Bungy pump, a gentle activity to get back in shape at the start of the year in Sète

Une activité sportive pour se tonifier et prendre un bol d’air frais au bord de la mer. Midi Libre – W. N.

Une activité dérivée de la marche nordique que propose plusieurs fois par semaine la coach Alexandrine Rakoff le long de la plage de Sète ou encore au Barrou.

The Lido beach is almost deserted on this Saturday morning in January. In the water, a few brave souls are practicing longe-côte while on the sand, eight women, sneakers on their feet and poles in their hands, walk along the sea. At a rather brisk pace. “Eliane is always the one in front”, one of the participants laughs. Eliane, 78, is indeed progressing at the head of the small group. “When I started, I didn't know what it was. Three years later, I realize that it does me good in every way. Morally and physically. I straightened up, I found my balance again”, explains the retiree from Sète. Who has become an ardent defender of bungy pump, a variation of Nordic walking.

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“90% of the muscles are engaged”

A sporting activity that Alexandrine Rakoff has been offering for three years in Sète through several weekly sessions. Bungy pump is based on the same principle as Nordic walking, namely accentuating the natural swing of the arms using poles, except that it is practiced with special poles, equipped with a pump system. Mobile and dynamic, they allow the body to be propelled forward as well as the coordination of the upper and lower limbs. “It's a real sport, complete and balanced, assures the independent coach, specialized in Nordic walking.It allows you to straighten up, breathe, move outdoors and firm up since 90% of the muscles are engaged and since it works the cardio”. The discipline allows you to tone the triceps, the impulse coming from the shoulder, “and not from the elbow, which should not move”, insists Alexandrine Rakoff.

“Build muscle without making my body suffer”

Bungy pump also has the advantage of being accessible to everyone, “since it is a fairly gentle activity. It’s a good way to get back into sport”, says the coach. Hence the session she offers every Thursday afternoon to a senior audience – “it’s also a way to fight against osteoporosis”– and the support she provides to an association working with women who have been affected by breast cancer. It was following a health concern with her back that Eugénie came to practice this form of Nordic walking. “I wanted to get back in shape and build muscle without hurting my body and joints,” says the 49-year-old from Sète. Today, I feel the difference, it allows you to recharge your batteries.”

At each session, which generally takes place on the beach, but also at the Villeroy salt marshes or at Le Barrou, Alexandrine Rakoff gives the participants a breathing exercise and then another strengthening exercise before stretching at the end of the two hours. Groups of about ten people generally “who each move at their own pace, chatting or being in their own bubble. There is no competition”, repeats the coach. A group dynamic that motivates Eliane in particular: “On my own, I never walk but there is a real beautiful synergy there”.

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