Choosing Nordic Walking Poles - Nordic Walk Pole length

There are many things to consider when choosing your Nordic Walking poles.

In the bag

The 2011 collection of Exel Poles are now available for pre-order and we want to assist all our Nordic Walkers to make sure the choose the right poles for right reasons.
Pole Length

To determine the right pole length.

1. Calculate 0.68 x height in cm and round down to nearest pole size.

2. Standing on a flat surface, hold pole vertical with elbow pushed next to side of body
( upper arm vertical, lower arm at right angles to the upper arm)

Height of Person
Ft In cms          Pole Length
5 0   152            105
5 1   155            105
5 2   157            105
5 3   160            110
5 4    163           110
5 5    165           110
5 6    168           115
5 7    170           115
5 8    173           115
5 9    175           120
5 10  178           120
5 11  180           120
6 0    183           125

Factors affecting pole length
There are various factors that might affect pole length. Some examples that might affect the biomechanics are
hip impairments, body geometry e.g. Leg length shorter than normal. In each of these cases as shorter
pole is recommended.

To determine the right length for you, we suggest you try the nearest size in your class to help you decide
which is most comfortable.

Ideally your choice has to be the right one for you. A lot of walking on hard surfaces, high mileage and/or
painful joints we recommend a pole with a higher proportion of carbon fibre.

Walking on soft surfaces and normal joint action. All poles are suitable.
In the future you may have a range of poles suited to different activities or terrains.

The best all round pole is the : ALIS trainer poles we supply for you to use in class but equally all poles are high in
quality and durability.

You may find other pole other places which may be totally unsuitable for what you want to do.  e.g. Trekking poles are totally unsuitable for Nordic Walking.  We do not recommend attempting to Nordic Walk with a trekking pole it is not designed for this activity.   These  alternatives will also differ vastly in quality and durability. For example they may not be heat treated and this may result in the pole shattering or you may find theydo not have good quality paws for walking on hard surfaces or replacement parts when parts wear out. One of my previous clients bought a pair of poles and immediately went through the ends of the paws rendering them next to useless on hard surfaces. Also he was unable to obtain replacement parts. Another client bought a pair of poles and they had no rubber paws available. So again a false economy.

We want you to make the choice that is right for you, should you have any questions or need further advice
on selecting the right pole for you please contact us as soon as you can. We will send your a price list and brochure for information and answer any questions you may have.  Happy Nordic Walking, snow has been predicted which will enable us to go Nordic Ski Walking.  Hooray!

Peterborough Nordic Walkers!

Calling Peterborough Nordic Walkers






We have some fantastic Nordic Walks for you all this week. Hope you will have the time and wish to come along for some wonderful Nordic walking this week.


Nordic Walk 1 - Nordic Walk for Active Workplaces on TUESDAY 24th August. Usually we meet at the Peterborough and Stamford District Hospital Thorpe Road and this week we will be starting Thorpe Meadows, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire click here for > Details


Gables listed building - Peterborough

Meet at the Thorpe Meadows, map/grid ref: 142: TL 174 985 at 17:20 for a 17:30 start. Park in the FREE Thorpe Meadows car park opposite the Ramada Hotel. We will walk on the Meadows or the Boardwalk and back.


Full details are posted here MEETUP Please come along and join us for a great walk on Tuesday, starting at 9:30am. It will be about 2 - 3 miles.


Nordic Walk 2 We will also meet on WEDNESDAY 25th August starting from the Royal Hoskoning, Rightwell House, Bretton, Peterborough.


Meet at Rightwell House, Bretton, Cambs, at Royal Hoskoning (Rightwell House). A great walk, the walk through Highlees Spinney and Bretton Park will be approx 2-3 miles.

Full details are posted here MEETUP. Please come along and join us for a great walk on Wednesday.


Nordic Walk 3 We meet every THURSDAY evening walk from Werrington Sports Centre, Thursday 26th August although this week we will meet up at Bretton Centre.



Bretton Centre, Car Park, Rightwell, Bretton, Peterborough. If you wish to come along then we shall meet at the FREE Bretton centre car park, near the phone store.


Full details are posted here details click here> MEETUP. Please come along and join us for a great fitness and weightloss Nordic walk on THURSDAY evening, starting at 6.30pm. It will be about 4½ - 5 miles.


Nordic Walk 4 Meet us on FRIDAY morning for our well-being and weightloss Nordic Walk full details click here> : MEETUP

We meet up every Friday at Bretton Park for our regular Nordic Walk and this week we will meet up at Werrington Sports Centre.

FREE car parking is available at the Werrington Sports Centre, Staniland Way, Werrington Peterborough. Do join us for this Nordic Walk, it will be approximately 3 - 3.5 miles.

Nordic Walk 5 is part of our newest Learn to Nordic Walk group and we will meet up at Thorpe Meadows for our fifth class. We'll meet up at the Thorpe Meadows, map/grid ref: 142: TL 174 985 at 17:20 for a 17:30 start. Park in the FREE Thorpe Meadows car park opposite the Ramada Hotel.

We will be working on techniques to equip you with skills to enable you to join our regular Nordic Walks for health, fitness and weightloss.

Learn to Nordic Walk details of click here> MEETUP .

When: FRIDAY, August 27, 2010

Time : 6:15 PM

Where: Thorpe Meadows ,Peterborough, United Kingdom

Arrive at 6:00 pm to sort out equipment (poles) ready to start at 6:15 pm.

We look forward to meeting you this week for one of our amazing Nordic Walks in Peterborough, we hope that you can make the time this week for your Nordic Walking experience. Should you have friend who would like to learn to Nordic Walk then do ask them to get in touch soon about the next Active Edge Solutions Learn to Nordic Walk course.

Nordic Walking Meet ups

This widget is great it shows all the local meetups, locally, nationally and globally. Take a look at all the Nordic Walking Meetups that are going in the next week or so in Peterborough, I do hope you will join us soon for another fantastic Nordic Walking Meetup. For more information about Nordic Walking Improvers or Learning to Nordic walk do get in touch. Visit: Active Edge Solutions Look forward to seeing you soon warmest regards, Sue Burnett, Personal Trainer, British Nordic Walking Instructor (INWA).

Nordic Walking Week

by Active Edge Solutions




Monday - First Nordic Walk of the week and introduction to Nordic Walking for Peterborough Women's centre. A nice gentle introduction to Nordic Walking. For some reason it was promoted on the website as a cardio workout, which it is but perhaps not quite in the style of an Aerobic workout. The way that Nordic Walking differs to this type of workout is that it is lower in impact and big in results you get the cardiovascular system working effectively but it doesn't feel like hard work and you are not dripping buckets at the end.

Tuesday - Took us to the Peterborough and Stamford District Hospital on Thorpe Road for the Active Work Places program for Nordic and Fitness Walking, week 8 of their 12 week program. Our route took us along Thorpe Road, down to the rowing lake, we saw rabbits galore as we praticed throwing our poles to improve our techniques. Next week the vote was to start the walk at the meadows. Ladies and gents do join us again next week for another fun Nordic and Fitness walk.

Wednesday - Our second Living Sport - Active Work Places fitness session this week took us to Bretton, this time Royal Hoskoning our aim at week 8 was to complete a continuous loop of Bretton Park without stopping. We Nordic Walked we talked and took a totally terrific trip to complete the circuit of Bretton park. The invitation was extended to the YMCA to join in for a Fitness walk. Check out FUN FITNESS FRIDAY for the YMCA
The day progresses to another Nordic Walk at the meadows this time with the U3A, with the passing of the poles and a new route perhaps a slightly extended route the small U3A posse of Nordic Walkers were enjoying their new found Nordic Walking skills. Lots of fun was had by all

Thursday - Nordic Walk Improvers at Werrington, was yet again another totally terrific adventure, we took an intrepid trip, through Cuckoo's hollow and along a grassy banked dyke for a 3.74 mile Nordic walk. Thrush, blackberries and a heron were some of the delights we saw on our intrepid tour. Janet was amazed to know of this new route and totally surprise at my knowledge of the local countryside, she never ceased to be amazed by Nordic Walking and our intrepid adventures. Next week we are going for it - 4 mile challenge here we come!




Friday - - Nordic improvers at Bretton Park. Our Nordic walk was a great circuit that took us on a reverse trip through the park to the east, heading along the network of cycle paths that link up our city in abundance. We took a brisk Nordic Walk along the route, through a treelined section, under a pass to complete our loop back to the park. According to Linda we took over 6000 steps during our walk. Linda who was our pedometer monitor and took it all in a her stride! Our fitness was also measured in terms of how far we could now go before energy levels started to feel a little low, the general concensus was much further and everyone was happy and finished on a high note. A BIG WELL DONE everyone!

Saturday - Private Nordic Walking introduction for a young lady who was looking to do something new, and came across Nordic Walking just by chance. The day started at 08:30 am, a nice breeze off the water by the lakeside, some sunshine warmed our skin and the opportunity to show my new T-SHIRT - With this session under her belt she will join our Learn to Nordic Walk group on Friday to continue her Nordic Walking Journey - This was topped by a Nordic Walk to have a picnic in the meadows by the sailing lake. A nice mixture turned up, a couple from the U3A complete with off-spring, children, grand-children and cousins - Phillipa, Margaret, Roy, Conny, Colin started our Nordic/Fitness walk, as we set of the rains came down and we had to cut our walk short so we didn't get too wet. A good time was had by all, next time it will be fine. Join us soon to start your Nordic Walking Journey. Contact: Active Edge Solutions to find out where you begin.

Map your Nordic ski Walk route in Peterborough- route630475: Nordic Walk Route for RH

Map your cross-country ski in UK - route630475: Nordic Walk Route for designed for an Active Workplaces Project Royal Hoskoning



During the past six weeks, Wednesday lunchtimes,Sue Burnett, British Nordic Walk, Instructor (INWA) has been teaching levels 0-6 Nordic Walking techniques, for Royal Hoskoning and is confident the ladies will be able to Nordic Walk this route at next week's session with confidence, improve and vary it over the next 6 weeks of their Active Workplaces program. It's a delight and great pleasure for Sue to meet the ladies who like to Nordic Walk at lunch, we haven't quite convinced the guys yet there seems to be stigma and resistance for guys to get out Nordic Walking. The lure of volleyball, the gym and running serve too great a distraction for some...

Let's hear it from the boys!

After Mark learnt how to Nordic Walk (aka Nordic ski-walk) at a previous Active Workplaces program, he was very keen to continue his Nordic Walking journey to better health, fitness and eventually sports. He's been attending Active Edge Solutions improver group every week since the end of his Active Workplaces program earlier this year. Mark said " it's given me a new purpose to my fitness becuase of a previous injury I can no longer run, this is perfect and really fills by fitness gap"

The Active Edge Solutions, Thursday and Friday improver groups are attracting the guys and some weeks the guys out number the girls. Once you get into it you will improve your fitness, increase your intensity and work out effectively and soon you will realise it's not a lightweight workout! So boys what are you waiting for? Christmas? When the snow is on the ground? Time to throw off your shackles and rise to the Nordic Walking challenge.

Here's why?

When Sue's been out and about with her Nordic Walking poles she's often asked by GUYS about what she is doing. She simply replies " Nordic Walking " and they become interested because she explains "it's like Cross-Country Skiing and it's only a matter of time before the guys start to take it a bit more seriously and learn how to Nordic Walk for sports.

After all Cross-country skiing - aka Biathlon, is a fantastic work out of the highest calibre. Biathletes and cross-country skiers are renowned for high levels of total body fitness of mind and body. It's great for those looking to achieve the same intensity as running and without the high levels of impact on the joints and bones. "

"It's also ideal for those, who need to loose weight for health benefits, to increase aerobic capacity, increase calorie expenditure, reduce stress on joints, improve motivation to increase physical activity, have orthopedic problems, athletes recovering from injury and atheletes seeking to cross-train to improve their chosen mainstream activity. There is really something in learning Nordic (SKI) walking for everyone! "