8 Surprising Health Benefits of Using Walking Poles (Trekking Poles)

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsBenefitsPotential DownsidesWho Should Use ThemHow to Use Walking PolesExercise TechniquesWalking Poles vs. Trekking PolesWhat to Look For

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Benefits

Potential Downsides

Who Should Use Them

How to Use Walking Poles

Exercise Techniques

Walking Poles vs. Trekking Poles

What to Look For

When you use a single pole, it’s usually called a stick or staff. When you use two, they are usually known as trekking poles. The benefits can be significant, but there are a few possible drawbacks to be aware of.

1. Burns More Calories

Using poles can make walking for exercise more of a workout. Using theNordic walking technique, you can burn an estimated 18% to 22% more calories than a brisk walk without using poles.In Nordic walking, a pole is swung in opposition to the movement of each leg, pushing off behind the body.

Those extra calories can make a difference if you’re interested in weight loss. Say you burn 150 calories in an hour-long energetic walk without poles. With poles, you could hit about 180 calories, getting you more quickly to the 3,500-calorie deficityou need to lose a pound.

2. Boost Workout Without Feeling Added Exertion

When you use poles, you get more of a total body workout. You don’t have to walk faster to work your muscles harder and build strength and endurance.By some estimates, you’re engaging up to 80% or 90% of your muscles using poles, compared to about 50% without poles.

One study found that Nordic walking using poles provided more overall benefits than resistance training or conventional walking, improving upper body strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular performance.

3. Builds Upper Body and Core Strength

When you use poles, you use arm motion and push the pole against the ground with your arms and upper body. These actions help build strength in those muscles. Walking without poles involves mostly your legs and lower body, but the poles make you work your core and your legs.

Poles also require using the upper back, shoulders, abs, and pelvic muscles, which can help stabilize joints.

4. Improves Balance and Stability

Using a pole can help you avoid injury, especially if carrying a backpack or other gear that could throw your balance off. If you have mobility challenges, poles can increase your ability to enjoy your walk.

5. Supports Achy Joints and Reduces Strain

Walking with poles allows you to shift some of the load from your body to the poles. That takes the strain off your feet, legs, knees, hips, and back.

One older study found that you could experience up to 25% less force when you walk downhill when your feet strike the ground if you use poles, making exercise much easier on your knees and shins.

6. Improves Posture

Using poles affects your body’s biomechanics (the science of how you move), including posture. A study of Nordic walking showed improvements inpostural alignmentover eight weeks.Postural alignment is how the head, shoulders, spine, hips, knees, and ankles line up with each other.

Another study in which the participants used two walking sticks showed that posture can improve due to increased strength and confidence.Walking poles can help older individuals improve how they control their position and make themselves more stable and better-oriented in space.

7. Aids Heart Health

Walking with poles canraise your heart rateanywhere from 4% to 18% higher than walking without poles.A higher heart rate during exercise is desirable forcardiovascular exercise’s benefits.

Studies using Nordic walking poles found that people with heart disease significantly improved their performance onstress tests, no matter what kind of walking poles they used. They could also walk farther in six minutes after the six-week study ended.

8. Helps Prevent Injuries

Walking poles can stabilize you on uneven or rough terrain and prevent falls—think of yourself as a three- or even four-legged stool rather than two. For people with mobility challenges, poles can be an important aid in preventing injury. You can use them to catch yourself if you do stumble. Practice walking slowly at first so you understand how poles change your walk.

There are some potential negatives to using poles:

Who Should and Shouldn’t Use Walking Sticks

If you have shoulder pain or vision challenges that could prevent you from seeing hazards or don’t want to limit how you use your hands and arms while you walk,think twice about using walking sticks.

Walking sticks can benefit people who want to make their walks more energy-intensive and are interested in improving their fitness, losing weight, or building upper body and core strength. They can also help relieve joint pain, add stability, and improve balance and posture.

How you use walking poles depends in part on what kind of poles you have.

If you have trekking poles:

If you have a walking pole:

Walking Pole Exercise Techniques

When using walking poles to increase your walking workout, there are two popular techniques.

Exerstriding

Exerstrider is the brand name for a company that manufactures walking poles and has developed an approach to using them that they claim maximizes building upper body strength and endurance.

Exerstriding uses a natural stride and a technique that involves holding the arm bent 90 degrees at the elbow with your thumbs up (a handshake position) and pressing down on the poles to push you forward. Exerstriding can enhance upper body strength and endurance.

Nordic Walking

This popular walking pole technique mimics cross-country skiing.

You angle the poles slightly behind you, keeping your shoulders relaxed. When you step, move the opposite side’s pole ahead of you. So, if you step with your right foot, move the left pole forward. As you push off, your upper body moves through a full range of motion, building strength and loosening tight muscles.

A 12-week Nordic walking training routine was shown to improve shoulder mobility and reduce soreness in the major muscles of the upper back and neck, which supports good posture and head and neck mobility.

Walking poles and trekking poles have differences, though people may refer to them interchangeably:

Walking Poles

Walking poles often have smooth handles.An attached palm pad or glove allows you to push with the poles for an extra workout. Walking poles usually have rubber tips for walking on flat surfaces. The rubber tip can be removed to expose a narrower metal tip for use on rougher terrain.

Nordic walking poles are similar in design to ski poles. They can be of a single, non-adjustable length, but some are adjustable.

Trekking Poles

Trekking poles are usually adjustable in length for use on different types of terrain.For example, you might lengthen them on a downhill slope and shorten them on an uphill slope. Many also have a telescopic or folding design, so you can pack them more easily.

Trekking poles often have an ergonomically designed grip and simple straps to prevent dropping them. They may also have a “basket” that helps prevent the pole from sinking into soft ground. They typically have a metal tip but may also have a removable rubber tip. Some designs have shock absorbers, which ease the force on your joints.

Choosing the Right Walking Poles for You

When selecting walking poles, bear in mind:

How to Find the Best Walking Sticks for Older Adults

It can be worth talking to a physical therapist or other specialist who can advise you on a good pole for an older adult with specific mobility or other physical concerns.

Summary

Walking and trekking poles are ways to exercise while you walk. Using some techniques, you can increase your calorie burn and build upper and lower body strength and endurance. Walking poles are good for stability, balance, and your cardiovascular system, and they take strain off your joints while building muscle.

Make sure you choose the right pole and give yourself some practice time. Walking poles can make your walks safer and provide a good workout.

17 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Hawke AL, Jensen RL.Are trekking poles helping or hindering your hiking experience? A review.Wilderness Environ Med. 2020;31(4):482-488. doi:10.1016/j.wem.2020.06.009Tschentscher M, Niederseer D, Niebauer J.Health benefits of Nordic walking.American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2013;44(1):76-84. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2012.09.043Grainer A, Zerbini L, Reggiani C, et al.Physiological and perceptual responses to Nordic walking in a natural mountain environment.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017;14(10):1235. doi:10.3390/ijerph14101235Harvard Health Publishing.Fitness trend: Nordic walking.Takeshima N, Islam MM, Rogers ME, et al.Effects of Nordic walking compared to conventional walking and band-based resistance exercise on fitness in older adults.J Sports Sci Med. 2013;12(3):422-430.Saller M, Nagengast N, Frisch M, Fuss FK.A review of biomechanical and physiological effects of using poles in sports.Bioengineering (Basel). 2023;10(4):497. doi:10.3390/bioengineering10040497Schwameder H, Roithner R, Müller E, Niessen W, Raschner C.Knee joint forces during downhill walking with hiking poles.J Sports Sci. 1999;17(12):969-978. doi:10.1080/026404199365362Dalton C, Nantel J.Nordic walking improves postural alignment and leads to a more normal gait pattern following weeks of training: a pilot study.Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. 2016;24(4):575-582. doi:10.1123/japa.2015-0204Yamauchi K, Ichikawa T, Ogita A, et al.Biomechanism and exercise effect of fitness walking using twin walking sticks.Innov Aging.2021;5(Suppl 1):892-893. doi:10.1093/geroni/igab046.3244Kocur P, Wiernicka M, Wilski M, et al.Does Nordic walking improves the postural control and gait parameters of women between the age 65 and 74: a randomized trial.Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2015;27(12):3733-3737. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.3733Szpala A, Winiarski S, Kołodziej M, et al.Effects of Nordic walking training on gait and exercise tolerance in male ischemic heart disease patients.Sci Rep. 2024;14(1):11249. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-62109-9Friends of the Smokies.Improve your hiking safety with footwear and hiking poles.Minds at UW.The effects of twelve weeks of walking or exerstriding on upper body muscular strength and endurance.Grainer A, Zerbini L, Reggiani C, et al.Physiological and perceptual responses to Nordic walking in a natural mountain environment.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017;14(10):1235. doi:10.3390/ijerph14101235Keenfit.Hiking poles vs walking poles.REI.How to choose trekking poles and hiking staffs.Pole Walking Australia.Walking poles for seniors: how to choose the right ones.

17 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Hawke AL, Jensen RL.Are trekking poles helping or hindering your hiking experience? A review.Wilderness Environ Med. 2020;31(4):482-488. doi:10.1016/j.wem.2020.06.009Tschentscher M, Niederseer D, Niebauer J.Health benefits of Nordic walking.American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2013;44(1):76-84. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2012.09.043Grainer A, Zerbini L, Reggiani C, et al.Physiological and perceptual responses to Nordic walking in a natural mountain environment.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017;14(10):1235. doi:10.3390/ijerph14101235Harvard Health Publishing.Fitness trend: Nordic walking.Takeshima N, Islam MM, Rogers ME, et al.Effects of Nordic walking compared to conventional walking and band-based resistance exercise on fitness in older adults.J Sports Sci Med. 2013;12(3):422-430.Saller M, Nagengast N, Frisch M, Fuss FK.A review of biomechanical and physiological effects of using poles in sports.Bioengineering (Basel). 2023;10(4):497. doi:10.3390/bioengineering10040497Schwameder H, Roithner R, Müller E, Niessen W, Raschner C.Knee joint forces during downhill walking with hiking poles.J Sports Sci. 1999;17(12):969-978. doi:10.1080/026404199365362Dalton C, Nantel J.Nordic walking improves postural alignment and leads to a more normal gait pattern following weeks of training: a pilot study.Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. 2016;24(4):575-582. doi:10.1123/japa.2015-0204Yamauchi K, Ichikawa T, Ogita A, et al.Biomechanism and exercise effect of fitness walking using twin walking sticks.Innov Aging.2021;5(Suppl 1):892-893. doi:10.1093/geroni/igab046.3244Kocur P, Wiernicka M, Wilski M, et al.Does Nordic walking improves the postural control and gait parameters of women between the age 65 and 74: a randomized trial.Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2015;27(12):3733-3737. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.3733Szpala A, Winiarski S, Kołodziej M, et al.Effects of Nordic walking training on gait and exercise tolerance in male ischemic heart disease patients.Sci Rep. 2024;14(1):11249. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-62109-9Friends of the Smokies.Improve your hiking safety with footwear and hiking poles.Minds at UW.The effects of twelve weeks of walking or exerstriding on upper body muscular strength and endurance.Grainer A, Zerbini L, Reggiani C, et al.Physiological and perceptual responses to Nordic walking in a natural mountain environment.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017;14(10):1235. doi:10.3390/ijerph14101235Keenfit.Hiking poles vs walking poles.REI.How to choose trekking poles and hiking staffs.Pole Walking Australia.Walking poles for seniors: how to choose the right ones.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Hawke AL, Jensen RL.Are trekking poles helping or hindering your hiking experience? A review.Wilderness Environ Med. 2020;31(4):482-488. doi:10.1016/j.wem.2020.06.009Tschentscher M, Niederseer D, Niebauer J.Health benefits of Nordic walking.American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2013;44(1):76-84. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2012.09.043Grainer A, Zerbini L, Reggiani C, et al.Physiological and perceptual responses to Nordic walking in a natural mountain environment.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017;14(10):1235. doi:10.3390/ijerph14101235Harvard Health Publishing.Fitness trend: Nordic walking.Takeshima N, Islam MM, Rogers ME, et al.Effects of Nordic walking compared to conventional walking and band-based resistance exercise on fitness in older adults.J Sports Sci Med. 2013;12(3):422-430.Saller M, Nagengast N, Frisch M, Fuss FK.A review of biomechanical and physiological effects of using poles in sports.Bioengineering (Basel). 2023;10(4):497. doi:10.3390/bioengineering10040497Schwameder H, Roithner R, Müller E, Niessen W, Raschner C.Knee joint forces during downhill walking with hiking poles.J Sports Sci. 1999;17(12):969-978. doi:10.1080/026404199365362Dalton C, Nantel J.Nordic walking improves postural alignment and leads to a more normal gait pattern following weeks of training: a pilot study.Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. 2016;24(4):575-582. doi:10.1123/japa.2015-0204Yamauchi K, Ichikawa T, Ogita A, et al.Biomechanism and exercise effect of fitness walking using twin walking sticks.Innov Aging.2021;5(Suppl 1):892-893. doi:10.1093/geroni/igab046.3244Kocur P, Wiernicka M, Wilski M, et al.Does Nordic walking improves the postural control and gait parameters of women between the age 65 and 74: a randomized trial.Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2015;27(12):3733-3737. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.3733Szpala A, Winiarski S, Kołodziej M, et al.Effects of Nordic walking training on gait and exercise tolerance in male ischemic heart disease patients.Sci Rep. 2024;14(1):11249. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-62109-9Friends of the Smokies.Improve your hiking safety with footwear and hiking poles.Minds at UW.The effects of twelve weeks of walking or exerstriding on upper body muscular strength and endurance.Grainer A, Zerbini L, Reggiani C, et al.Physiological and perceptual responses to Nordic walking in a natural mountain environment.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017;14(10):1235. doi:10.3390/ijerph14101235Keenfit.Hiking poles vs walking poles.REI.How to choose trekking poles and hiking staffs.Pole Walking Australia.Walking poles for seniors: how to choose the right ones.

Hawke AL, Jensen RL.Are trekking poles helping or hindering your hiking experience? A review.Wilderness Environ Med. 2020;31(4):482-488. doi:10.1016/j.wem.2020.06.009

Tschentscher M, Niederseer D, Niebauer J.Health benefits of Nordic walking.American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2013;44(1):76-84. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2012.09.043

Grainer A, Zerbini L, Reggiani C, et al.Physiological and perceptual responses to Nordic walking in a natural mountain environment.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017;14(10):1235. doi:10.3390/ijerph14101235

Harvard Health Publishing.Fitness trend: Nordic walking.

Takeshima N, Islam MM, Rogers ME, et al.Effects of Nordic walking compared to conventional walking and band-based resistance exercise on fitness in older adults.J Sports Sci Med. 2013;12(3):422-430.

Saller M, Nagengast N, Frisch M, Fuss FK.A review of biomechanical and physiological effects of using poles in sports.Bioengineering (Basel). 2023;10(4):497. doi:10.3390/bioengineering10040497

Schwameder H, Roithner R, Müller E, Niessen W, Raschner C.Knee joint forces during downhill walking with hiking poles.J Sports Sci. 1999;17(12):969-978. doi:10.1080/026404199365362

Dalton C, Nantel J.Nordic walking improves postural alignment and leads to a more normal gait pattern following weeks of training: a pilot study.Journal of Aging and Physical Activity. 2016;24(4):575-582. doi:10.1123/japa.2015-0204

Yamauchi K, Ichikawa T, Ogita A, et al.Biomechanism and exercise effect of fitness walking using twin walking sticks.Innov Aging.2021;5(Suppl 1):892-893. doi:10.1093/geroni/igab046.3244

Kocur P, Wiernicka M, Wilski M, et al.Does Nordic walking improves the postural control and gait parameters of women between the age 65 and 74: a randomized trial.Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 2015;27(12):3733-3737. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.3733

Szpala A, Winiarski S, Kołodziej M, et al.Effects of Nordic walking training on gait and exercise tolerance in male ischemic heart disease patients.Sci Rep. 2024;14(1):11249. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-62109-9

Friends of the Smokies.Improve your hiking safety with footwear and hiking poles.

Minds at UW.The effects of twelve weeks of walking or exerstriding on upper body muscular strength and endurance.

Keenfit.Hiking poles vs walking poles.

REI.How to choose trekking poles and hiking staffs.

Pole Walking Australia.Walking poles for seniors: how to choose the right ones.

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