The claim: The Halsa Resistance Poles make walking a full-body workout, providing up to 13 pounds of upper-body resistance with each step. To use the Halsa Resistance Poles, you simply push down on the cushion grips with each stride. The farther you push the poles, the greater the resistance and the better the workout you will get. Halsa Resistance Poles can be used on any surface in a variety of weather conditions. The poles come with feet that you can change, depending on the type of terrain — normal road and track, trail and winter walking, and a circular basket for loose surfaces.
Cost: $129
Where: www.halsafit.com
When your interest in exercising wanes, sometimes, a new toy will get you back on track. For me, the Halsa Resistance Poles re-charged my walking program.
Treadmills are boring. But hiking trails or even city sidewalks can be frustrating or downright dangerous for winter walkers. Just when you're pumping along at an aerobic pace, you encounter a patch of ice, snow or mud that makes you slow down or halt.
But, if you're zipping along with a pair of Halsa Poles with the metal trail-walking stud exposed, they give you the stability to keep on going. The harder you push to make contact, the more the pole spring resists, giving your arms and upper body a workout. After two days of use, I could feel the effect on my arm muscles.
My only complaint — aside from the price — is that, when walking on concrete, the poles are noisy — even when using the rubber feet. That lessens the contemplative benefits of solo walking.
I felt more like a mountain guide, and not so much like someone getting a good workout, with these poles.
They work, up to a point. When you press down on them as you walk, there's a decent amount of resistance. After about 20 minutes of walking around my neighborhood, I could feel it working a bit on my upper body, mostly in my chest and upper arms. But I honestly think you have to walk for a long time and use them frequently to get any benefits from these poles.
And unless you're a cross-country skier, it's hard to get into a groove when you're walking with these on pavement.
One neighbor yelled at me, “Where's your skis?” Yeah, that's a better workout, and more fun, than these poles.
I enjoy using the elliptical machines at my gym. Walking with resistance poles is similar, but with a better view.
The Halsa poles have molded rubber grips that fit nicely into your hands — each marked for the left or right — and wrist straps to prevent dropping. The spring action provides up to 13 pounds of resistance, depending on how much you push down, on your upper body. The length is easily adjusted to your height requirements.
It was not difficult to get into a regular rhythm on neighborhood strolls. I was concerned about the hills and how well the poles would perform going up or down. But they actually seemed to help me keep my pace. Poles can offset the stress on knees and lower extremities — bonus! And one study I found showed that pole-walking resulted in an approximate 20 percent increase in oxygen consumption and energy expenditure compared to regular walking at the same speed.
A small drawback is pausing in cold weather to wipe my nose — it's a little difficult to take a quick swipe when wielding a pole.
