The Best Walking Poles For Beginners

The BEST Nordic Walking Poles For Beginners and Athletes

I read a blog post the other day about “the best Nordic Walking Poles for beginners” and as usual the article was written in support of a specific manufacturer and void of the true facts about the best poles for walking, hiking, trekking, Nordic Walking, skiing (downhill and cross country), roller blading, roller skiing, snowshoeing, ski walking and hill bounding with poles.

The best poles for “Nordic Sports” will always be one-piece poles that are sized correctly to each individual’s height and sport specific – downhill ski poles are shorter than cross country ski poles and classic poles for xc are shorter than skate cross country poles. Quality one piece poles always prove to be safer, lighter and stronger than cheap/flimsy 2-piece and 3-piece twist-lock and flip-lock collapsible poles.

So, what poles are best for Nordic Sports? Skiers, roller bladers and roller skiers exclusively use one-piece poles because cheap/flimsy collapsible poles can’t hold up and are not dependable. You’ll never see collapsible poles in any ski rental shop. You’ll never find collapsible poles in any xc or dh ski package. You will find free collapsible poles included with snowshoes as a package and you will often find those cheap/flimsy poles from China broken at trail heads and/or in the dumpster.

The best poles for beginners will always be one-piece poles that are sized correctly. At SKIWALKING.COM and the American Nordic Walking System we always suggest one-piece poles and we carry 16 different lengths in order to provide a Perfect Length Guarantee. And that is why all of the rating services rank us at 100% Positive in customer satisfaction.

Perfect length poles help us to automatically walk with a super straight back – better walking posture is biomechanically a good thing. This improved walking posture when combined with the unique 4-Wheel-Drive type action of walking with poles radically reduces the stress to the shins, knees, hips and back. Nordic Walking is low impact and yet provides a highly effective workout – burning more calories and working more muscle groups than regular walking.

At SKIWALKING.COM and the American Nordic Walking System we are the exclusive source in North America for quality one piece poles from SWIX of Norway and EXEL of Finland. SWIX makes the world’s fastest ski wax and most successful ski racing poles on the world cup and in the Olympics. EXEL was the company that introduced carbon fiber technology to the ski pole industry and then introduced the world to Nordic Walking. These quality one-piece poles are all equipped with real Nordic Walking Straps – no heavy strapless grips or simple loop straps or cheap velcro slings, but quality fingerless glove type straps that prove ideal for causal walking, extreme hiking and trekking. The same patented straps found on the best cross country ski racing poles – and proven comfortable and effective (eliminating the need to grip, squeeze or white-knuckle the grips).

Walking poles don’t have to be expensive. The SWIX VIP’s are only $69.95 per pair and come with a free Nordic Walking DVD. They come in 16 different lengths and will always out perform collapsible poles cost up to 3 times as much. The SWIX poles prove to be silent and user-friendly. Typically collapsible poles rattle, vibrate, make clanking noises, gradually collapse or totally collapse unexpectedly.

Ask any ski coach and they will tell you one-piece poles are the logical way to go despite all the marketing hype about the benefits of cheap/flimsy collapsible poles from China.