[pct-l] How go get fit?

[Nathan Miller]

>Hi my name i Joakim from Sweden. I plan to try
for the PCT in 2008. What is the best way to got
in good kondition before start. Dose any one have
a good program for it?

I recommend doing two things:
1) Walk a lot.  You'll be walking all day, every
day for the better part of six months.  If you
live close enough to where you work, start
walking to and from work every day.  This may
mean you'll have to get up at sunrise or possibly
before that.  You'll likely be doing this on the
trail most days, so you'll want to get used to
it.  If you work too far away, you can also bike.
 Be aware, however, that although this is also
good aerobic exercise, your body movements will
not be the same as those you'll be doing on the
trail.  The best training for any activity,
whether it's hiking, cycling, skiing, tennis,
football, etc. will mimic the movements you'll
experience while doing that activity.  I talked
to someone who completed a through-hike who said
that he tried to run a couple of times shortly
after completing his hike, but his legs locked up
on him.  This is partly because your body moves a
bit differently when running than it does when
hiking and partly because running (well,
sprinting, anyway) uses mostly fast-twich muscle
fibers, while hiking uses mostly slow-twitch
fibers.  This means that if you try to train for
the trail by, say, jogging every day, while it'll
be good for your cardiovascular health, you'll be
training and building entirely the wrong kind of
muscle!

2)Lift weights.  While there are some who will
insist that weight training is not necessary for
through-hike preparation, consider this:  you'll
be lifting and carrying on average between 13 and
23 kg every day on the trail!  If you use
trekking poles, your arms will be helping your
legs push you along the trail.  That sounds like
weightlifting to me!  As with your aerobic
conditioning, you'll also want to do strength
training exercises that not only help build
overall and balanced strength, you'll also want
to do exercises that mimic the movements you'll
be doing on the trail.

There is a veritable plethora of books available
on the subject, but you would do well to ignore
those that don't address the above.

Nutrition is also important and is closely
intertwined with training.  For example, if
you're not eating enough protein, your body won't
be able to build more muscle tissue, but if
you're not eating enough complex carbohydrate,
you won't be able to absorb your protein properly
and make it available to your muscles.  Again,
there is a plethora of material available on this
subject and it can be very confusing.  You'll be
okay if you ignore anything that advocates any
extremes--if it doesn't emphasize balance, you'll
be wasting your time, money and energy.

This should be enough to get you started.

-Nathan Miller
Newberg, OR



       
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