TABLE OF CONTENTS

Scroll down to see appropriate post:

1. What I Do
2. Living Like and Athlete
3. Maximum Heart Rate
4. Endurance and Speed Play
5. Somatopause
6. Weight Training
7. How I Should Eat and Drink
8. Going The Distance
9. Bum Knees and Joints
10. On Going Slow
11. Poles

#1 WHAT I DO

"Everyone is an experiment of one," George Sheehan

Roryd sez: I love exercise. To respond to friends and acquaintances who ask about what I do to stay healthy and fit with a good sense of humor, I post these bones and bonuses.

When people come to me with prescriptions about how I should exercise, I sprinkle glass in their running shoes and send them away. I have enough experience to suspect other people's prescriptions. As my Number One exercise guru, George Sheehan, admonished me, "Do not tell me what I should do. Tell me what you do." What I do may suggest some ideas. I hope it does. But keep in mind, it's what I do, not what you should do.

HERE'S WHAT I DO

I got turned on to regular exercise during my first Outward Bound course in 1971. I have been exercising, with momentary lapses, ever since. Currently I am averaging 10.5 hours of exercise a week. I know this because I have been keeping count in my exercise diary ever since I joined Weight Watchers March 19, 2003 to accelerate the loss of a few extra pounds of "ugly fat." Were I perfect I'd work out 12 hours a week, but I have excuses and only average 10.5. Here's my current schedule:

Sunday - Rest
Monday - Gentle Jogging 1 hour; light weights and stretching 1 hour
Tuesday - Bicycling 1 hour; light weights and stretching 1 hour
Wednesday - Gentle Jogging 1 hour; light weights and stretching 1 hour
Thursday - Bicycling 1 hour; light weights and stretching 1 hour
Friday - Gentle Jogging 1 hour; light weights and stretching 1 hour
Saturday - Bicycling 1 hour; light weights and stretching 1 hour

I am a "cross trainer." My primary endurance activities are running (mixed with walking) and cycling, and I alternate between these two activities so that I don't use the same muscle groups two days in a row, allowing 48 hours of recovery between similar efforts. I also mix up my activity with rollerblading (I use poles for upper body and balance) and swimming (with fins). Sticking to this "cross training" philosophy, I alternate my weight training between upper and lower-body muscle groups and try to get in plenty of stretching (all of this while simultaneously reaching for another high-fiber oat stout or trans-fat-free chocolate chip cookie).

When athletes tell me they run "every day," or repeat any activity "every day," I wonder why. Experience indicates they would benefit more, feel more energized, have more fun, and reduce injury, by mixing it up. Muscles like about 48 hours of rest between efforts. It is during these rest periods that they actually grow stronger. To insure plenty of time to grow stronger, I take off at least one day a week.

SUMMARY: I average of 10.5 hours of exercise a week: five hours of endurance training; five hours of light weights and stretching. I commonly get my hour of weights and stretching during lunch. I get my hour of jogging and cycling when I get home, either out on the roads or on a treadmill or turbo-trainer. I do not fatigue the same muscle groups two days in a row and intersperse scheduled rest days. My training is based on a "cross training" plan that I have cobbled together from thirty years of personal experience and reading that began with my first Outward Bound course in 1971.

My current reading recommendations include:

Anything by George Sheehan you are able to find
Chi Kung, Way of Power by Master Lam Kam Chuen
Getting Stronger by Bill Pearls
Heart Monitor Training for the Complete Idiot by John Parker
Ready, Set, Go! Synergy Fitness 2nd Edition by Phil Campbell
Stretching by Bob and Jean Anderson
The Energies of Men by William James
Ultimate Fitness by Gina Kolata

Guidelines for Successful Jogging by Rory Donaldson

1) Sheehan, is the connection between mind, body and spirit.
2) Master Lam Kam Chen advises on chi.
3) Bill Pearl's book has a variety of very good weight training routines.
4) The advantage of John Parker's book is that it accurately describes the relationship between pulse-rate and training.
5) Phil Campbell keeps me working hard enough to stimulate the few pituitary secretions I may have left.
6) Bob and Jean Anderson's discussion of stretching is indispensable.
7) This 1907 paper by William James is included because of my desire to pierce the lazy veil of habit.
8) Ms. Kolata confirms the dearth of data that passes as science in the world of fitness and health.

9) I wrote this book when I was the Editor and Program Director for the National Jogging Association, way back in the "golden age" of running and jogging, 1976. "Mother Earth News" has published a great deal of it here, for free. The fundamental recommendations are the same, "If you're going to jog, jog gently."

Keep in mind a couple of tips I learned from Arthur Lydiard, the famed Olympic coach: "To become a strong runner, first become a strong walker;" "Adopt a hard/easy schedule, really mixing it up." With these two tips in mind, nearly everyone has the basics of a great fitness program straight out his/her front door.

These books are recommended because they have all helped me achieve my goals.

WHAT ARE MY GOALS?

• Health and fitness with a good sense of humor
• To cross the finish line smiling
• Play
• Minimal injury and pain-free movement
• Triggering Human Growth Hormone
• Using a whole lotta muscles
• Staying lean and toned
• Burning ugly fat
• Staying young
• Overcoming diffidence
• Living like an athlete
• Enjoying life
• Realizing my purpose
• Fun
• Enlightenment and the courage to fly

My exercise is a secondary source of energy. My primary source is a spark some call "God." The Maharishi calls it "bliss consciousness." Master Lam Kam Chuen calls is "Wu Chi." It's a little positive spark that says "Yes!" to life. As this primary force is realized, the fun, love, beauty and adventure of existence peeks through. In touch with this affirmation and energy I climb Cold Mountain; I optimize my chances; I choose the gifts I have been given; I touch eternity and the infinite; I praise the Lord and am thankful.

#2 LIVING LIKE AN ATHLETE

How much exercise should this athlete get?

Roryd sez: Living like an athlete is taking me a lifetime to complete. Living like an athlete goes way beyond minimal fitness to an integration of my body, mind and heart. Living like an athlete means improvement and living as I was designed to live. I appear to have been designed to perform my best with 10.5 hours of exercise a week.

While I average over ten hours week in and week out, I don't believe this much volume is required simply to stay healthy and fit.

Less compulsive people than I could do something like:

Sunday - Rest
Monday - Endurance activity mixed with accelerations, 1 hr.
Tuesday - Light Weights and Stretching 1 hr.
Wednesday - Endurance activity mixed with accelerations, 1 hr.

Thursday - Litht Weights and Stretching 1 hr.
Friday - Endurance activity mixed with accelerations, 1 hr.

Saturday - Light Weights and Stretching 1 hr.

WEEKLY TOTAL = 6 hours.

Six hours a week is a very reasonable effort, but for whatever complex reasons is not enough for me. I am an experiment of one, and I am experimenting with 10.5 hours.

#3 MAXIMUM HEART RATE

How to make the most of the time I put in.

Roryd sez: With only so many hours in the day I want to be somewhat efficient in my training and avoid excess fatigue. Keeping my eye on the data allows me to do this.

My goal is to exercise hard enough and long enough to get faster, stronger, leaner, to preserve; not so hard that I cause injury, fatigue or illness. To accomplish this end I approximated the recommendations in John Parker’s book Heart Monitor Training for the Complete Idiot. I use a Polar A5 heart rate monitor (but don’t really believe the model matters) and have determined my maximum heart rate (MHR) to be 182. I made this determination over a number of days by thoroughly warming up and then thrashing up a series of moderate hills until it seemed to me that I couldn’t reasonably squeeze out another beat per minute (perhaps if I had had a gun to my head). For me to establish my MHR in this manner was important because the common formula 220 – My Age returned a value of 158, a significant discrepancy.

Then, using Parker’s protocol again, I determined my resting rate to be 49.

With this data at hand I am able to quantify my running:

• Fitness training (slow / easy) = 60 to 70% MHR (my Maximum Heart Rate 182) = 109 – 127 beats per minute (bpm).
• Endurance training (moderate / long) = 70 to 85% MHR = 127 – 155 (bpm).
• Speed training (hard) = 155 – 90% MHR = 159 – 164 (bpm).
• Sprint training (maximal) = 90% (plus) MHR = 164 (plus). Interestingly, I found that various activities deliver various maximum heart rates. For instance, while cycling my MHR is about 164; swimming about 171 (bpm). I guess that this variance is because swimming and cycling aren't weight-bearing.

SUMMARY: Armed with data I can quantify my efforts, insuring I am training hard on some days, recovering well on others, optimizing the time I am investing.

#4 ENDURANCE AND SPEED PLAY

Building muscle

Roryd sez: It is during exertion that muscles transmit their need for more strength, triggering a call for growth hormone (HGH) in order to adapt. Triggering this transmission requires periods of 90% (plus) effort.

Referring back to the previous post:

• Fitness training (slow/easy) = 60 to 70% MHR (my Maximum Heart Rate 178) = 126 - 139 beats per minute (bpm).
• Endurance training (moderate/long) = 70 to 85% MHR = 139 - 159 bpm.
• Speed training (hard) = 85 to 90% MHR = 159 - 165 bpm.
• Sprint training (maximal) = 90% (plus) MHR = 165 bpm (plus).

In order to trigger the production of HGH (I am very wary of all so-called HGH supplements, sprays, salves or injections) it appears that muscles must work at 90% (plus) of maximum effort for short periods of time (a second or two). Obviously, this intensity can be very dangerous and result in a plethora of injuries. It must be approached slowly, and I have a history of illness and injury that testify to my hubris.

Currently my regimen reflects my current thinking and presently I am rested, strong, without injury or pain. I begin my workouts out at a fitness pace and maintain this pace until I begin to perspire, about 20 minutes. At this point I am warm enough to begin to pick up the pace and for the next 40 minutes, or so, engage in "speed play," choosing the pace most appropriate to the moment. I finish off the hour at either a fitness or endurance pace.

Speed play is a mixture of paces. Once warm I slowly accelerate until I achieve a hard effort; my pulse approaching 165 (plus). I maintain this hard effort for only a few seconds and then drop back down to a fitness pace to recover. I maintain the fitness pace for a minute or two, or more, until I am ready to begin another acceleration towards another hard effort. My goal is to repeat this cycle five to eight times, depending on how I'm feeling. If I am tired I skip the entire effort entirely and maintain a fitness or endurance pace for the total hour. If too tired I skip the whole workout and record a rest day, reminding myself that adaptation occurs during rest, not effort. If I am tired I am risking doing myself more harm than good.

Phil Campbell puts it this way, "The best form of growth hormone is produced by the body itself. Anaerobic exercise, the short, quick burst, sprinting types of exercise that gets you winded in less than 30 seconds does the trick. If you want to accelerate muscle building, here's the key - use large muscle groups, targeted weight training, in combination with anaerobic sprinting-types of exercise to increase your body's natural muscle building steroids."

Look at the difference in body type between sprinters and long-distance runners. Sprinters perform lots of anaerobic exercise and train with weights. The result is lots of muscle and little body fat. Long-distance runners tend to ignore weight training and anaerobic exercise. They end up with low muscle mass and low body fat. I want to be the best of both: plenty of muscle, lean, low body fat.

SUMMARY: After a long warm-up, five to eight, or more, "hard" (anaerobic) running or cycling efforts per workout. For a thorough discussion I recommend buying a copy of Ready Set Go.

Next post: Somatopause

#5 SOMATOPAUSE

ALL THAT FAT

Roryd sez: There comes a time when the body stops producing all the hormones that it commonly produced in its younger years. The result is called “aging.”

Somatopause – For both men and women, beginning about age 30, somatopause is defined as a gradual loss of the body’s ability to produce human growth hormone (HGH).

Andropause – For men, typically about age 50, the body has significantly stopped producing human growth hormone (HGH).

Menopause – For women, typically about age 50, the body has significantly stopped producing human growth hormone (HGH).

All of these “pauses” are related to a decrease in muscle tone, a loss of energy, an increase in fat, a loss of strength and speed, a decrease in general vitality and sexual libido (a loss of many of the gifts of youth). What, if anything, can be done to optimize and maintain the production of HGH and slow some of the symptoms of aging associated with "growing old?”

I am very wary of the many Internet claims for HGH supplementation and do not take any myself. Nor do I trust taking supplemental injections of HGH. I am willing to include periodic maximal efforts, 90% of Maximum Heart Rate, during my workouts. These repeated efforts put a demand on my muscles and I like to believe that the muscles then put out a call to my pituitary for more HGH. For a thorough discussion of this subject I recommend Phil Campbell’s book Ready, Set, Go!

After a slow 20 minute warm-up I may repeat about eight "hard" accelerations (depending on my mood). These maximal efforts require me to reach 90% (plus) of my MHR for just a few seconds at a time. I then slow down to a recovery pace to catch my breath, cruise along for a minute or more, and then repeat. Sometimes I come in as hard as I’m able, without much of a cool down.

Periodic racing can achieve the same training effect. The trick is avoiding exhaustion and injury by trying to accomplish these maximal efforts day after day. By mixing my cycling and running I am not using the same major muscle groups two consecutive days, affording my muscles 48 hours of rest between efforts. Even then I am cautious about pushing to hard, too often. This is where the “art” comes in. Too often I have ended up in the "Crack Up," burning the candle at both ends. This is the folly of youth.

SUMMARY: Somatopause ain't good, unless I want to feel old, look old, and put a burden on our already overtaxed healthcare system. I believe that mixing hard/easy efforts optimizes what’s left of my ability to produce HGH. At this point, after thirty years of experimentation, I would say it’s working. Read Phil Campbell and stay away from supplemental HGH.

Next Post: Weight Training

#6 WEIGHT TRAINING

Muscle and Flexibility

"You've wasted your whole life away reading books, when you could have been lifting weights," Mr. Peepers

Roryd sez: Realizing that all the muscles are connected and work together, there are seven major muscle groups that I think about, stretch and strengthen when I lift weights: abdominals, arms, back, chest, legs, shoulders, sides.

I work out with weights and stretch five days a week, about an hour a workout. I emphasize using light to moderate weights that allow me to easily complete 12 - 15 repetitions with good form. Because running pounds and uses my legs hard, I compliment my running days by an hour of "upper body" training. My cycling days cause no pounding and I compliment these days with "lower body" training. This schedule respects my overall plan of resting major muscle groups 48 hours between workouts.

I lift and lower weights slowly, typically at a count of 5 to 10 seconds up (contraction) and 5 to 10 seconds down (extension). I work my way completely through one set and then repeat for a second, maybe even a third, depending on how slowly I'm going, how much stretching, how I feel. By moving slowly, and through a full range of motion, I am able to get a good stretch. I am able to get in one or two more hours of stretching throughout the week by getting on the floor in front of my television set.

Two books/articles that provide a lot of insight:

Getting Stronger by Bill Pearls

Stretching by Bob and Jean Anderson

I have used many gymnasiums and workout machines, but they are totally unnecessary. An adequate home gym can be created with the help of an inexpensive stretching mat and a 100 pound barbell and dumbbell set from your local sporting goods store or Sears. Fancy exercise machines and gyms may be useful, but are not required. What is required is actually getting on the floor doing the workouts.

SAMPLE UPPER BODY WORKOUT
Chest - BARBELL BENCH PRESS
Back - PULL DOWNS
Chest - INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS
Back - ROWS
Shoulders - DUMBBELL OVERHEAD PRESS
Biceps - BARBELL CURLS
Shoulders - DUMBBELL LATERAL RAISES
Triceps - OVERHEAD DUMBBELL EXTENSIONS
Biceps - ALTERNATE DUMBBELL CURLS
Triceps - PUSHDOWNS
Sides - SIDE BENDS

SAMPLE LOWER BODY WORKOUT
Legs - BARBELL SQUATS
Legs - LEG PRESS
Legs - DUMBBELL LUNGES
Hamstrings - DEAD LIFTS
Hamstrings - BACKWARD LEG CURLS
Quadriceps - LEG EXTENSIONS
Calves - STANDING CALF RAISES
Calves - SEATED CALF RAISES
Abdominals - REVERSE CRUNCHES
Abdominals - CRUNCHES
Abdominals - LEG LIFTS

Summary: I work out with light weights, through a full-range of motion, five times a week. I don't use heavy weights, but can get quite a burn by simply slowing down and insuring that I am moving through a full range of motion, 5 to 10 seconds in each direction. By alternating between upper and lower body workouts, I give myself plenty of rest.

Next post: What I should eat and drink.

#7 HOW I SHOULD EAT AND DRINK

Quit eating like a pig.

Eating to exercise, or exercising to eat?

Roryd sez: Three keys to my physical, mental and spiritual health are calorie restriction, plenty of whole foods, and lots of exercise. These aren't the only keys, but are bedrock principles. As my brother-in-law Marcus would have me, "Don't exercise so you can eat. Eat so you can exercise."

When it comes to eating, I believe the best thing I can do for myself is to:

• eliminate all foods with the words "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" on the label
• eliminate all foods containing palm, coconut, or generic "vegetable" oils
• restrict eating meat, including chicken and fish, to 8 ounce servings, 3 or 4 times a week
• eat "organic" dairy products (yogurt)
• eat no foods containing lard
• restrict all fast food
• eliminate refined carbohydrates (white flour, white rice, white flour blends, boxed cereals)
• eliminate white sugar (sucrose), corn oil
• eliminate artificial sweeteners
• restrict even whole-grain flour. Replace flours with the whole grain.

I AM DOING WELL WHEN I INGEST:

• 30 grams (plus) of unrefined fiber per day (whole grains, fruits, vegetables)
• 70 grams of high quality protein per day (whole grains, organic dairy, poultry, eggs, beef, fish...)
• a multi-vitamin/mineral (I take one tablet of a three-a-day regimen because I don't like all those megadoses, especially of B)
• 500 mg vitamin C (when I feel like it)
• 1,500 mg. glucosamine/chondroiten (for extra joint cushioning)
• 2,000 mg. L-Glutamine with a carbonated seltzer before exercising (maybe)
• olive oil and red wine or Bragg's apple cider vinegar as salad dressing
• one or two glasses of beer (I'm partial to Bass Ale)
• raw walnuts
• Hearty Rye and Multigrain Wasa crackers
• salads
• organic oatmeal and oat bran
• organic multi-grain breads
• vodka gimletts on the rocks and beer
• three cups of coffee a day (no sugar, low-fat milk)
• 5-8 8 oz. glasses of distilled water
• fruit and vegetable juices cut 50% with water

One of my goals is to limit calories while getting plenty of nutrition. I try to limit myself to about 2,200 calories a day (not easy). Two hours of exercise burn about 1,000 of these. Believe me, I get plenty of calories beyond this spartan regimen, and haven't starved to death yet.

Summary: Limit refined calories and junk food to no more than 10% of total caloric intake (calories do count); get plenty of high-quality protein, unrefined carbohydrates and fluids.

#8 GOING THE DISTANCE

The great sin

Roryd sez: The point of all this effort is to go life's full distance; to live, to paraphrase Thoreau, deliberately -- to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I can learn what it has to teach, and not, when I come to die, regret that I have not lived. My greatest fear is to look back and say, "I regret that I have not lived." To my mind, this is the great sin.

Someone asked me if I loved exercise. I said, "Yes! But I don't love every minute of exercise." I especially don't love all the preparation required to get out the door. I usually don't love the first twenty minutes or so when I am cold and stiff and lethargic. I don't love being surrounded by the chaos and noise of a busy gym. I don't love all exercises the same. For instance, as a rule I don't love running on a treadmill as much as I enjoy cycling through the countryside. I don't like reverse crunches as much as I like bench presses.

But I get out the door anyway, knowing that even when I make it through the first twenty minutes of grumbling I might find another twenty minutes of boredom and repetition. However, if I'm lucky, after about 20 or so minutes the real action begins. I loosen up, pick up my pace, and derive the multiple benefits of warm oxygen, movement, hormones, deliverance and sweat. As hard as it was getting there, I join the ranks of the self-determined rather than the couches of the sedentary place markers. I enter a little self-made paradise and become winged.

Summary: It's often difficult to get out of my chair and get moving. I have a variety of interests and a million good excuses, but I do it anyway (averaging 10.5 hours of exercise a week). And I'm going to keep doing it until old age finally catches up with me and I run out of gas.

I am an athlete, and when I come to die there are a handful of things I will be able to say: I have loved and been loved; I paid attention to my children's education; I got some exercise; I didn't resign; I didn't give up; I have gone my life's full distance; I have been the luckiest man alive.

Someone has to be me, and I am so happy that I was chosen for the job.

#9 BUM KNEES & JOINTS

"Start slow and then taper off."

It occurs to me that a few comments directed at “older” men and women with knee and other joint problems may be in order. These comments are appropriate for all athletes, regardless of their age.

The problem with joint pain is that it’s very discouraging and feeds on itself. That is, when people have joint pain they tend to panic and commonly do one of three things: They attempt to “work through it;” they stop doing any activity at all; they visit a doctor. All may be appropriate, all have their problems. Here are my suggestions.

First of all, as with all treatment: do no harm. With this admonition in mind, a person with pain would do well to consider developing a sound weight-lifting program to increase both the strength and range of motion around the injury. If your doctor recommends a therapy program, do it. But remember, "If it causes severe pain, back off."

Regardless of the joint in question, begin with very light weights, perhaps 3 – 5 pounds. Ask yourself, “What motion can I perform that isn’t painful?” There are probably plenty, even after surgery. See Getting Stronger by Bill Pearls.

For instance, sitting on a bench, even a person with severe knee pain can probably find twenty leg, hip, back, arm and abdominal exercises that cause no pain (stiffness and discomfort are not the same as pain). These are the motions that need to be developed into a routine, six days a week, 30 minutes a day, alternating between stretching one day and lifting light weights the next. (Don’t do the same exercise every day. That may be the mistake that got you into this mess in the first place.)

As strength and range of motion increase, the weight of the weights may increase. Move through as full a range of motion as you are able, very slowly (count of ten up, count of ten down, eight repetitions per set, one to three sets). Moving slowly, through as full a range of motion as possible, is the key to successfully working muscles without strain or injury. See #6 WEIGHT TRAINING. Make sure you work through a full-range-of-motion, avoiding those spots where you enter pain. For stretching instruction, as always, see Stretching by Bob and Jean Anderson.

No matter how painful your injury may be, no matter how discouraged you may feel, you don’t want to stop working out. There are plenty of exercises you can do. Pick up those weights and stop making excuses. If you are able to swim, do it, but invest in a good pair of swimfins. Swimfins turn lousy swimmers into good swimmers and provide a great leg workout without the pain and injury associated with weight-bearing exercises.

The point is, I know there is plenty you can’t do, but what can you do? Do it! And, refer to the article on using poles, below.

I hope these comments help. If you need more help email me at roryd@brainsarefun.com. Thanks for paying attention.

#10 ON GOING SLOW

As discussed in Heart Monitor Training for the Complete Idiot by John Parker, "undertraining" is the secret weapon that leads to health and fitness with a good sense of humor. Rest is when adaptation occurs, and those of us who don't get enough rest between workouts aren't going to get stronger, or do much laughing - we will get tired and grumpy, perhaps injured, perhaps sick. Illness, pain and injury are the body's way of yelling at us to back off!

When I miss a workout I don't try and double up the next day. I count the time off as a rest day bonus and pick up where I left off, knowing I'll probably feel great for the extra kindness to my body.

"Clip-Clop, Clip-Clop...," one foot in front of another, is not the same as running. Improvement requires occasional periods of sustained effort, blended with plenty of rest. With this in mind I almost don't care how hard I exercise, or how much time I spend in some "zone" or "range." When I feel like walking, I walk. When I feel like giving it the gun, I give it the gun. Probably the bottom line test of how well my program is paying off is how I feel when I first get up in the morning. Am I stiff? Am I limping? Do I have pain? I am very pleased to report that as of this morning, I am not stiff, I am not limping, I have no pain. I think I'm doing something right, even though, according to some people, my workout is pretty lazy. "Why," someone told me the other day, "I bet you could lift a lot more weight than that." "I bet I could," I responded as I sprinkled glass in their running shoes, "but for how many days?" (After all, I've been at this for over thirty years.)

#11 POLES

USING POLES

RORYD SEZ: There are at least 25 good reasons that I like to use “poles” when I run, hike, rollerblade or skate:

1. Poles involve more muscles than simple running, walking or hiking;
2. My hands, arms and shoulders and back become involved;
3. Circulation and strength through my arms and hands is improved;
4. Hands, shoulders and back become stronger and look better;
5. Oxygen consumption is improved;
6. Using upper-body muscles burns as many as 40% more calories than simply using legs alone;
7. Time in aerobic zone is increased;
8. Cross-training of all muscles is encouraged;
9. Balance is improved;
10. Safety is improved;
11. Exercise through my core is encouraged;
12. Body weight becomes distributed through my arms as well as my legs, reducing pounding on legs and knees;
13. Unweighting knees and legs with poles is kind to sciatic nerve problems;
    Speed is improved;
14. Unweighting with the arms takes a load off the back;
15. Poles help me vault and fly over obstacles in the path;
16. I really gain traction on hills, both up and down;
17. Coming down steep hills, they prevent slipping;
18. They help keep rhythm;
19. When I’m on the flat I can carry one in each hand, horizontally, and use them as pistons to power along;
20. They’re great when crossing streams or a slippery log;
21. They provide a stretch through the entire upper body;
22. They’re smart;
23. They help prevent injury and strain;
24. They provide me with a superior feeling as I clip past all those who aren’t taking advantage of all their benefits;
25. They’re hip;
26. They're powerful;
27. They’re fun.

See: http://www.leki.com/. I'm really fond of Leki customer service.