hiking

i hiking in the marine corp with a pack on my back bout 60-80 and i have been training, exercising, and hiking...but for some reason i am still very not good at it...it seems that whenever we hit that incline a hill or a mountain i just cant do it...my breathing becomes very difficult and i just get burnt out...can anyone give me some tips on how to become better at hiking... anything!!!

Do you smoke by any chance, or drink a lot? I say this because our age is probably very close, and I have family and friends in the corp. In any case, if I were you I would increase strength training and make sure you are properly hydrated and nurished. If I am off base and you need better direction please ask, as my college major pertains to this type of question. But THANK YOU for your service and please respond with any questions.

Hydration (mentioned above) is critical - if you feel thirsty you're already dehydrated. If regulations allow you to do so you may want to try an energy gel to give you a little boost on the hills.

If uphills are your demon then you need to do endurance training in hilly terrain and push yourself to handle the hills better - it'll be uncomfortable (miserable, actually) at first but over time you'll see improvements and eventually you'll be able to climb hills with the best of them.

Running stairs, while rather dull as activities go will help to shrink those hills by conditioning the muscles and help you to improve your aerobic conditioning, which will allow you to go harder for longer periods of time before you go anaerobic. The more times you push through that wall and drive on the better, as your body will learn to deal with it. Start with 20 minutes and build from there - you should, by the way, be totally shagged at the end of your workout. Stay hydrated while working out - a camelback really helps for that.

Assuming that you are otherwise in good health and fit:

The key to success on long all day uphills, especially at high altitude is 'step' breathing. Take a step and inhale, exhale on the next step. Set up a rhythm that you maintain for a relatively long duration. As the incline gets steeper, take shorter steps to get more oxygen, but keep the slow steady cadence going. Just move the heel closer to the toe of the previous step. As the trail levels out keep the same cadence and just lengthening your strides.

A way to practice this is on stairs. Take it slow and steady trying to find a stepping rate that you can maintain for at least 10-20 mins without distress. It will be surprisingly slower than you think.

This is a learned skill that you get better at with continued practice. The goal is to stop only about once and hour to eat a little, rest a little, drink a lot and take in the view. It takes a little concentration not to slack off but to keep the pressure on the cardio bit.

Before the start of an incline start your step breathing at least 20 secs before the incline - it takes that long for the body to catch on that you are out of breath. Once you have an oxygen deficit its hard to catch up with out stopping.

Pressure breathing also helps. Exhale through pursed lips causing a little back pressure.

A pair of trek poles used correctly can take 20 pounds a stride off your legs. That's about 40,000 pounds a mile! But it goes to your upper body muscles - which of course have to be ready to take on the chore.

If he's "hiking" with the Marines (or any military unit) he may not be able to dictate his own pace, and I'm pretty certain they'd frown on the use of trekking poles! I think what he's really got to do is hit the stairs and just teach his body to climb. As a Marine I'd presume that he's fairly fit, so he likely needs to work on his breathing technique and push his cardio fitness to the next rung.

Keep in mind, he states he's carrying 60-80 on his back which I presume to be pounds, so his fitness has to account for carrying that load plus body armor, helmet, BDU's, boots, weapon and other goodies so it's likely he's carrying an extra 100 - 120 lbs FSO (from skin out) -

Very cool, we've got an edit function! Good job!

I missed that he was STILL in the marines. What I get for coming in here late at night.

I suspect that before training is over you will be up to the rest of the crowd.

The only way I know of to get fit for hiking is to do a lot of it. Sounds simple, but it's true. Also, get as much rest as you can between hikes (which I know may be hard in the military), be sure to eat plenty of carbs-pasta, that sort of thing, for fuel, and drink plenty of liquids. Sports drinks with electrolytes in them, like Gatorade may help.

As I mentioned, eating plenty of calories should help; if you run out of fuel, you will not have enough energy towards the end of the hike to keep up.

Hello Byran: You mentioned that you get winded on inclines. I am wondering what kind of time you are running on your three mile run and where you fall into your age group. It sounds like your cardiovacsular needs to be improved. I am going to guess that you are not running as well as you would like and that your BMI is perhaps a little high. I personally wouldnt worry about humping your ruck for practice. I would concentrate on your endurance training and cardio training. Walk, jog some stairs (be careful on the steps) or jog the hills that you are humping your ruck on. Do wind sprints. If you have a bike, do wind sprints on it. When I was at Konehoe, the gym had a fitness trainer on staff. Perhaps your gym where you are stationed at would have a trainer that could help you. Good luck.