Penza, 8 September 2011. PenzaNews. The first regional festival of Nordic Walking "Penza open spaces" will take place in the village Iva of Nizhnelomovsky area of the Penza region on September, 17th and 18th.

According to the regional newspaper "Trud", everybody at the age from 20 till 80 years can take part in action.

Nordic walking simultaneously mobilizes all motor organs and hence produces a greater cardio vascular workout than most walking styles.

Nordic walking is defined as fitness walking with specially designed poles. It evolved from an off-season ski-training activity known as ski walking, hill bounding or ski striding to become a way of exercising year-round. Ski walking and hill bounding with poles has been practiced for decades as dry land training for competitive Nordic skiers. Ski coaches saw the success of world class cross country skiers who used ski poles in the summer for ski walking and hill bounding and it became a staple of off-season Nordic ski training. Hikers with knee pain discovered they could walk more powerfully with a pair of trekking poles, often eliminate or reduce hip, knee foot pain, and backpackers found relief from painful backs when using poles.