Training & Fitness for hiking

Hi All,

Wondering what you guys do to keep yourselves 'hiking' fit?

I used to hike monthly; but have been out of the 'loop' for almost 2 years now - and want to get back into it.

Always wanted to do the Grand Traverse, so that's the goal...hoping for mid-2011 if I can get all my ducks in a row.

Looking forward to your advise & suggestions;) .

Kind Regards

Mike

Mike, in my experience as a fitness trainer (and a keen hiker) consider the basic "FITT" principle to build on your cardio (as long as you have no health limitations that you need to consider).

The FITT principle is:
F - Frequency (how often you excercise)
I - Intensity (how hard you work)
T - Time (the duration of each session)
T - Type (what kind of excercise)

If you do not build up your cardio fitness level over time, you risk injury to your body, and sickness (over-stressing the heart is hard on your general health even for young healthy people).

FREQUENCY: To build your cardio fitness level, most people will want to plan 3-5 sessions per week of aerobic excercise. Aerobic excercise means "steady-state"....rather than stop-and-go.

INTENSITY: You can estimate your MAX heart rate with the calculation (220- YOUR AGE = MAX heart rate). Then your target heart rate is calculated by multiplying the MAX HR x PERCENT). It is commonly recommended that a beginner workout at 50-70% of their MAX HR. Whereas a conditioned individual might aim for 70-85% of their MAX HR. In any case, you should be able to talk during excercise, without being too flushed or laboring for breath.

TIME: Cardio training is best achieved if you start with shorter sessions of low intensity aerobic excercise and then build on your time. If training for a long hike, then the TIME should be something you build on, rather than focusing on intensity.

TYPE: Although cross-training (shaking things up by trying different types of aerobic excercise) is recommended to prevent boredom, and for the sake of injury prevention (this reduces the chance of over-training certain muscle groups), you do want to focus training sessions around the type of goal you have. In other words, lots of skipping rope will get you in good shape for a boxing match, but not a long hike.

So the best thing you can do is to start getting outdoors and plan regular hikes! Schedule these on your calendar, as you would with anything else that is important to you, and stick to it.

Good luck! I'm sure that others will have some good practical advise for you also, but hope this helps.

Thanks for that Kel, much appreciated!

Agree fully with your suggestions...had hoped to start doing monthly (at least) hikes from end of this year. Gives me time to get the fitness level up before then.

Looking forward to more suggestions. Thanks again guys.

Cheers.

Mike

Cool, thanks Chris.

Is it worth seeing a professional for knee/ankle/core strength exercises?

Also, what is the general consensus on interval training?

Ciao for now.

Interval training is recommended for more conditioned individuals rather than beginners. It is intense periods of excercise mixed with less intense periods. You likely want to start with only easy to moderate intensity at best. So no, I dont recommend that for you at this point at all.

Core excercises are usually recommended to protect against injury, but again, if you have past injuries you should only do excercises specified for you. If you do not have health concerns or past injuries then consulting with a trainer about specific excercises for ankle and knee stability is certainly applicable to hiking. For example this can be achieved even with simple lunges. But it is important that someone watch your posture so that you are using correct form.

I’m a touch less scientific in my training. I start off getting myself fit without the impact on my joints : stationery bike, occasionally a spin class. Long MTB on w’ends. When warm, swimming is a great cardio work-out. Then I include some jogging with walking whenever I feel like, esp uphills, and make it longer like 2hrs over w’ends. But all under no pressure : no goals, no heart-rate monitoring. Just plain enjoying it. Once a week a circuit in the gym, but just tone, no heavy weights. I also find that 2-step-up in the gym very good for strengthening my legs. So, its all about mixing it up to stop training from being boring. I also include anything physical : like gardening, squash (but watch that ankles).
Then as it nears the hike, I step up my walking on the treadmill varying between pace and gradient. In Midrand we not blessed with any trails, so the treadmill or any road with an uphill will do. Tho repeats are boring.
I felt an easy Berg hike 3 weeks before adapted me very well for a tough one over Easter.

And finally, get that motivation going : read up about the hike, study the maps, look at pics.

Thanks again for the info...
Will keep in touch.

I'm not exactly unfit & no serious injuries, but ankles & knees are not fond of being 'milked', so will focus on those; core strength & getting back into it gently.

I've found interval training gets me fitter quicker & burns excess fat more effectively...but doesn't do much for endurance, so am probably gonna mix the two.

Not a fan of gym, so will have to make up for that one at home...

Have been drooling over the GT since I started hiking, so motivation will be easy;)

Kel, how do you keep fit? Chris & Magan have mentioned their secrets...

I usually jog 2-3 times per week, I rock climb indoors once a week, do weight training either at the gym or at home (about 3 short sessions per week). I often do seasonal activities to prevent boredom, such as kickboxing in the winter, and sometimes casual team sports in the summer. Any chance I get, I go for walks or hike. This summer we have lots of day hikes planned, and that will get us conditioned for some longer trips.

I used to schedule my work outs but now it is a habbit.