I have had pain in my left hip for many years that kicks in after walking any distance. I am 75 years old, 5'1 and carry an extra 100 lbs. Looking at a family trip to Ireland where I knew my athletic children would we walking everywhere and planned to hike in the mountains as well. I was worried about keeping up and not destroying our family vacation with them worring about me.
I knew I needed something to stablize my gait to keep me leaning toward that bad hip as it brought pain I would favor leaning toward it. The leaning just makes it worse but hard to pull up straight to continue walking if in pain. I purchased your Motivator poles hoping for the stability stated in your website and so very, very glad I did this. I did not use them to walk prior to trip as I was ill for many weeks prior except to try them out with my son along his driveway. I first really used them leaving the car at the airport and walking through the terminal to check in and to the flight which was more walking than I've done in a long time. Over the 10 day trip I was able to walk 2 1/2-3/4 miles on first 2 days, 3 to 4+ miles for 7 days and one day went over 5 miles - this was total miles spread out over a day not consistant walking. What a blessing to find these wonderful poles and bring back a life I use to enjoy. Thank you the designed handles are so comfortable in all sorts of terrain we covered on our 10 days through Ireland, they were light weight, never had any issues in hands or shoulders from the constant movement. My sons use poles hiking mountain trails and told me to start out changing the way I moved the poles sometimes both at same time walking toward them but to mix it up just a bit when I first began using them to keep from using same muscle area by mixing up a bit now and then. I think that helped in the beginning but once I was comfortable after a few days I stopped mixing as I became more comfortable with the poles.
Going up and down stairs - if few could use poles. If many steps I could grab hand rail with right hand and give one to husband or hold both poles on occassion in left hand to have balance on the left side. You just have to use your judgement on how you feel but keep using them off and on throughout your day. I was just sitting most of the day getting in steps around the house or when I went to the grocery store as a shopping cart gave me same stability. I had limited other store shopping to online over the years. The motivator poles are life saving for me and plan to use them daily from now on. Hope this review helps someone else.
The staff and service are wonderful at York Nordic as I ordered the extra small size at first based on my height in error, not arm distance to the floor finding the poles too short and needed exchange for the small. They worked with me on the new purchase and exchange and were very professional and helpful to receive them in time before I left for Ireland.
We are thrilled you found them as useful as we do!
These adjustable crutches are the most comfortable cane/crutch sets that I ever had. The size options that go with them make them be able to fit anyone! James
It works like advertised, which is very helpful when I need to lean my crutches on something, or on the bus, but I can't in good conscious recommend them to anyone. The screws and allen wrench are made of an extremely cheap material that completely stripped itself by the time I'd finished installing them. They'll work, but once they're on, you better not need to adjust, or take them off.
I bought these poles in March 2024. I am a 65 yr old female and walk with them 3-5 miles a day, 5-6 days a week (except Dec. - March when there's good snow to x-c ski . Also, heavy gloves and mittens require trekking straps which the York Folding Travel Poles have. See my review). The Official Nordic Walking Poles have held up very well. I walk mostly on asphalt, and occaisionally hiking trails. (Beech Mtn Trail, Acadia NP ) The Nordic poles have given my daily walks a lot of extra oomph, which I love. My doctor was thrilled to hear that Nordic walking is my preferred exercise. Not sure if there is a correlation, but I saw a big improvement in my xc-skiing this winter. York's customer service was above and beyond when I had a minor problem with my straps. The only downside with these poles are the tips. They develop holes in the bottom rather quickly and new tips are needed every 2-3 months.
I bought the Travel Folding Walking and Hiking poles in May 2024 for a trip to the beach. I love the compact design and all the accessories. Warning: be careful about getting sand in the joints! Once I cleaned the sand out, they worked great! After the beach trip, the Travel Poles were kept in the travel bag until winter time. When the weather got cold, in December, I started using the Travel Folding Poles again (instead of my York Official Walking Poles) because of the trekking straps which work much better with gloves and heavy mittens. I walk 3-4 miles a day, 5-6 days a week around my neighborhood. However, the Travel Folding Poles were not up to the task. Even though I wasn't folding and unfolding them at all, by mid February both poles had a broken joint. I noticed the joints come loose with that kind of use, so maybe all the tightening was a problem, or they're just not built for that much pounding. My husband glued them together and they're working fine; I just can't fold them to fit in a suitcase. Also, I found them to be noisy on the asphalt (more so than my York Official Nordic Walking Poles) so I bought a competitor's tips to use which helped tremendously.
