Getting fit like the Swiss

Tag : skiing shoes

By Liz Fleming

“Very good for the breast, this is,” my Nordic walkinginstructor announced as she strode vigorously up the grassy slopeoutside Grindelwald, Switzerland. “Brease in, brease out.Very good.”

Not sure whether I was improving the inside or outside of my chest,I followed, energetically swinging my legs and arms.

Apparently, Switzerland’s hottest fitness craze is good foranything and everything. Enthusiasts claim Nordic walking burns 40per cent more calories than the regular variety and provides atotal body workout at the same time.

A cross between walking and cross-country skiing – withoutsnow or skis – Nordic walking requires a good pair of shoes,a set of Nordic walking poles and a whole lot of stamina.

A bit of co-ordination comes in handy too, because getting it rightis harder than it looks.

Nordic walking involves making your left leg and right arm swing inunison, and then getting the other side to do the same.

“Yah…the legs and arms are working,” myoutrageously healthy trainer puffed approvingly as we marched alongthe mountain path. “Now we add the poles!”

Damn. Just when I’d mastered the left/right thing, did wehave to mess it up with poles?

With handgrips on one end and interchangeable pointy or bluntedtips on the other, depending on the type of terrain you’retackling (sharp points for soft ground and the rubber ends for harddirt or pavement) poles are essential to Nordic walking. Eachhandgrip has a wrist strap to keep it from dropping and to providesupport as you poke it into the ground.

When the arm swings up in Nordic walking, the pole is planted inthe ground and the hand tightens on the grip. When the arm movesback, the hand relaxes and the strap keeps the pole from dropping.

Between the arm swinging, the pole planting and the tightening andrelaxing of grips, it’s a complicated process, but a greatcardio vascular workout. Add a gentle slope and those caloriespositively melt off.

While the exercise is great and the mountain scenery is hard tobeat, the most appealing thing about a Swiss Nordic walking workoutis what comes after – the sauna village.

Worlds away from the hot wooden boxes we North Americans sit andsweat in, “sauna” even sounds different in Switzerland.Pronounced “sow-nah,” their version involves a seriesof hot/cold experiences designed to cleanse pores, improvecirculation and relax both body and mind.

In typically precise Swiss fashion, spas clearly post thetemperatures of their sauna rooms, the suggested baking time andthe cold shower and resting period required afterward.

Each sauna room is different – some feature dry heat, whileothers are steamy – and many are scented with herbs such asrosemary and thyme released into the room through vents. Containersof crushed ice are provided as well to put on your skin, not inyour drink.

“Rub it up your arms and legs,” advised the spaattendant at Grindelwald’s elegant Grand Regina Hotel andSpa.

“Go towards your heart, never the other way. And don’twear that!” she continued, pointing disgustedly at my brandnew bathing suit. “Think of the germs your suit is carrying.You should be naked in a sauna.”

Feeling prudishly Canadian, I slipped self-consciously out of mysuit and headed for my first Swiss sauna – aeucalyptus-scented, white-tiled cave of steam. A twenty-minutesession was followed by a glacial shower with jets shooting atevery imaginable angle.

In no time, I’d made my way through the rest of the saunas– dry and steamy – and finished up feeling lessprudish, and significantly more relaxed.

The saunas proved to be almost the perfect final reward for therigours of my Nordic walking lesson. That and the big Swisschocolate bar I inhaled on the way back to my room!