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Posted by Bill S on April 5, 2007 at 11:49:42 am EDT
In reply to Re: Heavy packs, climbing and long-term injuries posted by Dave on April 5, 2007 at 9:41:24 am EDT

Thanks for specifically pointing out the need for conditioning, Dave. I hinted at it in a couple of my comments, but it really warrants explicit comment.

One thing I have noticed as I add years and miles is the need to do more regular conditioning and training, added to the longer time required for recovery. If I haven't been hiking/climbing/cycling/skiing for more than a couple weeks, I tend to get stiff and stay sore longer than if I am doing a minimum of 3 days a week of, for example, 5 to 10 mile training hikes with at least 1000 feet of altitude gain. And for backpacking, I need to be carrying a load up the hill on each of these training hikes, or the long backpack or approach with the climbing gear leaves me stiff and sore (I load the pack with gallon jugs of water, which can be dumped at the top of the hill, so there is no load and less impact on the joints going downhill).

When I was young (that is, less than 50 y.o), I didn't have to do as much training and conditioning (except when I was racing bikes and wanted to be truly competitive rather than "dead last but finished").

As for Dave's question of putting in miles of ultralight conditioning for the occasional big load, I dunno. But my guess, thinking back on my own experience, is that it helps build and maintain a base. But the heavy load is gonna leave you sore. Depending on the load, it might produce some permanent damage. OTOH, most of my training hikes are carrying no more than a couple liters of water, which gets drunk by the end of 3 hours (2 hours in summer), and carrying that 25 pounds of climbing gear on top of the 20 pounds of camping gear and food the 10 miles into the Sierra doesn't seem to be that bad.

Replies

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• Re: Heavy packs, climbing and long-term injuries - FMD 09:21:05 04/19/2007
• Re: Heavy packs, climbing and long-term injuries - Tom D 14:13:12 04/05/2007
  • Re: Heavy packs, climbing and long-term injuries - Bill S 20:18:30 04/05/2007
    • Re: Heavy packs, climbing and long-term injuries - Tom D 23:24:45 04/05/2007
      • Re: Heavy packs, climbing and long-term injuries - Uhuru Henry 16:37:33 04/10/2007
        • Re: Heavy packs, climbing and long-term injuries - Bill S 19:34:40 04/10/2007
          • Re: Heavy packs, climbing and long-term injuries - Uhuru Henry 07:44:08 04/11/2007

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