Group makes great strides with Nordic walking (From The Oxford Times)

Group makes great strides with Nordic walking

12:00pm Thursday 9th September 2010 in

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A HEART attack may have stopped Dave Fordham in his tracks, but it also led to him discovering a way of walking that has got him striding back to health.

Mr Fordham, 66, collapsed at his wife Veronica’s feet at their home in Stadhampton in February.

Luckily for him, community responder Ali Smith was sent to his home and used a defibrillator to keep him alive until paramedics arrived.

Mr Fordham, a retired salesman in the defence and electronics industry and a regular gym-goer, made a full recovery and shortly afterwards saw an advert for a new course in Nordic walking.

He said: “I knew little more than it was walking with poles.

“Then I read more, checked it was okay to do it and signed up.”

Eight weeks ago, Mr Fordham joined Ellen Bassani, who is blind, Helen Warner, who has Parkinson’s disease, and five others, in the first Nordic walking course run by Cherwell District Council.

Invented in the 1930s, competitive cross-country skiers in Finland started to walk using poles for their off-season training when there was no snow, and soon realised the technique was a perfect training aid. They found it kept their heart and lungs in top condition and ensured upper and lower body muscles remained in top shape.

Nordic Walking uses 90 per cent of muscles as opposed to 55 per cent in regular walking – burning 46 per cent more calories.

Mr Fordham said: “I started to feel the balance and speed it gave me immediately. It really is very easy, but the poles actually double the speed I’m walking at, giving tremendous benefits.”

Ellen Bassani has been almost completely blind since she was a child and says Nordic walking transformed her life.

“I’ve never let my blindness stop me doing things, such as cycling across Costa Rica and even climbing the mast of a tall ship, but it hindered me when I tried to exercise,” said the mum-of-two, from Oxford. “When I heard about Nordic walking my first thought was it would be difficult to walk fast without my guide dog and stay safe.

“But it has been so easy and quite life-changing.

“I started the course with high blood pressure and that had dropped dramatically within six weeks. I’ve also lost a pound in weight a week since I started. But more than that it has given me such a sense of freedom, of really striding out.

“The feeling of walking at pace is exhilarating. Nordic walking has changed everything for me.”

Mrs Bassani walks behind a friend who wears a white t-shirt, the shade of which she can just about see.

Helen Warner, from Oxford, was diagnosed with the degenerative brain condition Parkinson’s disease 12 years ago and has also had both of her hips replaced in the last year.

She said: “Nordic walking has really helped me because I’ve been able to use the poles to improve my balance and co-ordination, and my movement, following the operations.”

Part of the GO Active scheme, a £1m Oxfordshire Sports Partnership campaign to improve the county’s health, the Nordic walking group stride around Shotover Park for an hour on Tuesday mornings, with instructor Jemima Holroyd Pearce, 27.

Ms Holroyd Pearce said: “I lead the group on a voluntary basis for Age UK and have really enjoyed teaching them the techniques, as well as sharing some lovely, sociable, walking sessions across a beautiful area”

Six more, free, Nordic Walking courses are now being set up.

Ms Holroyd Pearce said: “At the moment we are attracting people though adverts, but we hope to do some taster sessions with GPs, so they can refer patients who might benefit from the courses to us.”