I’m planning on thru-hiking beginning in march 2004. I’m wondering what some former thru-hikers did to get ready physically. What kind of work-out plans, etc. When should I start working out seriously to get ready? Any advice would be helpful!
hippie hiker chic
Beer and meat! Seriously try not to be too overweight and do some running to build up your cardiovascular and lung capacity. Lay off dope and cigarettes.
Lone Wolf
I was afraid you’d say quit smoking! ha! I know I need to, that’s the new year’s resolution. any ideas how to keep from smoking???
When did you thru-hike?
hippie hiker chic
How to keep from smoking AND drinking? Hike with Baltimore Jack. He’ll also teach you the fine art of Golite hiking. Jardine doesn’t hold a candle to Jack! When did I thru-hike? I ain’t thru hikin yet. I’m still tryin to get my fat ass under 200 and my pack under 45! At least I don’t smoke and eat veggies. Beer and meat is the way! You’re physically ready already, hippie chic. You ain’t one of them veggie pita pocket eatin dead heads are ya?
Lone Wolf
Depending on what part of the country you are in, simply getting out and walking first, then putting on the pack and hitting the local loops or parks can help. I live near east TN, so shakedowns are abundant, the city I live in also has a great wilderness loop nearby. You may be able to take advantage of somthing like this. It doesnt take alot, its only walking after all.
bono
I didn’t do anything. I had planned to workout before I left but with finals and other stresses, I never got around to it. And you know what? Its not necessary. I’m late 20’s, never exercised, smoked, drank, etc. If you are better off than that I wouldn’t worry about training.
Ganj
We know a certain guy who beat up the leg press machine. It helped a ton in the snow. He ran the trail every day. SOmething about walking with a pack uses different muscles than just plan walking. The wife uses the tread mill at the local health club with her pack on; thirty pounds on the max setting on the stair machine for thirty minutes a day also. I’m a mouse potato these days, but still post trail weight.
BW
The better physical shape you are in prior to starting, the more enjoyable your first few weeks are going to be, because they are going to be that much easier.
How do you get into shape? The best conditioning is backpacking itself. If possible, go out for 3 to 4 day trips in advance.
Assuming that that’s not realistic, than almost anything that gets you moving is good. I have hiked, shoeshoed, done ski marathons, road races, orienteering, and cycling. They all help get your body in shape. A couple of years ago, Windex used a stairmaster with her pack on for conditioning. 3 times a week really helps.
Peaks
Don’t forget to stretch the legs after hiking each day to help prevent pulls. That goes with a toasty warm bag so you don’t curl up like hound dog and get tight. Most injuries we saw came from the first step out of the shelter to the ground, SNAP goes the tendon. Or like I did falling out of a privy, don’t ask. Warm up slow and stretch at lunch breaks.
BW
in 95 I hiked with some folks who would play hacky sack every night after dinner. i would join in. it was great forstretching and getting the kinks out after a long day.
Lone Wolf
Wow! I’m glad I found this forum! You guys are the best. I’m planning on leaving in March of 2004. If anyone is near/in NC maybe we could get together and do some hiking? I’ve got school and a full time job, but I can usually find time to hike on the weekends with my akita(she loves it!), and it’s a good reason to procrastinate!
My e-mail is above, drop me a note!
Ugghhh. This quitting smoking thing is going to get to me. Probably harder than the trail itself! I’m going to need support in Januray–it’s my new year’s resolution.
I hope I’ll be ok physically–this coming from the girl who, on a dare, signed up for a military university just to see if I could do it. I did, without exercising at all beforehand, and I STILL haven’t gotten my $20, damn it!
hippie hiker chic
As others have said, walking some and possibly doing some backpacking will help. The better shape you are in at the start the easier it will be. You see a lot of people get discouraged early on because they can’t do the miles like some others and ‘fall behind.’ It isn’t a race so why does that matter? But it is hard when you meet people you enjoy hiking around but they pull way out ahead of you and then you never see them again.
If you do nothing you will be fine as long as you realize you need to go slow and not push yourself too hard. You will probably injure yourself if you do…or burnout early. You have to get plenty of rest as your body adjust itself to the demands you place on it. After a month, most hikers will all be good physical condition and the avg daily miles will be similar, with some exceptions for the super fast/slow hikers.
Having said that I remember hiking with a hiker named Dan who was in his 60s and I was constantly amazed at how fast he could go down hills WITHOUT hiking poles. Downhills are the worse thing for your knees it seems. At least it was for me. Saw a lot of people leave the trail with knee injuries. You see a LOT of people wearing knee braces after a couple weeks. I only made it 580 miles and knees still aren’t the same. I cannot run now the pain is so bad and fear I may have done permanent damage. And I love to run BTW. I asked Dan how he could do the downhills so fast and he told me he had spent a couple years getting ready for a thru hike and did a lot of strenght training on his legs.
Wouldn’t hurt to go to the gym and build up some muscle in your legs. I know from running, the more muscle you add with strenght training, the fewer injuries I had and your body can store more glycogen (carbs) in your increased muscle mass. Marathon training is all about teaching your body to store more glycogen, and burn it more efficiently, so you will be able to get to the 20 mile mark. It is the last 6 miles when you are out of stored energy the “fun” begins. The point is, you will be able to do longer miles early in the hike if you have more energy at the end of the day. Could be important for those who have time constraints and need to finish a hike in 4 months vice 6 for example.
Rerun
In addition to an exercise regime, one of the things I did before my AT hike was to toughen up my feet. I did this by walking around the neighborhood barefoot. I did this 5 days per week for 2 months prior to hiking. The distance I covered was about 2 miles. When I first started out I felt every little stone and twig I stepped on, after 2 months I could comfortably walk along a stone path and stones, twigs etc didn’t bother me one bit.
It certainly worked for me as I didn’t have any of the feet problems many other hikers experienced in their early days.
Downunda
squats. lots of squats to build muscle around your knee! (also helps on the lower back too).
i’m starting in mid march end of march in 04 as well. I dont plan on doing much conditioning tho. sometime next year i’ll be doing the pennine way here in england, which is only 256 miles.
beyond that i wont be putting on the pack and charging around the local park. just squats to keep me knees in good whack!
MadAussieInLondon
Where’d you hear about the AT? My friends in Ireland think I’m crazy, but that’s ok! Seems like only crazy Americans would hike 2,200 miles! hahaha! How are you getting ready? When are you going to start getting gear?
hippie hiker chic
ah, i went to Jamiaca and smoked two pounds thge week before i hiked… that seemed to help…
aswah 2000
Aswah
hi hhc, for my training, as i said, lots of squats. I’m also going to hike the pennine way here in england (256 miles) that runs up to the scottish border.
as for gear, i have lots of it (pack, clothes, stove etc), looking at a new down bag (north face blue kazoo).
i’ve got some prelim entries in my trailjournal
if your looking for more info, groups.yahoo.com has a 2004 list (at2004) for those of us going in 04, hikersrus group is for those going on the 03 trek.
MadAussieInLondon
For those of you planning to leave in early March, there are a bunch of folks at the Yahoo Group “at-hikers” who are planning to leave on or about 1 March (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/at-hikers)
Also, there are a bunch of folks on the A.T. Forums at www.whiteblaze-net who are planning to take off around then.
Lastly, there’s another Yahoo Group for folks planning on hiking in 2003, see htp://groups.yahoo.com/group/hikersRus
There has been a good bit of discussion on these sites about early (i.e. February/early March) starts, and what you’re likely to encounter weather-wise. Those of you determined to take off early in the season might want to check some of this stuff out
BaltimoreJack
Preparation for my hike included various upper body exercises which I think helped because I literally dragged myself up the mountains with my hiking poles on some days. I sometimes used a 10lb dumbell in my walks before the hike.
I also added an extra 20 pounds to my pack during my pre hike jaunts which were not much help because everything is flat around me - absolutely no comparison to walking up and down the mountains of the AT. I’m glad I got in shape before the hike.
HotFoot