Bridge overpasses a viable training substitute?

[MtDoraDave]

I have found mountain biking to be a great way to keep your knees in shape for hiking... but you can't really "mountain bike" along the relatively flat coastline.

I have a mountain bike that I ride to keep in shape between hikes. We have a nice little trail here in my home town. It's on the side of a hill, so it has plenty of up and down (for Florida) to get leg and cardio workouts. It does a great job keeping me in shape, until I broke my collar bone last January - which kept me from doing much of ANY exercise for a few months. Then, when I was recovered enough to start riding again (around April), my next crash strained something in my lower back ...
Mountain biking is a lot of fun, but I never had so many injuries riding my road bike - or hiking.

[perrymk]

I'm of the belief that doing something, almost anything, is usually better than nothing. That bridge walk sounds like a good plan. Not as good as a mountain, but it's what you have. The stadium walk is a good suggestion. Another idea is a stairwell if you have access to one. Tampa has a number of tall buildings.

I've taken to adding high repetition squats to the end of my leg workout. This morning I did 60 pounds for 90 repetitions, working up to 100. My heart was pounding through my chest. Afterwards I walked my neighborhood (2.25 miles) with a 20 pound pack. I also do 10 miles on local trails with a 25 pound pack every Saturday, working my way up to 12 miles with 35 pounds.

We'll see soon enough (July 2021) if it helps with mountains. I suspect it won't hurt.

[Leo L.]

I ran into an older section hiker in Maine once that was on his last year or multiyear thru hike. He lived on the beach in florida. His approach a start out walking 10 miles barefoot on the beach near the waterline (so the sand was firm) then transition to the beach away from the water and then start carrying the pack. His claim was the hot sand toughened up his feet.

I thought this was a good idea and during a 2 weeks holiday we took last spring, I started jogging barefoot up&down the beach every morning.
After the 3rd day my calves muscle ache turned into a burning-hot sensation in the Achilles tendon. Didn't take care too much but kept on some more days.
Now I'm still suffering from quite a severe Achilles tendonitis.

What I wanted to say: Take care, listen to your body, don't be too hard on anything you're doing as a novice.

[JPritch]

OP, just don't miss the forest for the trees here. By that, I mean don't focus so much on finding incline that you neglect the big picture.

Bottom line is, the more in shape you are in general, the easier your hike will be....regardless of whether you find training inclines or not. Specificity in regard to hill climbing is simply a piece of the overall fitness puzzle.

- Get lean (less weight to carry around)
- Improve endurance, both aerobic and anerobic
- Get stronger (stay balanced though. Don't just work legs. Core strength will also have a good carryover to backpacking.)
- Hike with a loaded pack wherever you can (this will work those tiny little muscles you didn't know existed until the day after your first backpacking trip)
- And if you want to improve hill climbing...then yes, highway overpasses (do you trust other drivers though?), treadmill, stair climbers, tall buildings, stadiums, lunges, etc....have at it.

[Mr. Bumpy]

As someone who in the past has done a lot of bicycle touring and now just backpacks from time to time, and having spent 5 years in FL ... no the bridges don't really prepare you for the mountains, and count your FL miles about 1/3 of a mile shorter than anywhere else!

[mclaught]

As someone who in the past has done a lot of bicycle touring and now just backpacks from time to time, and having spent 5 years in FL ... no the bridges don't really prepare you for the mountains, and count your FL miles about 1/3 of a mile shorter than anywhere else!

Y'all are killing me. Maybe I should do my first section hike in Virginia! Thank you all though for your honest input, I would've gone in completely unprepared, I think. It sure is a lot more fun buying gear and practicing tying different knots than hiking up stairs with a pack on....

[Harrison Bergeron]

You can't train for the AT. Unless you're a marathon runner, that first week (heck, that first HOUR!) is going to feel like hell, regardless of what you do. For a year prior to my AT hike, I walked three miles every day at lunch and climbed the stairs to my 16th floor office twice a day. It didn't help. 16 floors is only 160 feet. You'll be climbing, on average, three 1000 ft. mountains per day in Georgia and N.C. -- with 30 pounds on your back. That's like taking the stairs to the top of the Empire State Building three times a day.

But the adaptabililty of the human body is amazing. Within two weeks, climbing three mountains a day will merely be a days work. Within a month it will become boring work, and you will start to wonder why you bothered -- which is why the vast majority of folks who make it past Neels Gap don't make it much past Gatlinburg.

You want to be in good enough shape that you don't give yourself a heart attack, but beyond that there's not much you can do to save yourself much pain, unless you think you can become an athlete between now and May. Walking over your bridge and back a couple of times a week is fine if you can keep it up. But mostly, just walk every day. I find it's easier to keep it up if I vary my route.

[skater]

While you should do all you can to prepare and get in shape, don't let not being perfectly in shape stop you from going. Just pace yourself, plan on a reasonable number of miles per day, and listen to your body when you get out there. People in much worse shape have made it, and you can too. But don't use that as an excuse to not prepare. Better prep makes for better hike.

[Traffic Jam]

It is always beneficial to exercise. Walking up mountains is hard and sometimes (many times) it sucks, but it sucks less if you aren't in piss poor shape.

So do whatever you can, it’s better than sitting on the couch tying knots.

BTW...I believe Dogwood recommends walking in the surf to train for hiking. Do it with a pack.

[Alligator]

Elliptical machine is a great trainer if you go to the gym.

It's good to get outside and walk but 80 ft is a tiny elevation gain. I don't really note much on an AT profile until it hits 500 ft of elevation change which is a pretty regular daily occurrence on the AT. I don't recommend confining yourself to the bridge just for the 80 ft.