Exercise and obesity: Nordic walking gives faster results for weight loss than normal walking

Verona, Italy: A recent study published in the Clinical Interventions in Aging journal throws light on the effects of exercise and diet program in overweight people.

According to the study, nordic walking (NW) is a better exercise tool than walking to control obesity and overweight in middle-aged adults.

The results suggest that NW gives greater and faster benefits in some relevant health parameters. Thus, NW can be a primary tool to counteract obesity and overweight state in this group of people.

Nordic walking is recommended as a form of exercise for clinical population. Despite intervention programs designed to face a clinical status may last several months, no longitudinal studies have compared the effect of NW to another usual form of exercise, like walking. Valentina Muollo, University of Verona, Verona, Italy, and colleagues evaluated the effects of diet combined with a long-supervised NW versus W training on body composition, aerobic capacity and strength in overweight adults.

The study involved 38 participants who were randomized into a NW (n=19, 66±7 years, body mass index (BMI) 33±5) and a W (n=19, 66±8 years, BMI 32±5) group. They were then made to follow a diet and supervised training routine thrice in a week for 6 months.

The researchers then assessed variables anthropometric indexes (ie, BMI and waist circumference (WC)), body composition, aerobic capacity (oxygen consumption (VO_2peak), peak power output (PPO), 6-min walking test (6MWT)) and strength (maximal voluntary contraction of biceps brachialis (MVC_BB) and quadriceps femoris (MVC_QF), chair stand and arm curl (AC)) at the end of 3 and 6 months.

Also Read: Once a week 10 to 60 minutes of brisk walk reduces death risk from any cause

Key findings include:

• After 6 months both NW and W group decreased significantly BMI (6% and 4%, respectively) and WC (8% and 4%, respectively), but only the NW group reduced total body fat (8%), android fat (14%) and leg fat (9%).


• After 6 months, PPO increased in both groups, but VO_2peak improved only in the NW group (8%).


• After 6 months, 6MWT increased (P<0.001) in both groups and only the NW group improved in MVC_BB (14%), MVC_QF (17%) and AC (35%).

Also Read: New exercise guidelines: Even a 2-minute walk counts

The bottom line of the study is --> Nordic walking can serve as a primary tool to curb obesity and overweight state in middle-aged adults.

To read the complete study log on to https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S217570