Something a little bit different... Just finished a Master’s thesis with Robert Grant where we were looking at the influence of wearable resistance (WR) on energy expenditure (EE) during walking. Many of us who are relatively sedentary don’t have time to get 10,000 steps in a day (i.e. ~1.5 hours of walking), so we were interested in putting WR (2 and 4% body mass) on the calf or lower arms to see if we could boost the EE in a shorter time period. What we found was a 3-5% increase in EE with WR. However, what I found interesting was the EE associated with Nordic walking. I always thought those ski poles were for balance, providing eccentric stability going down hills, etc., however, there is some serious additional calorie burning (11-23%) associated with them.

Just goes to show the further the load from the axis of rotation the greater the mechanical and therefore metabolic work. That dumbbell walking with an exaggerated arms swing makes a whole lot of sense now! The added benefit of the arm WR, dumbbells or poles is that the additional weight is likely strengthening the shoulder complex.