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How to Train for a Long Hiking Trip
So you’re finally ready to do it: heading out to the Grand Canyon in a month or two, you feel excited for all of the views you’re going to see. But are you ready for all of the exercise you’re going to get? If you need to shake off your hiking rust, this article will help whip you back into hiking shape so you can concentrate on the nature – not the nuisance.
There’s No Training Like the Real Thing
You might be putting in extra hours at the office in order to make sure that you can have this extended hiking trip, but that doesn’t mean you can’t squeeze in a few hiking jaunts on your own. If you can, bring your spouse on these hiking trips so that you both receive the benefits. If you venture out alone, make sure you don’t venture far off the beaten path – your goal is simply to re-acquaint yourself with the experience of hiking. If you must have adventure, make sure you bring equipment like a compass and GPS device.
There is no training like the real thing: hiking up and down hills will help you not only build up the leg strength you’ll be requiring, it will help you work out the details of your own trip. What did you forget to bring on this hiking trip that you’ll need on your hiking trip? What was uncomfortable about your hike, and what can you buy out there on the marketplace that will help you feel better?Training Near or At Home
Of course, it’s not always possible to get out there and hike in the woods. How should you exercise and prepare today?
First, take a look at your daily routine. Whether you’re sitting on the couch all day or simply taking a daily walk, you might want to change things up to better reflect what you’ll be doing on your trip. If you’ve been avoiding that big hill on your walk, it’s time to take on the challenge. If your treadmill has an incline feature, be sure to make avid use of it.
Second, make sure you feel okay about leaving indoor civilization for hours at a time, even if your exercise routine keeps you on the treadmill. Ask yourself what you’d need to feel comfortable: plenty of water and snacks, sure. But also remember that on your hiking trip, you’ll want to bring gadgets like binoculars and a digital camera. Most importantly: be cautious and safe, and you should have plenty of fun.
Photo Credits: tricky ™
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Hiking Speed vs Walking Speed
When many aspiring hikers are interested in learning how to get into “hiking shape” for the summer, a frequent question that comes up is the issue of pace, or speed. While many people don’t care to measure their hiking speed, so long as they work up a sweat, others like to know their speed for navigational and even physical purposes – it helps them measure their progress and calories burnt. If you want to understand your hiking speed, however, you’ll also want to know how it measures against your normal walking speed.
That’s why many people are so interested in the speed at which they hike. To them, their speed reflects their results – if they can make it up a hill in an hour when they used to take an hour and a half, they know that they’ve made tangible progress in their development. So let’s take a look at how hiking speed and walking speed can tell you about the kind of shape you’re in.
A Rule of Thumb
Generally, for every hundred pounds you weigh, you’ll burn about 45 calories per hour going at a speed of two miles per hour – but that’s just on a smooth level surface. The energy output required will approximately double for every mile per hour you increase, meaning you’ll burn about 90 calories per hundred pounds at three miles an hour, and so on.
The reason so many people enjoy hiking is that the incline adds a significantly greater energy requirement to your workout routine, increasing the amount of calories you’ll need to burn in order to go the same distance or the same speed as you would on a level surface. Because an increase in speed requires a similar increase in energy on a smooth level surface, you can expect the same to happen when you’re hiking up an incline.
Don’t Measure Against Walking Speeds
A mile hike is quite different than a mile walk, so don’t try to compare your speed going up a hill with the kind of speed you can expect to see when you walk on an incline. Anyone who’s used the incline feature on a treadmill knows what kind of power requirement gravity can add to any exercise. If you find that you were hiking at two miles an hour but you still feel like you had a decent workout, it’s safe to say that you should judge the quality of your workout by how challenging it felt, not by what the numbers always say.
A good hiking speed will rival a pretty calm walk. Avoid the beginner’s mistake of hiking too fast so that you can build endurance – intermittently include periods of greater intensity.
Photo Credits: justinjohnsen
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Five Reasons to Make Hiking Your Next Hobby
When someone asks you what you like to do in your free time, are you sick of having nothing to say? “Well, I watch a lot of TV” isn’t exactly a great conversation starter. If you’ve been feeling like a couch potato lately and want to spice up your life, guess what? I have a suggestion for you. Take up hiking! Hiking is a great hobby that means exercise, fresh air, and, of course, a little something to talk about. Here are five reasons to make hiking your next hobby.
Reason #1: Regular exercise. It seems like a strange thing – suggesting “exercise” as a reason to go out and, well, exercise, but hiking is a great form of exercise that includes challenge, variety, and great views. Many people dislike exercise because of the monotony it can mean. Hiking isn’t exactly logging miles on the treadmill. Hiking is about going out and experiencing the world and the variety it has to offer. You’ll feel like a million bucks after a good hike.
Reason #2: Having a life. When someone asks you what you did with your weekend, do you always wish you had something more to say than “Well, nothing”? If so, give hiking a try – at least once – and see how much better you feel about your life. As with many things worthwhile, it will take a little bit of discipline to get yourself out there, but once you are, you’ll be glad you did. Sometimes it pays to avoid the easy comforts.Reason #3: Challenge. Why does hiking feel more fulfilling than walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes? Because the treadmill can often be flat, dull, and boring. Hiking is a hobby with challenge. You’ll often be walking on an incline, which means more exercise, and you’ll encounter different terrain and views along the trail.
Reason #4: Pride. Staying at home and lounging around feels good in the moment, but you have to ask yourself at the end of every day if you’re glad about what you did that day. Many times, we look back on the times we’ve had and regret the days we spent seeking comfort rather than enjoying life to its fullest. You’ll feel proud of yourself when you finally get out of the house.
Reason #5: Meeting new people. When you go out hiking, it’s hard to miss other hikers out there – with a shared hobby, you’ll have something to break the ice!
Photo Credits: brewbooks
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How to Hike for the Sights
While not all of us live in northern Arizona (think Grand Canyon territory), that doesn’t mean there aren’t sights to be hold when out hiking. Whether you live in the piney upper regions of the midwest, the forrests in the Pacific coast, or down south by the beaches, there’s plenty for everyone to see – you just need to know how to go see it.
Hiking has a million benefits as a hobby – it gives you fresh air, builds endurance, and gets your focus away from the office or the house. It gets you outdoors again, but one of the great payoffs to hiking is surmounting the obstacles, making your brief little journey up a hill, and truly earning the sight at the top. This gives you exercise more meaning than running laps in a gym or running like a hamster on a treadmill.
Here are some quick tips for hiking “for the sights,” and how to go about finding the best sights in your area:
- Ask those who know – If you’re not doing this, then what’s wrong with you? Of course you ask those who know – ask the hikers, ask the people you see “out there” and find out the best sites i your county. This is one of the easiest ways to do it, and people will be eager to give their recommendations if you look like you’re really willing to take their advice. They might even rank a few sights for you, from best to worst. Take advantage of the social aspects of hiking and learn about the sights in your area.
- Snoop around – If you want to quickly find out a sight to see for your first hiking trip, take to the internet. You’ll be able to take a look on Google Maps and even see pictures form particular areas, and this will give you a hint as to what’s out there. If you live in especially rocky areas, this will simplify your search, and if you live in some more desolate regions, you’ll find the best places to link up to. You can’t go wrong with a quick search on the internet as long as you take your snooping seriously.
- Explore – Duh! But you might find even greater satisfaction if you don’t look for the sights ahead of time, and simply go hiking in search of the sights. Exploring is a great way to get outside of your head and back into nature, focusing on the adventure itself oand not the latest annoyance at work or the stress at home. Going exploring has something primeval about it, a certain childlike quality that many of us miss in our adult days. Get out there and don’t read the stories; make the stories.
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These are just some of the ways to hike for sights, but you’ll never get to enjoy any of it if you’re not eventually out there, pushing one foot in front of the other. Go out and hike, and the sights will find you.
