Hiking/Trekking poles provide extra support and distribute weight more evenly across your body. Here’s how they work:
1. Reducing Impact on Joints: When you're hiking, especially on downhill slopes, the impact on your knees and hips can be quite significant. Hiking poles help absorb some of this shock, reducing the direct impact on your joints, particularly in your lower body.
2. Distributing Weight: Instead of relying solely on your legs to support your body’s weight, the poles help spread the load. This means your arms and shoulders take on part of the weight, which lightens the load on your knees and hips.
3. Improved Balance: Hiking poles can help you maintain better stability and reduce the risk of falls, especially on uneven terrain. Less risk of falling means less strain on your joints from sudden movements or awkward landings. Without poles, you only have 1 point of contact on the ground as you walk and hike. By adding poles, you increase the contact points on the ground to two or three which improves your balance and stability significantly.
4. Reducing Strain on Knees: On average, studies suggest that hiking/trekking poles can reduce strain on your knees by 25% to 30%. When going uphill or downhill, the poles provide additional leverage, which can reduce the strain on your knees. On ascents, they help push you up, and on descents, they help absorb some of the impact.
5. Encouraging Proper Posture: Using poles promotes a more upright posture, which can help reduce unnecessary strain on your back, neck, and joints. This more efficient posture can help prevent overuse injuries.
In summary, hiking poles act as a shock absorber, offer support, and distribute the forces of hiking more evenly across your body, helping reduce stress on your joints. They also provide extra points of contact helping you to be more stable and balanced as you walk and hike.