2010 News
- News Archive
St Mary’s Researchers Investigate Nordic Walking
Researchers from St Mary’s University College, Twickenham will be investigating the health benefits of an eight week Nordic Walking programme which will be implemented over the summer of 2010.
Volunteers made up of St Mary’s staff, students and members of the local community will be taking part in the programme, consisting of three 45 minute sessions per week. The research team composed of Dr Natasha Mistry, Dr Bernadette Woods, Dr Ann-Marie Knowles, Hilary Davies, Rik Mellor and Jess Hill from St Mary’s and Dr Glyn Howatson from Northumbria University will be investigating how this programme impacts on the participants’ mood, self esteem, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, aerobic fitness, dietary intake and body composition.
Jess Hill, a Human Sciences lecturer from St Mary’s, said: "Nordic walking is an activity that is becoming increasingly more popular. It is a well known concept that walking offers many health benefits. However there have been claims that Nordic walking is much more effective in enhancing the benefits of exercise.
"Many of the participants involved have expressed interest in continuing the walking group after the project ends. This is very positive news for us as we continuously strive to encourage healthy living, and regular exercise forms a huge part of this."
The aim of the programme is to fully assess whether Nordic walking promotes any enhanced benefits compared to a standard walking programme. In the past Nordic walking has been found to contribute to increased heart rate, oxygen uptake and caloric expenditure.
