Ive read many journals and im worried about upper body strength so im working on that a bit extra.
Practice putting on a loaded pack. It will make it much easier too
While physical conditioning is important, most people agree that long hikes are more a mental game than a physical one. I think solo walking, running, and hiking help with both the physical and the mental preparation. You breathe heavily, burn calories, and get your heart beating, but you also get used to being outdoors in all weather, and listening to the voice in your head for hours on end.
In practice, for me, that was hiking as close to all day as possible on my days off work, and daily one-hour/four-mile walks in the neighborhood on working days.
One thing I read several years ago estimated that your hard tissues take at least six months to increase in strength--much longer than it takes to build up muscle. Take care of your feet, ankles, and knees. They will get stronger eventually--pushing them too hard too fast will set you back more than it will hasten your progress.
If not NOW, then WHEN?
ME>GA 2006
http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=3277
Instagram hiking photos: five.leafed.clover
That is a brilliant suggestion!Originally Posted by AfterParty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH0-4rNyBEA
Twitter: @mkehiker
Website: mkehiker.com
Body for Life by Bill Phillips. Read it, do it.
I'll second this. if you're overweight and out of shape, start slow and build up some distance and elevation baselines before you even begin to think about adding weight. muscles develop much much quicker than supporting structures like tendons, ligaments and cartilage.
also, taking a page from my personal book, make sure you have adequate foot and arch support for the weight you'll be carrying. I got a new pair of shoes and they felt fantastic in the store and light training hikes but day after day with a heavy pack left me with plantar fasciitis that I'm still dealing with today.
Walk, walk, walk and more walk. Don't feel that you have to be doing some sort of mountaineering conditioning to get in shape, there is nothing as easy and simple to do than go for a walk. Start easy, 20 minutes around the neighborhood, try and get in the habit of walking several times a week and go from there. By the time you are walking 7 days a week your mind begins to crave the exercise. Don't worry about hiking mountains or anything like that until you are comfortable with just being able to walk on a regular basis then you can make the easy transition into hiking trails.
Agree with Map Man. Running is one of the best ways to prepare for hiking. Endurance, mental toughness, climbing hills, etc - running does an excellent job at making you better at all of those.
Ryan
I am over 50, but still consider myself an athlete. While I am significantly over my "fightin' weight" and not close to my peak conditioning, I am still bout ready. Take from below what works for you and discard what does not.
>> You move, you get fit. Find activities you enjoy and you're more likely to succeed. Create activity in your day where you are currently sedentary. Get up 15 minutes earlier and walk around block ect.
>> I'd disagree that running is one of the best ways to get fit for one who is Over-Weight and Over-Forty. Start low impact, incorporate running later. Biking, rollerbladding, cross country skiing ect. Alternatively, lots of elliptical type machines available. Running is one of the most hazardous activities that exists for an aging heavy dude.
>> If you really want to incorporate "the gym". Avoid the progressive overload workouts of your youth. There is no good reason to lift anything near your max. Lift modest weights at 20+ reps. 3- 5 sets. Getting the biggest muscles toned (Quads and glutes) will help increase resting metabolic rate and help with weight loss
>> Finally, don't stress about the weight. Ideal body weight is a myth. Many skinny folks with cardiovascular disease. Fitness is not weight dependent.
Good Luck
I agree with those who suggest hiking as the best way to get fit, but my cardiologist says that I need to add some High Intensity Interval Training because hiking alone does not get ones heart rate high enough. There are several versions of HIIT, but the one I use is on a recumbent bike. I warm up for 4 min, then I do 8 intervals. Each interval is 30 seconds of maximum effort followed by 90 seconds of slightly less effort. The entire HIIT takes 20 minutes three times a week.Hi everyoneI am re-posting this on General board, edited a bit..
New member, new goal.
First things first I am overweight and working to get fitter this next year, so my goal for the Appalachian is for 2018, potentially 2019.
Long term goal, but something I really want to do, for spiritual and inner healing reasons, as well as being a nature lover and being at one with the outdoors. I grew up with a father who was an outdoorsman, and feel more comfortable out there than anywhere. I am realistic in that I will do as much as I can - even if I don't finish. My body will know what it wants to do and can do.
That said, I know that a thru-hike is an incredible amount of preparation (as is doing portions), which is why I am here now.
Realistically, I have weight to lose and I have already begun that journey which a lot more to go, but here are my questions.
While working out to lose weight, I would also like to incorporate strengthening, proper physical activity that would be beneficial as well as mental preparation. I have lots of time, and am super goal oriented, so when I put my mind to something I roll with it. Having this goal is something I am excited about and really looking forward to.
I will have lots of the needed equipment within the next year to do smaller hikes and overnights too, to get a feel for it and get lots of practice in. I will build myself and my strength up.
Any suggestions on things I could do, or that you found beneficial for workouts ? (squats, some upper body, and walking I am doing now). But if there is anything specific I could and should be doing while losing weight ?
Also, I am starting the reading & research process now, and educating myself lots!
Thank you in advanceand thank you for accepting my membership!!
Shutterbug
My heart rate maxes out while hiking, some hills, anyway. Hiking is not walking. Hiking up.and down hills is probably the best HIIT going. I say ofooey on your 20 minutes. Try 8 hours a day, five days a week ��
Lift weights, whole body.
Dont neglect any parts. But go extra hard on legs.
Legs /butt is your largest muscle groups. When you stumulare them, the whole body sees results.
Do intense cardio of some kind. First thing in morning. On empty stomach.
Intense. Sweating , gasping for air. Only need 20-25 min.
Research high intensity interval training. You only need to peak 4 or 5 times.
Not an hour of slow easy cardio.
Will take a few weeks to get used to it.
Gets your metabolism up. You burn cal at increased rate for several hours.
You burn more AFTER excercise, than during.
Dont eat for at least an hour after
Eat balanced sub-maintenance calorie diet by a few hundred.
Easy to run a deficit of ~500-750+ cal per day, or 1-1.5 lb fat per week.
In a year, thats 52 +lbs fat gone. And in shape.
When able, run.
Work into it slowly
The impacts toughen your tendons on knees and legs , as well as thicken bones
This helps avoid overuse injuries , if you dont create them by too much too fast
Hike when can, its more fun. But wts and cardio is fine substitute.
Pat yourself on back for doing something good for yourself.
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 07-23-2016 at 22:47.
Climb 5 mountain passes in 1 day between 9 and 13 K. That'll get your heart going all day long. I wonder though if that's too much?
+100!
Someone once said something similar to me about cycling (not getting the heart rate up) and I just had to stare in wonderment. Uh... pick up your speed, do hills? Put more effort into it and the heart rate will go up, slam-bang guaranteed, every single time!
The thing about doing actual hiking is that it also builds up those tiny stabilizer muscles that don't get used for running on paved roads or treadmills, or for the eccentric muscle use going downhill, and that's a biggie. You can train all you want running and still be quite sore for the first few days of hiking.
Last edited by cmoulder; 07-26-2016 at 16:58.
"Easy to run a deficit of ~500-750+ cal per day, or 1-1.5 lb fat per week.
In a year, thats 52 +lbs fat gone. And in shape."
I wish it was a simple math problem, but a calorie is not a calorie, and 3500 calories does not equal a pound of fat loss.
It's not like withdrawing money from the bank. Witness the millions of failed diets that use these principles. Read "Why we get fat and what to do about it" by Gary Taubes and listen to Zoe Harcombe's lectures on youtube if you want to learn about this.
If you want to lose weight, you need to think about how your diet affects your hormones.
Nope.
The law of conservation of energy cannot be overcome.
Diets fail, because people dont know *** they are doing, and are lazy.
Dont listen to anyone that doesnt look like Clarence_Bass_1.png
Listen to the people that repeatedly demonstrate ability to take their bodyfat to very low levels. This is Clarence Bass, he was measured at 2.2 % bodyfat in his prime. Impressive, even with use of drugs ., if involved.
Diet, cardio, resistance training is the key.
You need to maintain high metabolism, create a demand for muscle to be retained, and do brief intense cardio. Too much and your body becomes catabolic.
I used to track my wt, bodyfat %, and calories when cutting up. Very careful to lose only 1-2 lb per month to minimize muscle loss. If I lost 1+ lb per week I lost 2/3 fat, 1/3 muscle. Giving up 10 lbs muscle isn something a gym rat likes to do. Which is why most are sloppy fat if they dont use drugs. They know they will lose strength if try to lose fat.
Limiting carb intake is a good thing for several reasons. People should understand why as well. But this is about getting fit, not being a fitness model.
Less of a problem when not carrying excess muscle to start with.
Today Clarence is 78
His everyday condition.
Clarence Bass at 78 by Carol Bass_ Bass Pose.JPG
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 07-26-2016 at 23:36.
I agree.
long distance runners look emaciated, starved. Sprinters, on the other hand, are well muscled. The difference is the type of training they do. Both are runners. Your body adapts to the stresses placed on it. In distance running muscle is detrimental. Its extra weight. Its a useless burden. Your body gets rid of it. Sprinters need the muscle to be more powerful and stronger, hence faster. Since their cardio is in brief spurts, the muscle is retained.
A calorie is a calorie when you burn them all.
Just my thoughts... It's all about lifestyle changes, less about particular workouts. If you can create a lifestyle that you actually, really enjoy, that involves burning copious amounts of calories, you have a real shot at getting fairly fit and eventually, very fit.
Gym workouts might have their place, but I really don't think someone who is overweight can benefit much, other than building up a few muscles; this really won't help much in a long distance hike. And for a mid-40's overweight person, diving into intense gym workouts is going to get you injured, or at best, burned out quickly.
Get out and hike! A lot. Walk to dinner or the grocery store, if that's practical, vs. drive. Make it a life-habit to walk, A LOT. Mix in some other aerobic activity, like biking or swimming, whatever, just to add variety.
Basically, I'm a closet over-eater (and bad-food lover), but I stay fit without any real effort because many years ago I learned to really love walking and hiking. When my kids were born (over 30 years ago), I gained 30-40 pounds in a year or so, simply because I got distracted from my regular active lifestyle for a couple years, but after adjusting finally to fatherhood, I managed to get the fitness level back by managing priorities and getting back into walking/biking/running on a regular basis.
A word about running: I was a runner for 35 years or so. Somewhere around 50 I found myself getting more and more sore after shorter and shorter runs, and finally realized that I was going to give myself some real long-term problems if I kept it up, so I quit. what I'm saying is that I do NOT recommend running to 40-something folks as a method of getting fit, unless you are already a runner.
I also agree that you do have to add in some higher intensity stuff, once you reach a modest level of overall fitness. You live in VA; IIRC, there are some nice BIG hills not that far away. We have a 1900' vertical hill close to our house that is our primary intense-workout hill. (Some of our friends can do this hill in an intense 25-30 minutes, takes me over an hour though!)
Again, think Lifestyle. Find physical activities that you actually look forward to doing. Gym workouts are a chore for me, at least. I do drag myself to a gym once or twice a week for a bit of upper body work, but really, it's all about walking. Get out and hike!
I meant to add: there's and old saying about jobs/working: "find something you really like to do (in a job), and you'll never have to work another day in your life".
I think this applies to being fit: "find a workout that you really like to do, and you'll never have to workout another day in your life".
Basically, for me, this is hiking! If you can learn to really love hiking, you're home free.
While ahead of a trip with heavy backpack I like to do some pushups/pullups to teach my traditionally weak upper-body that soon there will be more work to do, IMHO the very best training for hiking is hiking.
Regarding calories and weight, I hardly can put in as many calories as I'm loosing daily. So I'm loosing weight, kind of 1/2 kg per week. Have to try hard to fill up during town days.
There is a huge difference between a diet done in civilisation, and hiking.
Making a diet is a constant mental struggle against all the alluring goodies, and most likely you feel weak and will not work too hard, move to much and such shell out not too many calories.
Hiking means, being out in the weather day&night working very hard full-time. Just regulating the body temp alone is quite a consuming task - which has to be done 24hrs and to a much bigger extent than sitting back home.
Its inevitable to loose weight on LD hiking.
Some heavy-built people will not loose weight for some time, as the body tends to store water to fill the "gaps" the gone fat will leave.
After 2-3 weeks the truth will come out for sure - weight is lost and strength is gained.
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