Big Guys?

[Ron "So Big" B]

I am just wondering if any Big Guys ever thru-hike?

I am a 6'3 268lb ex-college FB player. Just always been a big guy. Over the past 16 months I have dropped 105 pounds by walking trails and biking. My goal is to get down to 223 by my 50th BD, August 1st.

Just wondering as most on here seem to be leaner and meaner. LOL

Oh yeah, I am striving to get to 245 lbs before the start of my flip-flop at Harpers Ferry in mid-April.

Thanks

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Several good-sized fellows post here and I've run into many on the trail.

[bigcranky]

Wow, 105 pounds is great. Congrats. Yes, big guys thru-hike. Just take it easy at the beginning, because of the added stress to your knees and ankles. Try to keep your pack fairly light, too, which is a good idea no matter what you weigh. Go on some weekend and week-long hikes to work out the details before you head to Georgia. Oh, and seeing as you are from Kansas, make sure some of those shorter hikes include a little elevation change. (Sorry.)

Speaking for myself, I left 'lean' behind a long time ago.

[TJ aka Teej]

Over the past 16 months I have dropped 105 pounds by walking trails and biking.

That's awesome, Ron!

[oldfivetango]

I am just wondering if any Big Guys ever thru-hike?

I am a 6'3 268lb ex-college FB player. Just always been a big guy. Over the past 16 months I have dropped 105 pounds by walking trails and biking. My goal is to get down to 223 by my 50th BD, August 1st.

Just wondering as most on here seem to be leaner and meaner. LOL

Oh yeah, I am striving to get to 245 lbs before the start of my flip-flop at Harpers Ferry in mid-April.

Thanks
Ok big guy-you've lost me already with this post.
I weighed exactly 105 pounds when I graduated high school.
Good luck on your hike-it's a big place out there and you
won't be crowding anybody,unless you stay in a mouse infested
shelter,maybe.
Cheers,
OFT

[4eyedbuzzard]

Over the past 16 months I have dropped 105 pounds by walking trails and biking.

That's exceptional. But you do realize you'll never be able to sell your weight loss program to the general public - unless of course you can figure out a way to put 16 months of activity and commitment in a pill.;)

Maybe you could invent the "Hiking made Simple" plan. Instructions: Put one foot in front of the other. Repeat, repeat, repeat... (Left, right, left...left, right, left... Sgt. Rock can probably help us out here.):)

Seriously though, congrats on your accomplishment, and have a great hike.

[icemanat95]

1995 saw the arrival in the AT trail scene of a guy named "Beorn" Beorn was a 400+ pounder, about 6'3 or so and a huge, bearlike appetite, and an even bigger snore. Guy was very much larger than life and controversy followed him around. He lost a lot of weight on the trail but far from all that he needed to lose. He claimed to be a medically discharged Navy SEAL, but that's not real likely taking everything else about him into consideration.

[Lone Wolf]

1995 saw the arrival in the AT trail scene of a guy named "Beorn" Beorn was a 400+ pounder, about 6'3 or so and a huge, bearlike appetite, and an even bigger snore. Guy was very much larger than life and controversy followed him around. He lost a lot of weight on the trail but far from all that he needed to lose. He claimed to be a medically discharged Navy SEAL, but that's not real likely taking everything else about him into consideration.

the legend www.angelfire.com/ma/beorntf/page6.html

[Big Dawg]

This Big Dawg would be a thru hiker if life presented that option. As a new dad, that's not happening anytime soon. But as a section hiker, I'm one of the bigger hikers on the trail,,, currently 6'5" & 275lbs,, top weight last August was 320lbs, & my goal weight hopefully by summer is 225lbs.

[chelko]

Ron,

Great job on the weight loss, I am also a former college lineman and lumber up the trail at 6'3" and a svelt 290. My hiking buddies tell me I hike like a skinny man. I think they just want to make me feel good.

I was on a week long section hike in GA this past summer and met a thru hiker that went by the name of "Big Pappy" his real name was Terry Reid I think.

He was an african american guy that was 6' 1" and had to weigh at least 350, he dwarfed me. I was hoping to hike with him again around Mt Rogers later in the summer but he vanished off the trail.

His only complaint was he couldn't carry enough food to satisfy his appetite, he also had a blood sugar issue.

Good luck and keep hiking.

[bigben]

I'm 6'3" 285lbs ex-college football player also, section hiker but have yet to thruhike. Low pack weight is harder to achieve, no matter what anyone says. Your clothes, sleeping bag/pad possibly tent, all weighs more, and you're probably carrying more food and water than the average size person. At first, I stressed about this, but I had no trouble with even a 50 lb pack, as long as the footwear and actual pack fit you well. Poles help me.

Bigben

[Ron "So Big" B]

Wow. This is all very encouraging to me. I am so excited about hiking the AT.

Bigben, I totally agree on packweight. I am striving to keep it light yet my frame has been used to packing considerable weight. Now that I have dropped over 100lb my knees thank me daily.

I have yet to put together a website for my upcoming AT hike but here is my biking site where it all started. In the beginning I started with biking because of less stress of the 373lbs on my feet and joints.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/imagine (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/imagine)

[Touch of Grey]

50 years young 6' 3" and 265 as of the doctors visit yesterday.

I was 4 years ago up at 300 while I was working and did the Weight Watchers thing. Lost roughly 95 pounds but never really felt comfortable in my new body. It doesn't help when freinds and family who were behind your goal of weight loss begin to tell you when you get below 220 that you look as if youo are sick. I didn't loose it quickly took nearly a year.

Anyway, I too am looking forward to the trail making me a lean mean hiking machine. Oh BTW, the way doc was concerned about my weight also but after I told him the reason for the physical besides my regular prostrate exam, he was supportive. He said he would work with me when I get back home to learn how to maintain my lost weight comfortably. He agrees also that while the charts the insurance companies publish say that for my age and height I should weigh somewhere between 195 and 210 that 225 is a good goal to maintain long term so long as I keep the body fat level down.

My plan for the beginning is no more than 6 - 8 miles slowly for the first couple of weeks until I get my legs. Not that it has anything tio do with it because they are two very different things but I go for walks now locally of 8 - 10 miles on fairly level ground compared to the AT and generally take three to 4 hours to accomplish it.

Good Luck and Hope to meet you on the trail this year.

TOG

[Almost There]

I'm a 6ft, 250lb, high school football coach and wrestling coach. I still bench around 300lbs and routinely workout 3-6 days a week. Once in trail shape I hike at around 3mph. Big guys have no problem hiking. The key is letting your body get into trail shape as your tendons, joints, and ligaments will all take a greater beating until they're in shape. I recommend flexibility training, since incorporating this and sticking with it...I have had zero overuse injuries. Good Luck!

[chelko]

A few yeard ago I started to suffer knee pain on the last two days of a week long section hike. It felt as if I had strained my medial collateral ligaments in a twist. I didn't remember injuring them so it kind of worried me. I went to see the doctor when I got home and he sent me to a physical therapist who had me fitted for custom footbed orthotics, I had been using off the shelf superfeet for a few years. This made all the difference in the world to the point that it changed the quality of my life. The PT said the falling of arches and over pronation injuries that affect the anklles and knees are much more common in people over 200lbs. Just physics he says, heavy people flatten out their feet. If you are not using footbeds know you may want to investigate them because it would sure suck to be a month into a thru and have leg problems that stem from your feet taking that pounding day after day.

[Kevin A. Boyce]

Yep.. there are are few of us big boys out on the trail, 6'3", 260 myself...

You will notice the weight drop off even more when you get out on the Trail... My bit of advice, an echo of someone else's already, take it slow at the start... Don't try to keep up them bean-pole thin folks...:D Just go at your own pace... When I try to keep up with some of my less-weighty friends I bonk quick... When I go at my own pace, I can put up almost the same daily mileage... Pluse I enjoy the hike more, why be speedy and miss something.

And yes, cycling is a great way to get the weight loss started... I have an indoor trainer for my road bike, it makes it easier to motivate myself to get on it and ride a few miles daily to keep up the fitness...

Keep on cruising!

[ASUGrad]

I was following a trail journal of a guy who was way over 300 lbs. I'm not so sure he wasn't at 350. He did a Nobo thru hike. I never found out how much he lost on the hike.