More than a walk: How pole walking can help older adults stay strong and independent

When Malek Patni talks about how far she has come, she still sounds a little surprised.

The 80-year-old cancer survivor remembers a time when simply getting out of a chair was a struggle.

“It felt like I was barbecued,” she says, describing the blisters and severe radiation burns she experienced during cancer treatment. Six weeks later, she began oral chemotherapy, and the treatments took an enormous toll on her body.

“I had lost all the muscles. To get out of the chair was a problem. I didn’t think I could make it.”

Then, in April 2024, Malek discovered Wellspring Calgary, a community-based organization that offers programs and support for people affected by cancer. She started moving again. Eventually, she found her way to pole walking.

“I had no idea it would be this beneficial,” she says. Today, Malek walks quickly, goes farther than she once imagined and attends every pole-walking class she can.

“I feel like a kid again when I’m walking. I think, wow, I’m going back in years and I can still do it.”

Pole walking, also known as Nordic walking, looks a little like cross-country skiing without the skis. Participants walk while using specially designed poles, pushing against them with their arms as they move.

But according to Wellspring pole-walking instructor Jane Sponiar, the poles transform an ordinary walk into a much more complete workout.

“Normal walking, it’s legs only,” Jane explains. “But with pole walking, it’s aiming for upper-body development. We will use 80% of the muscles using poles.”

That means the arms, shoulders, core and back are working along with the legs.

The technique also encourages people to stand taller. By reaching forward with the poles and pushing backward, walkers naturally engage their upper body and abdominal muscles.

“Your posture will get better,” Jane says. “You are using a bit of your abs. You are stretching that part of the body because you’re using the poles to push.”

For older adults, that combination can be particularly appealing. Walking is already one of the simplest ways to stay active, but adding poles can provide an opportunity to work on strength, posture, coordination and balance at the same time.

Jane says pole walking may also help people maintain back health and can be appropriate for people recovering from some upper-body surgeries, depending on their individual circumstances.

There is another benefit that may be just as important as the physical exercise: people aren’t doing it alone. “I think number one is to be outside and to be with other people,” Jane says. “The social contact and all the physical benefits and working the upper body.”

Jane has been leading the Wellspring group for seven years, and she has watched people form friendships that extend beyond the weekly classes. “Being with the group is very helpful for the mental health, but also they keep meeting outside of the class,” she says.

That sense of community has been an important part of Malek’s experience.

“You will meet people that have gone through things you’ve gone through,” she says.

She also likes that there is no pressure to keep up with everyone else.

“Walking is not judgmental. One will walk fast. One will walk slower. Some of us don’t walk the poles correctly and we learn, and before we know it, we’re all doing it the right way.”

For Niki Fehr, Wellspring’s program director, the combination of movement and being outdoors is particularly valuable for people living with cancer and those beyond a cancer diagnosis.

“There’s two things that are beneficial for people with cancer, living with cancer and beyond cancer diagnosis, and that is movement and being outside,” Niki says. “Pole walking beautifully combines both the upper and lower body movement.

Niki says there is growing evidence linking physical activity with improved mental health, symptom management and fewer treatment-related side effects. Health-care professionals are increasingly encouraging people to remain physically active during treatment and recovery, when they are medically able to do so.

For people facing cancer, exercise can also provide something that may feel increasingly scarce: a sense of control.

“A lot of the pieces that we can control feel like they fall away when we’re diagnosed with cancer,” Niki says. “People often feel a sense of loss of control. Movement is one thing we can still control in our daily lives. We can choose to step outside and go for a walk.”

For Malek, maintaining that independence was especially important.

Her son and daughter-in-law offered to take her in or move in with her to care for here. She appreciated the support, but she didn’t want to give up her independence.

“I said I want my independence and I want to live in my house,” she says.

Today, that’s exactly what she is doing.

“I didn’t think I would be able to walk and do everything that I’m doing now,” she says. “Now I’m living in my house. I didn’t have to move out.” She remembers the early days, when even a little extra energy felt like an accomplishment.

“You have no stamina to get up and go,” she says. “But when you get up and go, when you come here, you see the benefit. You get that 10% more energy.”

That small improvement became motivation to return the following week. Then she went a little farther. “I kept saying, let’s go a little further. And before I knew it, I was doing the same as everybody else.”

Jane says beginners sometimes overthink the technique. Her advice is simple: keep moving and learn as you go. The poles should be used actively, rather than simply carried like a cane. If someone is feeling pain around the elbow or excessive fatigue in the muscles around it, Jane says that can be a sign that the technique needs adjusting. The goal is to reach forward and push back.

And while the poles can provide support, Jane stresses that pole walking isn’t simply an activity for people who are frail or unsteady.

“One common misconception is that you have to be old or out of balance to use poles,” she says. “This is very active and very beneficial for every age and every level.”

There is also the added benefit of burning more calories than ordinary walking because more muscles are involved and the heart rate can rise.

Jane compares it to cross-country skiing.

“It’s very whole-body,” she says. “We’re not just using certain parts of the body, but upper and lower body.”

For Malek, though, the biggest benefit isn’t a statistic. It’s how she feels.

She grew up in Kenya, where walking was simply part of everyday life because there wasn’t always another form of transportation.

Now, decades later, walking with poles has brought back some of that feeling.

“I feel like a kid again.” After everything she went through, Malek says she is back to 100 per cent.

“Cancer was a phase and it’s over,” she says. “I can exercise now. I can do everything. It’s done.”

And perhaps that’s the most powerful lesson of his story: sometimes getting stronger doesn’t begin with a dramatic transformation.

It begins with taking one more step.

Watch the full story and see pole walking technique in action on Unison TV