The "Optimal Backpacking Training Program"
Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:16 pm
Fellow HST Members,
Was very fortunate to conduct my own personal study which included 12 participants, ranging from the ages of 24 to 62 years old.
My study was to see if the training regime that has been developed by me over the last 4 years, and totally geared towards backpacker’s. It would increase endurance, strength and an understanding of how to maximize the body efficiency while backpacking.
Won’t describe the whole program here, but will give you some of my important findings that hopefully will benefit all backpackers/members of all ages.
1. Learn how to activate, strengthen, and use your gluteus:
This muscle is a backpacker’s best friend, and learning how to use it properly can extend your backpacking career. Not only are they the strongest muscles in your body, but it also keeps your torso erect, and therefore protects your lower back. It is important during backpacking, but also during any lifting
especially from the ground or above the head. When the gluteus extends the femur it brings the bent thigh into line with the body, which is very important during uphills, and can alleviate a huge amount of stress off the knee joint and quadriceps, which means less/or no knee pain!
The gluteus maximus and medius also support your torso when on one leg, which as backpackers you can understand it’s importance while hiking, lunging, crossing a stream on a log, or anything you do one legged and requires balance.
All the participants in this group had either back and/or knee pain of so sort, but after participating in this study reported no such problems existed after there 2011 backpacking season!
2. Shorten your stride to get the full potential of your muscle power:
All participant were taking longer steps than was needed, and therefore wasting a lot of energy, overusing the quads, and inefficiently using the glutes, calves, and hamstrings. With a shorter stride, a faster leg turn over, heel and midfoot strike, and keeping the ankle flexed as your foot rolls forward to create more force for the push off phase, that activates the calves.
3. Keep your knee- toe alignment at all times, watch the distance between you feet and legs, and bend the knees on descents:
These are important knee related issues. Keeping the knee and toe alignment, and watching the distance between your feet and legs, ensures that your legs our in properly alignment, which in turn means better strength transfer, and safety to the knee joint area. If your constantly out of alignment your putting pressure onto your ligaments, which becomes dangerous after a long day, especially for example if your in a hurry to beat sunset, and you step in a small divot or unstable rock, you could end up with a sprain, or worse a tear, and in the backcountry both are very dangerous.
When ascending and descending watch the distance between your feet and legs. All participants narrowed the distance, which reduced balance, stressing the knees, and caused loss of power transfer from glutes and calves for efficient forward movement.
Use hiking poles to relieve stress on the knees during descents, but use them only to keep your torso erect on your ascents, thus activating you glutes, and taking stress off your lower back. During descent, just as with ascents, shorten you stride, and keep your knees slightly bent. This is very important as all the participants straightened there legs on descents, especially when tired which not only pounds the knee joints, but as you get tired, and loose focus, the knee tends to veer out of alignment, and can cause injury if you misstep or slip.
Remember to take small baby step on inclines, moving up hill by extending your back leg, and pushing off with your calves. Use your hip flexors to raise your thigh to plant the next step.This is a modified rest-step method that mountaineer’s use, except you won’t be resting, and will be having a fast
turnover rate.Try this on a steep incline, using your current, mostly front leg all quad method, and you’ll start to feel the lactic acid build up as you get part of the way up. Now use this new method which uses your calves, hams and glutes instead, and if done correctly, you’ll feel a major difference! Use poles in front of you to keep your torso straight so you can keep your glutes activated (squeeze those glutes on the push off phase).
Try implementing these techniques slowly on your day hikes until they become second nature, believe me it takes several weeks, but the pay off is well worth the effort.
Hope it helps. If you have any question about exercises, or need clarification on anything please ask.
Was very fortunate to conduct my own personal study which included 12 participants, ranging from the ages of 24 to 62 years old.
My study was to see if the training regime that has been developed by me over the last 4 years, and totally geared towards backpacker’s. It would increase endurance, strength and an understanding of how to maximize the body efficiency while backpacking.
Won’t describe the whole program here, but will give you some of my important findings that hopefully will benefit all backpackers/members of all ages.
1. Learn how to activate, strengthen, and use your gluteus:
This muscle is a backpacker’s best friend, and learning how to use it properly can extend your backpacking career. Not only are they the strongest muscles in your body, but it also keeps your torso erect, and therefore protects your lower back. It is important during backpacking, but also during any lifting
especially from the ground or above the head. When the gluteus extends the femur it brings the bent thigh into line with the body, which is very important during uphills, and can alleviate a huge amount of stress off the knee joint and quadriceps, which means less/or no knee pain!
The gluteus maximus and medius also support your torso when on one leg, which as backpackers you can understand it’s importance while hiking, lunging, crossing a stream on a log, or anything you do one legged and requires balance.
All the participants in this group had either back and/or knee pain of so sort, but after participating in this study reported no such problems existed after there 2011 backpacking season!
2. Shorten your stride to get the full potential of your muscle power:
All participant were taking longer steps than was needed, and therefore wasting a lot of energy, overusing the quads, and inefficiently using the glutes, calves, and hamstrings. With a shorter stride, a faster leg turn over, heel and midfoot strike, and keeping the ankle flexed as your foot rolls forward to create more force for the push off phase, that activates the calves.
3. Keep your knee- toe alignment at all times, watch the distance between you feet and legs, and bend the knees on descents:
These are important knee related issues. Keeping the knee and toe alignment, and watching the distance between your feet and legs, ensures that your legs our in properly alignment, which in turn means better strength transfer, and safety to the knee joint area. If your constantly out of alignment your putting pressure onto your ligaments, which becomes dangerous after a long day, especially for example if your in a hurry to beat sunset, and you step in a small divot or unstable rock, you could end up with a sprain, or worse a tear, and in the backcountry both are very dangerous.
When ascending and descending watch the distance between your feet and legs. All participants narrowed the distance, which reduced balance, stressing the knees, and caused loss of power transfer from glutes and calves for efficient forward movement.
Use hiking poles to relieve stress on the knees during descents, but use them only to keep your torso erect on your ascents, thus activating you glutes, and taking stress off your lower back. During descent, just as with ascents, shorten you stride, and keep your knees slightly bent. This is very important as all the participants straightened there legs on descents, especially when tired which not only pounds the knee joints, but as you get tired, and loose focus, the knee tends to veer out of alignment, and can cause injury if you misstep or slip.
Remember to take small baby step on inclines, moving up hill by extending your back leg, and pushing off with your calves. Use your hip flexors to raise your thigh to plant the next step.This is a modified rest-step method that mountaineer’s use, except you won’t be resting, and will be having a fast
turnover rate.Try this on a steep incline, using your current, mostly front leg all quad method, and you’ll start to feel the lactic acid build up as you get part of the way up. Now use this new method which uses your calves, hams and glutes instead, and if done correctly, you’ll feel a major difference! Use poles in front of you to keep your torso straight so you can keep your glutes activated (squeeze those glutes on the push off phase).
Try implementing these techniques slowly on your day hikes until they become second nature, believe me it takes several weeks, but the pay off is well worth the effort.
Hope it helps. If you have any question about exercises, or need clarification on anything please ask.