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sum41punk91
11-07-2006, 20:09
Im sure that this has been posted before but i was just curious
how do you all train for upcoming backpacking or hiking im in
st pete florida so i have no elevation change and was just
wondering your opinions on the matter

Skidsteer
11-07-2006, 20:14
Im sure that this has been posted before but i was just curious
how do you all train for upcoming backpacking or hiking im in
st pete florida so i have no elevation change and was just
wondering your opinions on the matter

Personally, I find it easier to stay in shape rather than get in shape.

I run and lift weights and hike. Hiking is the most effective of the three.

Webs
11-07-2006, 21:30
always take the stairs, and always two at a time! feel the burn....:eek: :p

bigmac_in
11-07-2006, 21:48
Nothing is the same as walking the PUDS, but I found a few weeks of daily training on a stairmaster helped with my cardio ability on my most recent section hike.

Lone Wolf
11-07-2006, 22:17
Im sure that this has been posted before but i was just curious
how do you all train for upcoming backpacking or hiking im in
st pete florida so i have no elevation change and was just
wondering your opinions on the matter

I run 3 miles a day, drink beer and eat ramens 3 months before the hike.(lotsa beer)

Jim Adams
11-07-2006, 22:20
LW, I train the same way except iI don't run or eat ramen.
geek

Lone Wolf
11-07-2006, 22:24
LW, I train the same way except iI don't run or eat ramen.
geek

You a funny mofo.:D

skeeterfeeder
11-08-2006, 04:53
I did lots of walking before my start, but I wish I had done it with full pack. You might try to find a tall building where you could walk up and down the stairs with a pack. That might help get your trail legs more quickly. It would help with your cardio and get your knees ready for the stress.

Wanderingson
11-08-2006, 05:39
There are many things written on proper conditioning. First and foremost, you must make an honest assesment of your current physical condition. This will guide you as you develop you own personalized program. Sure adequate cardio and strength training is a given, but I also like to focus on abdominals as well. I find the abdominal work I do pays huge dividends when it come to loading addition stress to my back and lower abdomen.

Load up your pack and get used to the additional burden. Your back, knees ankles and feet will certainly appreciate the heads up for what is in store for them.

I'm sure you can find a high rise building in the St. Pete to do a little stair work. If at all possible, give it a whirl with a loaded pack. Don forget going down the stairs as well. I have found downhills to create much more stress on this middleaged dude.

If all else fails and you find yourself at the approach trail with minimal conditioning prior to taking your first step--KEEP IT SLOW. Expect low milegae days in the beginning. Sure you will curse yourself for not taking the time to adequately condition, but what the heck--you are on your way.

Here is a little trick that works for me as well. Prior to strappping my pack on for the day, I find it very useful to go through a simple stretching routine to get me ready for the bodily stress of the day.

wilderness bob
11-08-2006, 08:38
sum41punk91

Three phases:

Stretch - Flexibility, A memorized routine (yoga practice for me). It helps prevent injuries and can be done along the trail when muscles are sore and tired.

Cardio - Get the heart rate up and keep it there for a while, whatever it takes. A technique for walking with a back pack. Intervals, hike a mile at a high rate of speed, take a 15 minute break and do it again.

Weight training - Light weights, not for muscle mass, but to keep the skeletal muscles strong. Once again to prevent injuries (strong abs equals a strong back).

Whatever you do, go slow and increase all with time. Keep a log and record your train-up. You will be surprised how many miles you do before the start.

hopefulhiker
11-08-2006, 09:14
in preparation for my Thu hike in 2005 i took lots of naps and fell down the stairs and injured my heel... Needless to say the four hundred or so miles were EXTREMELY painful.. In retrospect I think I might have worked out, and lost some of the sixty plus pounds BEFORE the hike......

hammock engineer
11-08-2006, 09:26
I haven't thru-ed or have the miles that some of the other people here have. I am not in the best shape. When I hike I try to take breaks when ever I think I need them and before I get really winded. That seems to do the trick for me. After a couple days the breaks get less and less. I still do the same or more miles, I just get done sooner.

I try to do a lot of day hikes to keep/get in shape. But I don't do them as often as I should.

highway
11-08-2006, 10:15
The non-runners as well as the non-exercisers can take some comfort that, at least per Roland Mueser in his outstanding book enitled "Long-Distance Hiking", after about one month both groups are hiking about the same speed-the non-exercised as well as the well-exercised.

Of course, both groups have to arrive at the one month milestone. I suspect that the well-exercised would have a better (read, less painful) chance of getting there.

I exercise. I cannot run anymore, darn it, since I once suffered some serious foot/ankle damage but i sure have learned to walk fairly well, and do it. The stairmaster in the gym here helps tremendously with those muscles one doesnt use much just walking on level ground.

Thor
11-08-2006, 10:25
If all else fails and you find yourself at the approach trail with minimal conditioning prior to taking your first step--KEEP IT SLOW. Expect low milegae days in the beginning. Sure you will curse yourself for not taking the time to adequately condition, but what the heck--you are on your way.


This is the method I took. It's certainly the hardest of the options, but all you need to do to make it work is keep doing it. The trail will beat you into shape quick enough.

Okie Dokie
11-08-2006, 11:11
I trained a bit before my AT thu-hike by loading up my pack and walking up and down the steps of the football stadium at the college I was attending...gradually increased the weight in the pack until I was up to about 45 pounds...I believe it gave me an advantage when I hit the trail...a stairmaster would probably accomplish the same thing...for overall conditioning and stamina I'd recommend running...after I'd completed my thru-hike I took up running (about 40 miles a week) and about 6 months later went out on an 85-miler...after that 6-month layoff I expected to suffer a bit, but I flew down the trail....(part of that might have been the sheer euphoria of being back on a trail!)...in training for a future hike the magnitude of a thru-hike I'd definitely train by running and probably skip training with a pack...the good news regarding pre-hike training is that in only 2 weeks you can gain around 70% of the total expected training benefit...all gains after that are smaller and come in increasingly smaller increments...probably at least 50% of the hikers I met in Georgia, and who never made it beyond that state, quit for one reason--overuse injuries involving their knees or ankles (I suspect some just used that for an excuse--it just wasn't what they thought it would be)...it doesn't take much of an injury to drive you off the trail and completely shatter your dreams of completing a thru-hike in any given year, because it's very difficult, or sometimes outright impossible to give an injury time to heal while ''on the run"....that's reason enough to do a little pre-trip training :)

halftime
11-08-2006, 11:43
Good advice in this article.

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/article.php?p=184425&postcount=1

Gray Blazer
11-08-2006, 11:55
3 words, Tropicana Stadium. Walk up and down about 6-10 times -3 times a week. It'll get you used to those long ascents. After a few weeks, start carrying some weight. I live in Gainesville and I use FL Field, (AKA The Swamp).

sum41punk91
11-08-2006, 14:00
well thank you everyone i appreciate all the feedback, most of you just affirmed my suspicions, i got to fort desoto park and walk up and down the fort (45 steps,closest thing to a fl mt.) with about a 25 lb pack and do around 25 times more or less up and down. Jogging is something i will start doing and gradually increase to a run. once again thanks for the input everyone

Jack Tarlin
11-08-2006, 14:17
I try and STOP exercising by at least 50% in the months before a long hike.

This particlularly applies to the arm and hand raised in elevating bottles of Rolling Rock beer to my mouth. :D

A little discipline here generally results in a loss of at least fifteen pounds between November and March.

RAT
11-09-2006, 00:20
Park at the bottom of the parking lot at Wally World and double up on drinking beer :D . Food habits are of no issue.

RAT

KirkMcquest
11-09-2006, 08:36
Read the post entitled 'crushing your enemies'. It'll teach you all you need to know about training for a big hike. You'll be bigger, stronger, and the ladies will love the increased musclulature. Right ladies?