The influence of the nordic walking program on elderly people suffering from lumbar spine pain rehabilitation

The aim of this paper is to assess the influence of the Nordic Walking program on elderly people suffering from lumbar spine pain rehabilitation. In order to achieve the aim the objectives have been set: to determine the alternation of pain, the dynamics of strength and endurance of the trunk muscle, and to identify and assess the quality of life of the observed participants. The experiment has been used to determine the influence of the Nordic Walking on the rate of pain intensity and the strength and endurance of trunk muscles of the elderly people. It has been applied the three months program of the Nordic Walking. The hypothesis of this paper is that the Nordic Walking should reduce the backache and enhance the strength and endurance of the abdominal and back muscles, also to improve the quality of the health related life. The research included 60 people suffering from the backache, they have been divided into two groups – the control and experimental, the average of the participants age has been 69.3 years. The research lasted three months. The strength and endurance of lumbar muscles have been assessed at the beginning of the research after 1.5 months and at the end using “Total Trunk\" training machine. Also, the numerical scale of pain and the questionnaire of quality of the health related life SF-36 have been completed. Conclusions: the use of the Nordic Walking as a mean of rehabilitation, for elderly people complaining of pain in the lumbar spine, after three months program the negative influence of backache for daily activity and the intensity of pain decreased, the strength and endurance of the lumbar muscles increased. The master thesis consists of an introduction, four main parts, conclusions and the list of references. The volume of the paper is 70 pages, and the results have been introduced using 38 pictures. There have been used 33 references