Hello everyone and I hope that you have had a Happy Easter, although no doubt it was a little different from your usual Easter celebrations. Even though we were all unable to get together with relatives, I do hope that the Easter Bunny managed to visit; he certainly came to our household. If, like me, you over indulged on delicious chocolate eggs yesterday then today's lesson is the perfect way to assuage any guilt, as I have deisgned quite a challenging workout for you. Today we will focus on the Lean technique and I also ask you to consider adding in a cardio-vascular element to your Nordic Walk.
Remember that when we ask you to lean, you do so from your ankles, keeping the rest of your body lengthened out and feeling tall. Your chest should be over your toes so that you really do experience walking as 'falling forward' and let gravity do its magic. When you are leaning correctly, you should feel that your postural muscles are engaged and you will also notice that your pace picks up a little. This will automatically increase the cardio-vascular intensity of the workout.
In order to add more of a cardio-vascular challenge to your walk there are a few other ideas you could try. As you know, I am a big believer in the effectiveness of HIIT training, i.e. do short sharp bursts of some of the following exercises, in order to raise your heart rate for about 30 seconds to 2 minutes (depending on your fitness levels), then walk at a more relaxed pace for long enough for your heart rate returns to normal, before repeating. Try and aim for at least three short bursts of a raised heart rate.
Start by double poling. As you know, this is an effective way of raising your heart rate in quite a short amount of time.
Pick a landmark, such as tree or a bench, that is about 200 metres away and then walk at your fastest pace until you reach that point. Fast walking is extremely effective at building up fitness levels.
For a more intense HIIT session, add in a hill. Consider reducing the pace at which you walk normally, as slopes have a big impact on the intensity at which you are working out.
I hope that you enjoy challenging yourself today. Please do let us know how you get on.
DISCLAIMER
These workouts have been designed for clients of Nordic Walking East Anglia, who have all been taught the correct Nordic Walking technique by a qualified British Nordic Walking Instructor. They have also been shown how to perform these exercises in face to face lessons; this film is merely a prompt. Individuals participate in these exercises at their own risk and must ensure they have adequate and non-slip floor space in which to participate and agree that they have no health concerns that prevent them from taking part. These exercises are designed to be carried out outside, however, if individuals perform the warm-up and cool-down sessions indoors there is a danger of collision with or damage to furniture, light fittings, etc. as well as potential for injury