Authors: Thorsten Schiffer Axel Knicker Melissa Montanarella Heiko K Strüder
Publish Date: 2010/11/28
Volume: 111, Issue: 6, Pages: 1121-1126
Abstract
The study investigated the effect of varying pole weights on energy expenditure upper limb muscle activation and on forces transmitted to the poles during Nordic walking NW Twelve women age = 21 2 years body mass = 608 6 kg height = 171 006 m participated in five 7min walking tests randomly chosen without poles W with normal NW poles NW or with added masses of 05 kg NW + 05 10 kg NW + 10 or 15 kg NW + 15 at a speed of 2 m s−1 Heart rate HR relative oxygen uptake hboxrdotVtextO 2 blood lactate La and rate of perceived exertion RPE were registered along with surface EMG SEMG from biceps brachii triceps brachii trapecius and deltoideus muscles Inbuilt force transducers measured reaction forces along the long axes of the poles NW + 05 and NW + 15 showed significant increases for hboxrdotVtextO 2 and RPE compared with W p 005 but with no respective differences within NW SEMG revealed higher activation of biceps brachii for all NW tests plus added masses compared to W p 005 Additionally the activation of biceps brachii was higher for NW + 15 compared to NW p 005 The contribution to overall activation duration of triceps brachii became lower but increased for biceps brachii with heavier poles The increased energy expenditure during NW can be attributed to intensified muscle activation during forward swing of the poles Heavier poles have no effect on energy expenditure compared to NW with usual poles but enhance muscular activity Since there are no benefits concerning physiological and biomechanical parameters we do not recommend the use of heavier NW poles
Keywords: