Hiking Poles: Why Use Them?

Why do I use hiking poles? (a.k.a. "walking sticks")

Let me count the ways!

Because they improve my balance on steep slopes and give me confidence while negotiating tricky footing.

Because they take a load off my knees when I'm hiking downhill.

Because they are useful for probing a snow bridge before I cross an icy cold stream.

Because they can be used to fend off aggressive dogs whose owners are nowhere in sight.

And because they can double as emergency tent poles!

You really should consider poles as essential pieces of hiking gear.

But those are just my subjective preferences.

Here's what objective research results say!

Hiking with poles may increase the number of calories burned without making you feel more tired.

How?

The weight of the poles plus the involvement of your upper body muscles in each step will burn more fuel (calories).

That means that if you hike for weight control, you will end up burning more calories if you use walking sticks.

SOURCE: Journal of Strength Conditioning Research 2008 Sept; 22(5):1468-74 Trekking poles increase physiological responses to hiking without increased perceived exertion. Saunders MJ et al.

Here's one more reason: they cause your heart to pump harder to support the increased demand for oxygen from your arms (in addition to your legs, which are already screaming for oxygen).

The result is a stronger heart muscle, without increasing your pace or choosing harder terrain. You are getting more benefits from each hike!

SOURCE: Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 200 Dec; 32(12):2093-101. Muscular and metabolic costs of uphill backpacking: are hiking poles beneficial? Knight CA & Caldwell GE.

In addition, these authors found that your leg muscles don't have to work as hard when you use walking sticks, because they provoke a longer stride length.

If you're into unique and personalized hiking gear, hiking sticks make a dandy place to display a hiking medallion.

And I would be remiss if I left out this vital fact: hiking sticks make really handy perches for gray jays (also called camp robbers or whiskey jays).

How can you resist this little guy?