, maybe three miles around, but it was a beautiful spring day, we were pretty much the only ones there, and the spirits were a-rising, so to speak. There’s more to be told about skiing at Walden, and we will have to save that for next season.
Early spring ski tour on a quiet day around Walden Pond. Priceless.
Credit: Mike Maginn
Based on the responses from Subscriber Survey 2015, we learned that you, our readers, are interested in fitness and product ideas for seniors. As we move through the summer months, we and our correspondents will be offering both of those topics—as well as whatever pops up—in the spirit of keeping in touch with you, our active and engaged readers. Please note that we will be starting our online Forum very shortly—another major recommendation from the survey—so you can more readily talk back to us and your fellow snow sport enthusiasts.
Two requests: Tell your friends about SeniorsSkiing.com. And please watch for our Forum, coming soon.
Let the non-snow season at SeniorsSkiing.com begin!
Try Nordic Walking: Many Benefits By Adding Poles To Hike
Poling While Hiking Is An Exercise Multiplier
Roger Lohr is co-founder and editor of XCSkiResorts.com and a noted writer on all the varieties of Nordic skiing.
Walking a la Nordic raises efficiency of exercise by 40 percent.
Credit: Leki
More than 10 million Europeans of all ages and fitness levels are Nordic Walking (also known as Ski Walking) with special Nordic Walking Poles. This new fitness activity turbo-charges the normal walking regimen burning as much as 40 percent more calories compared to regular walking.
For those who are unfamiliar, Nordic walking is a fitness activity that combines walking with specially designed poles to engage the upper body muscles.
Nordic Walking poles help individuals with balance issues, knee issues or new knees, hip issues or new hips, back issues (including those with rods in their back), weight issues, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s Disease, neuropathy, arthritis, bursitis, scoliosis, lumbar stenosis, fibromyalgia, post polio, osteoporosis, stroke recovery, cancer recovery, and other limitations to walking. Nordic Walking is helping thousands of people get off the couch, get outside, start walking safely, and effectively launching much needed walking campaigns.
The Human Kinetics book entitled Nordic Walking for Total Fitness by Suzanne Nottingham and Alexandra Jurasin covers the topic. Trekking (hiking with poles) and Nordic walking are two different activities that use very different poles and techniques. It may sound silly, but perhaps “walking is not just walking.” The pole angle, weight, grip, and straps are different between the aforementioned modes of walking. The Nordic walking pole is designed to allow your hands to relax in order to target the larger wrapping muscles of the back. But using poles of any kind automatically stimulates your spine and all of the muscles around it, even with inefficient technique. When walking, the key postural muscles of the core and upper body are engaged.
The book also includes fitness assessments, sample workouts for varying levels of interests from first timer to cross training triathletes. There are also suggestions about customizing your program. Training program recommendations are offered for building distance, fluctuating daily intensity, and rest days.
I’ve been a Nordic Walker for a few years and found many of the claimed attributes in the book regarding posture and exercise to be true. I’ve always been in search of a way to decrease the amount of time spent exercising, so I was sold when I heard that using the poles increases caloric burning by 40 percent. Being a cross-country skier, it is easy to quickly master Nordic walking. After a summer of Nordic walking, I noticed a marked improvement in my cross-country ski poling in terms of strength and timing. It seemed that I increased the amount of forward momentum that was attributable to poling and I was able to pole stronger and longer when skiing.
Nordic Walking for Total Fitness provides a foundation for anyone, ranging from those just looking for an activity to lose weight to health aficionados interested in taking it to higher levels of fitness.
A Worry In The Woods: Tick-Borne Powassan Virus
Shifting From Snow To Summer Activities? Beware Of This New Menace.
We’re starting to hike or bike in the woods between the receding snowbanks here in New England. We’ve just learned that you better make sure you review your tick-avoidance-and-protection practices. Powassan virus is yet another tick-borne disease that, according to this new report from CBS, can be lethal. So, this is very serious stuff to pay attention to. Don’t get complacent: check this site for more information on ticks and tick checks before you head to the woods.
Click for CBS News story on Powassan virus in Connecticut.
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