At Tapestry, residents are always eager to embrace new wellness opportunities. Over the past few months, residents together with employees have been enjoying the many benefits of one of our newest activities – urban poling.

Urban poling (also known as Nordic walking) is a work-out that has been popular in Europe for decades and is now gaining popularity in North America. Much like cross-country skiing, urban poling offers tremendous health benefits, including increasing cardio-vascular activity by 25%, effectively activating arm, core and back muscles, and offering significant calorie-burning benefits. It also supports balance, strengthens posture and reduces stress on hip and knee joints.

Tapestry partnered with North Vancouver-based Urban Poling to ensure a knowledgeable approach to introducing this activity at its communities. Tapestry Wellness employees participated in a leadership course to become experts, able to lead workouts, answer resident and employee questions, and ensure community members had all the information they needed to excel with Tapestry’s newest cardio workout.

“It was important for us as a community to know how to properly engage in the exercise,” says Ellen D’Arcy, Wellness Supervisor at Tapestry at Arbutus Walk.  “With so many benefits derived from urban poling, we wanted to ensure proper technique so that individuals could maximize their workout, rather than simply dragging their poles along!”

Since introducing urban poling, residents and employees have been boldly venturing into neighbourhoods and wooded trails for a full-body workout.

“I’ve used the urban poles quite a bit,” says Bill, a resident at Tapestry at Village Gate West.  “I can really feel the muscles in my back working while I’m walking with the polls and that’s an added benefit that I really enjoy. I also feel more upright and balanced while walking and definitely a lot more secure.”

Angela, who also lives at Tapestry at Village Gate West, agrees. “I really like using the poles because they exercise my whole body. I find I sleep better because my whole body is working.”

Urban poling has been part of the weekly wellness programming through the Spring with both residents and employees enjoying the tremendous wellness benefits. It has been a much welcome addition during the COVID-19 pandemic, as this activity lends itself perfectly to physically distancing and staying connected while enjoying the beautiful outdoors.

“It has been a great way to get outside and enjoy some exercise as well as conversation,” says Suzanne Summersgill, Wellness Manager, Tapestry at Arbutus Walk. “Last week, we had more than 20 residents walking with us – all proudly using their urban poles to turbo-charge their work-out!”