Nordic walking versus walking without poles for rehabilitation with cardiovascular disease: Randomized controlled trial
29 Mar 2025
With Nordic walking, or walking with poles, one can travel a greater distance and at a higher rate than with walking without poles, but whether the activity is beneficial for patients with
cardiovascular disease is unknown.
This randomized controlled trial was undertaken to determine whether Nordic walking was more effective than walking without poles on walk distance to support rehabilitation training for
patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD).
Patients were recruited in a private specialized rehabilitation centre for cardiovascular diseases. The entire protocol, including patient recruitment, took place over 2 months, from September
to October 2013. We divided patients into 2 groups: Nordic Walking Group (NWG, n = 21) and Walking Group without poles (WG, n = 21). All patients followed the same program over 4 weeks, except for the walk performed with or without poles. The main outcome was walk distance on the 6-min walk test. Secondary outcomes were maximum heart rate during exercise and walk distance and power output on a treadmill stress test.
After a 4-week training period, Nordic walking training appeared more efficient than training without poles for increasing walk distance on the 6-min walk test for patients with ACS and PAOD.
cardiovascular disease is unknown.
This randomized controlled trial was undertaken to determine whether Nordic walking was more effective than walking without poles on walk distance to support rehabilitation training for
patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD).
Patients were recruited in a private specialized rehabilitation centre for cardiovascular diseases. The entire protocol, including patient recruitment, took place over 2 months, from September
to October 2013. We divided patients into 2 groups: Nordic Walking Group (NWG, n = 21) and Walking Group without poles (WG, n = 21). All patients followed the same program over 4 weeks, except for the walk performed with or without poles. The main outcome was walk distance on the 6-min walk test. Secondary outcomes were maximum heart rate during exercise and walk distance and power output on a treadmill stress test.
After a 4-week training period, Nordic walking training appeared more efficient than training without poles for increasing walk distance on the 6-min walk test for patients with ACS and PAOD.
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