Step forward (with poles) to better health!

Polewalking is a GREAT way to improve your fitness level – it not only affects your cardiovascular health,

it can also improve your upper extremity and core strength.

Katharine Myers of Physio to Go has been offering polewalking groups for the past 5 years and the

present session runs until the end of June. You can join up at any time – just call her at 613-401- 3231. A

new session will be starting in September and you can get on her mailing list by emailing her at

kmyersphysio@gmail.com.

A session includes a brief warmup, a 30-minute walk, a 5 minute break that often includes theraband

exercises, then a 20-minute walk followed by a cooldown. Some participants start with just the 30-

minute walk and add the second loop at a later date. Routes are designed to be flexible with ‘shortcuts’

available when needed.

Each participant wears a Piezo-Rx pedometer that tracks the number of steps taken as well as the

number of ‘bouts’ walked. A ‘bout’ is a ten minute span of walking at a moderate pace. The walks cover

different areas of town and depending on the abilities of the group can include road, back lanes and

paths. There is also a social bonus to the walks with topics of conversation often focussed on health,

nutrition and fitness but can include opera, the origin of street names and anything else that comes to

mind!