Nordic walking – brief  introduction to Exerstrider.

In 1988 I founded Exerstrider Products and launched my mission to  introduce the world to the concept of fitness walking with specially designed poles.  The activity came to be more widely known as “Nordic walking“  following the 1997 introduction of Nordic Walker brand poles by Finnish ski pole manufacturer Exel, and the subsequent rapid growth of the activity’s popularity throughout much of Europe.  My mission from the beginning has been to make the total body exercise benefits or cross-country or “Nordic” skiing available to people of all ages and abilities.  If you’re capable of walking and giving someone a hug, you have the necessary abilities to enjoy this total body, health and fitness enhancing version of walking.  Nordic skiing has long been praised by many experts as being among the best overall exercises in existence, and Exerstrider’s pioneering efforts in Nordic walking have helped make similar benefits available to nearly any person who enjoys the world’s most popular exercise form — walking.

What qualifies me to call myself the “Nordic walking guru”?

I have personally been enjoying the many health and  fitness benefits of fitness walking with specially designed poles in all of its forms regularly since 1985.  I’ve spent more than a third of my 60+ years promoting this total body version of walking and working with other Nordic walking pioneers around the globe, and I’m considered by many to be “the father of Nordic walking“.  Through this blog I’ll pledge to do all I can to share as impartially as I can all of the information you’ll need to make both your life and your Nordic walking experiences the most enjoyable and most life-enhancing experiences they can be.

Nordic Walking, and the purpose of the articles that  I’ll be writing.

Although there are already more than 10 million Nordic walkers globally, in the next decade I expect the number of participants in this total body version of walking is expected to swell to more than 100 million.  The articles contained in this blog will serve to provide important information and knowledge updates to both the Nordic walking “Newbie” and seasoned lovers of the activity.  If you or someone you know is looking for a way to get total body fit for living and stay fit for life, this blog will provide you with valuable information about both Nordic walking and other health and fitness topics, and will have as its mission helping you discover ways to lead a longer, rich, more active and healthy life!

Sincerely Tom Rutlin Owner