EXERSTRIDER – THE ORIGINAL NORDIC WALKING POLES SINCE 1988!
“Nordic walking” has been defined by the International Nordic Walking Association (INWA) as “fitness walking with specially designed poles”.
While there are a number of different forms of Nordic walking, Exerstriding (introduced in 1988 by certified Nordic skiing coach Tom Rutlin) is the original form of Nordic walking and it pre-dates Finnish and other European versions by nearly a decade. Exerstride Total Body Walking® or simply Exerstriding®, is a specific natural technique of Nordic walking developed with over 28 years of active research.
Nordic walking is a hybrid of walking and Nordic skiing. Nordic walking in Europe is generally promoted as a sporting activity that is a seasonal counterpart to Nordic skiing. Exerstriding features a natural, comfortable walking stride, while the Finnish technique features a long ski-imitation stride. The arm range of motion of Exerstriding differs from the Finnish style in that it maximizes the involvement of the core, back, chest, spinal supporting and arm muscles.
Whether you call it Exerstriding, Nordic walking, fitness trekking, Urban Poling or pole-walking, walking with poles is a great way for people of all ages to achieve and maintain total body fitness since 1985. Exerstriding was designed to be both a health and fitness optimizing physical activity for people of all ages, abilities and sizes.
To say that Tom Rutlin is not the originator of the activity we know as Nordic Walking because he called his creation Exerstriding, is like saying that the English are not responsible for developing the modern game that Americans know as Soccer because the English called it football! His exercise innovation preceded all other forms of Nordic walking by a decade.