History
Nordic walking is defined as fitness walking with specially designed poles. While trekkers, backpackers and skiers had been using that basic concept decades before, the sport wasn't formally defined until the publication of "Sauvakävely" by Marko Kantaneva in 1997. Nordic Walking's concept was developed on the basis of off-season ski-training activity. This concept included the first description of the exercise, the instructions how to do it, the anatomical and physiological reasons to do it, and the specifications of the poles needed.
During the year of publication (1997) the first Nordic Walking poles were produced and marketed by Exel. The term Nordic Walking was coined and became internationally known in 1999 (through an Exel commercial flier). Exel introduced "carbon" poles to the ski industry and has a quality reputation in the ski industry. Exel was also the first company to introduced Nordic Walking Instructor training and certification courses world-wide.
Read more about this topic: Nordic Walking
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