This article was originally published in the September 2024 issue of UltraRunning Magazine. Subscribe today for similar features on ultra training, racing and more.
On a backcountry run in the mid-90s, my route merged with another trail and, immediately, the ground on either side of the single track took on the look of freshly aerated soil. There were puncture marks everywhere, as if a herd of large-clawed animals had recently roamed through. Running on, completely baffled by the source of this textural disturbance, somewhere down the line, it eventually occurred to me that the holes were the result of numerous trekking pole tips.
If you’re questioning my brain functioning at being puzzled by the seemingly obvious, consider that 30 years ago, pole usage was far from ubiquitous within the hiking demographic, and was essentially nonexistent in the trail and ultrarunning world. For part of 2010, I worked as a fastpacking guide on a multi-day refugio and hotel-hopping tour of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc circuit, and I was amazed at the prevalence of pole usage amongst European hikers and runners alike. Even at that seemingly current date, the adoption of poles was still far from mainstream in the US. And it would be another five years before I began experimenting with poles myself.
Training for an unsupported, and solo, FKT-style, fastpacking effort on the 222-mile John Muir Trail, I realized that poles seemed to relieve some of the strain on my legs. I didn’t know the exact science behind why—or if there even was any data-backed validation—but when used on very long, low-end aerobic days in steep, mountainous terrain involving more hiking than running, carrying a pack with anywhere from 10–20 pounds of gear and food, poles were helping to reduce my muscle fatigue. A decade later, these types of fastpacking adventures are really the only time I’m drawn to using poles.
With the addition of their effectiveness in short, intense, uphill efforts, such as vertical kilometer races, it turns out the emergent research on pole usage at least partially confirms my anecdotally driven decisions on when, and when to not, utilize poles. Yes, pole usage has become so normalized in recent years that researchers have begun dedicating time and expertise to designing experiments geared toward teasing out the nuances of pole use efficacy.
Nicola Giovanelli, a professor of motor sciences—and himself an athlete—at the University of Udine in Italy, is perhaps the leading scientist pioneering innovative research in this highly niche realm. A multi-episode guest on fellow UltraRunning columnist and highly regarded coach, Jason Koop’s, science-based “KoopCast” podcast, his studies have begun to add substance and stability to the shotgun philosophy of using poles to “save my legs.”
With approximately 90% of runners in races such as UTMB and Tor des Geants now using poles, Nicola set out to determine whether the “value proposition” was valid. Employing both laboratory (graded, uphill tests on treadmills) and real-world dirt tests, he measured a host of standard physiological parameters, along with times, during both maximal and submaximal efforts on steep (25–30 degrees), but non-technical terrain, both with and without poles. The submaximal efforts were based on 80% of the average vertical velocity of the runner’s maximal test effort—an exertional level that roughly estimates a 6-hour ultramarathon—and this is where Nicola’s own athleticism came into play: he acted as pacer for numerous same-day tests, logging training overload amounts of vert.
Without getting bogged down in the details, in a nutshell, what he found was that the steeper the uphill slope and/or the higher the intensity, the greater the advantage poles provided. Of course, there were caveats. Athletes who were fit enough to run more than hike saw the least improvement with poles versus without, indicating that the poles were possibly more of a hindrance than a help. In addition, the relational ratio between the energy cost/oxygen consumption increase concomitant with pole use (as with Nordic skiing you are using your upper body musculature to a much greater degree) and the concurrent increase in speed is not always favorable. During shorter events, this tradeoff is generally beneficial to performance, however, in longer duration ultras the cost to benefits ratio gets murky, leading to sensible, though as-of-yet unproven, extrapolations.
Although the studies found no difference in performance—with or without poles—during the submaximal efforts, high-tech tests have demonstrated that using poles decreases the propulsive force required for a given speed from the lower limbs, and it is reasonable to assume that over the course of a long (greater than 6-hour) ultra there would be some performance benefit in distributing the total work load between the lower and upper body, especially as the prime movers of the running gait become fatigued beyond trained capacity. Essentially, it becomes a musculoskeletal over a metabolic benefit that, despite costing more calorically, nets a performance positive in being able to run flats and downhills faster because leg strength has been preserved.
Of course, none of this means a whole lot if you don’t practice with poles to enhance your skill, conditioning and comfort level (see tips below on maximizing pole use benefits), or you inadvertently create hazardous conditions because of the terrain in which you use them.
On a highly fatigued descent of the West Ridge of White Mountain Peak (featured on the July/August 2024 cover of UltraRunning), my adventure companion, who had—to my surprise—been using his poles in even the nastiest of boulder fields on the ascent, continued to use them on the descent as we re-hopped the same boulders. Ahead of me, and out of sight, in the final steep section, I heard an indecipherable collection of sharply cut-off syllables, a loud crack, a heavy thud and dead silence, in rapid succession. Quickly scrambling down and fearing the worst, I found Chris, dazed but functional, slowly extracting himself from the awkward position between boulders he had tumbled into headfirst, after his weighted pole had skidded off a rock surface, pitching him forward and snapping in the process.
As with all ergonomic aids, there are limitations, pros and cons. And as with training interventions, the most effective course of action is to take at least some understanding of the known science into your own experiment of one and discover for yourself what does and does not work. Science’s yin is often counterbalanced—and in unanticipated ways—by the yang of personal anecdote.
Curiosity might occasionally kill the cat, but it is the cornerstone of moving your athletic performance forward. A pair of strategically deployed collapsible carbon fiber sticks might just save your next “A” goal from the gallows pole and place you in a pole position you never dreamed of.
Pole Tips:
- Collapsible poles are stowable and less cumbersome than fixed length poles, but also less rigid/durable.
- Sizing: with hand in middle of grip (poles with a grip area long enough to allow you to choke up or down depending on terrain are ideal) elbow should be bent at or near 90 degrees with pole at side and tip on ground.
- Tighten pole strap so that your hand barely fits through, then slide hand into opening from beneath so that when you plant and push off with the pole you are also leveraging force from the strap around your wrist.
- New to pole use? Incorporate into training 1–3 sessions per week for 2–3 months, introduce into long runs fractionally, gradually building up to use for the duration as needed.
- Practice use on different types of terrain (up, down, flat, technical, smooth) and at different intensities/paces to determine pre-race when you will and will not employ poles.
- The longer—and hence slower—the effort the more beneficial poles are on all terrain, especially downhills to mitigate eccentric braking load on quads.
- Know (and accept) the potential risks of use on technical terrain and/or use at fast paces.