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Torch09
12-04-2010, 17:09
Prior to my '09 thru hike, I was able to do at least 25 pull-ups. Afterwards, I could only do about 5.

Has anyone else experienced muscle loss like this? Any ideas about how to prevent it? :-?

Maybe a short workout routine in the shelter every night?
Or (brace yourself) adding weight *gasp* to my trekking poles?
Stop in PA for a few weeks to clear rocks from the trail?

Let's hear some ideas:banana

Megapixel
12-04-2010, 17:12
Prior to my '09 thru hike, I was able to do at least 25 pull-ups. Afterwards, I could only do about 5.

Has anyone else experienced muscle loss like this? Any ideas about how to prevent it? :-?

Maybe a short workout routine in the shelter every night?
Or (brace yourself) adding weight *gasp* to my trekking poles?
Stop in PA for a few weeks to clear rocks from the trail?

Let's hear some ideas:banana
did you workout (upper body), regularly, b4 you went on your thru? I guess it makes since this happened because your body would be using all available muscle building blocks for your lower half. Not sure even a high potency protein supplement could keep you at your pre-hike level, without working out your upper body regularly, but a protein supplement in grand dosage is probably the most reasonable answer considering the energy it takes each day just to thru hike. No way i'm working out when i get to camp.

njordan2
12-04-2010, 17:21
Simple push ups in the morning works wonders on keeping upper body strength when hiking long distances.
That should do the trick.

Luddite
12-04-2010, 17:39
After you lose all your fat your body consumes your muscle. Maybe you needed to eat more.

10-K
12-04-2010, 18:49
Before I went on my long section hike this past summer I spent hours and hours building upper body strength and when I left I was actually pretty buff - 6 pack and all - not bad for an old guy. :)

By the time I got to ME, most of it was gone and I had put on several lbs. After hiking 20+ miles day in and day out my desire to do calisthenics just wasn't there.

TheChop
12-04-2010, 19:20
And put glass shard in your shoes!

Physiologically it's extremely difficult to build muscle when you're operating at a caloric deficit which it seems most people have on trail.

How quickly after the trail did you get back up to 25 pushups? After five months of being punished the body could simply be out of "juice" so to speak and need time to recover and that strength could come back relatively quickly.

dloome
12-04-2010, 19:27
I met a rock climber on the PCT who wanted to maintain his upper body more while hiking- He rigged up these holsters in his trekking poles which held two, 1 liter bottles on each pole, which is 4# per pole when full of water. Seemed to work for him.

runfifty
12-04-2010, 19:44
I had a similar experience with my pull-ups. Didn't affect my hiking and I got back to normal after I returned home and resumed my workout routine. After 20 miles of hiking, there was no motivation to do further exercise.
My recommendation would be to do stretching at the end of the days hike to reduce the chance of injury.

Lone Wolf
12-04-2010, 21:53
Prior to my '09 thru hike, I was able to do at least 25 pull-ups. Afterwards, I could only do about 5.

Has anyone else experienced muscle loss like this? Any ideas about how to prevent it? :-?

Maybe a short workout routine in the shelter every night?
Or (brace yourself) adding weight *gasp* to my trekking poles?
Stop in PA for a few weeks to clear rocks from the trail?

Let's hear some ideas:banana

back in the day (mid 80s-mid90s) i would do push-ups most mornings and rock curls as i hiked then sit-up/push-ups at nite. one year i would run a few miles on my days off in towns

garlic08
12-04-2010, 22:09
My solution is a better diet. Muscle loss happened to me on my first long hike. Guys at work were really worried about me. But I learned some lessons about eating and I did not have the problem nearly as much on subsequent hikes. I ate less processed crap (see the concurrent thread about Honey Buns) and more real food. I concentrated on high-protein nuts, legumes, and cheeses. After my last long hike, the AT in '08, I returned to my firefighter job barely skipping a beat.

Iceaxe
12-05-2010, 00:36
I agree with you Garlic.
Protein in the diet seemed to have a lot to do with muscle maintenance on the trail. I even tried to put a quantity on it. I found that 90 grams of protein a day for as long as possible made a huge difference for me. I had mystery pains on my first thru hike. Usually after a nearo or zero day spent eating fresh food they would vanish. Of course I thought it had to be simply I was calorie starved. Then something happened. I got Giardiasis and lost 30 lbs. I continued to hike while taking the antibiotics. Upon reaching Drakesbad on the PCT I ate 2 lbs of Turkey meat, stayed for dinner and breakfast eating as much protein as I could. The effect was amazing. Every single muscle pain vanished overnight. I actually gained back 20 of the lost pounds on the way to Canada.
Anyhow this year I made a concious effort to eat a minimum of 90 grams of protein a day. This was easy in resupply towns. On the trail however i ususally could only keep it up for a couple of days and then I was eating about 50 grams by the time I hit a resupply again.
This year I did not have a single muscle pain either during or after the trail. I cannot prove it was the protein scientifically. YMMV.
Most of the protein I got on trail was spam,tuna, builders bars, cliff bars, peanut butter etc. If you check the labels it takes a lot of those things to get you up to 90 grams a day. It's heavy and a pretty bulky diet.
Hey as a humorous side note. On the PCT hiker Lint would sometimes clap his hands and on que some hikers would drop and start doing push ups. It was awesome! :sun

trailangelbronco
12-05-2010, 01:06
Hiking poles will do the trick. After long distance hikes I notice arm strength and even better, crazy arm coordination and fast reflexes.

wvgrinder
12-05-2010, 15:51
Simple push ups in the morning works wonders on keeping upper body strength when hiking long distances.
That should do the trick.

Another vote here for push-ups. In the morning, before lunch, and before dinner.