I'm not a gym rat, tho I frequent the place. I really hate running and making the time to work out. I figure if I give hours of extra time to others (boss, work, friends) I should at least carve out an hour a day JUST FOR ME! I'm the most important person I know.
I came to the realization I was really hurting on the trail carrying a load I shouldn't be. To get to hills here (and I am CLOSE to trails with a mile 'lift') takes a hour there (22 'stop' lights and stop signs) and same back. That is a heck of an investment for a 2.5 mile 2000' gain trip. The gym is 5 minutes away. The conundrum was should I spend the time on the trail getting in shape, or could I speed along the process (since I'm not 'out there' all the time) and get time in for me so I don't feel so badly on the trail. The truth is proper use of equipment and weights in a gym is a much more efficient and quicker way to target groups of muscles for back packing use. Use frequent trail walking/running as a way to coordinate all the muscles the gym is building and wrap things up. A gym makes up for all the time you need but don't have to spend on a trail.
Work on a plan that fits your backpacking needs - that's important. If you can only get off to be a 'weekend warrior' then the gym becomes more important. You can not just walk or jog in the neighborhood for 30 mins a day and be ready for a weekend 2 night back pack, at altitude, with a pack, on a hot (or really cold) day sleeping on the ground, in a tent while it is pouring down rain on your gear. Well, you can do it, but you might suffer for awhile afterward. Which, by the way, is not a good thing to do to your body.
A quick calculator: For 35 seconds count the number of times your left foot hits the ground. That number divided by 10 is about how fast in MPH you are walking. Works on the flat - useless on hilly. Also the closer your stride is to 5.25' the better.
Just starting up after a long hiatus (or just starting) needs a slow wind up. The first two weeks should be shorter walks (could be 40 mins in the neighborhood every day before you go to work) mainly to announce to the body that something is changing. It takes repetition of the same thing rather than extending yourself to start with. You can put whatever spin you think you can add on after the third week.
This applies especially to the gym workouts as well as day hikes. Don't make it more than a two hour slow/easy hike the first couple of weeks.
Local gym (Planet Fitness) has a $10 a month introductory fee. Cost more than that to do your laundry.
The temptation to press on to what you were like at your prime is always there...don't listen to the monkey on your back.
You should attempt not to have soft tissue soreness. It is a warning that your body is telling you are going at it too aggressively. Within 5 weeks (on a plan) you will find you have a spring in your step, you are probably sleeping better. Not a bad investment to replace all those years of couch potato hours.
Stair steppers/climbers and the Precor devices you find in gyms are great! tools. One thing about the stair step/climb machines is that you can get more out of an hour's work out then you would in a much longer period on a trail. PLUS you can manage recovery more efficiently. Work up from 5 or 10 mins toward 30 or more on stair step on a steep grade and 45 min+ on Precor two times a week. They work different muscle groups. No fair holding on to the rails. Both stairs and Precor make dandy 10 min warm ups before you do any serious exercise in a gym. A warm up is necessary before doing any strenuous activity. Spend enough time on it until you just start to 'glisten' from perspiration. Do all of your stretching after the workout.
A tread mill can do something hiking can't do. Maintain the same intense effort over time. Putting the tread mill on the highest incline and walking fast as you can for 30 mins will kick anybody's butt (don't jog - that's cheating).
Set up a jog/walk program. Start at the bottom and work up. See here:
exrx.net/Beginning.htmlThe goal for any extended time back packing is to be able to talk with your jogging partner (while joggin') for 20 mins without suffering from anaerobic breathing or collapse. Make talking to each other while jogging part of the training. You are going to spend a lot of time jogging/hiking together, might as well make it a social event.
If in a gym, spend 75% on muscles below the belly button and the rest on core (front/back) and upper body strength. Don't spend more than a few minutes on abs - more on back using 'superman' flying on your tummy.
If you are planning on using trek poles, target those muscles in a gym too. A reasonable goal is 20 pounds per stride transferred to each trek for a very long time
At end of 3th or 4th week you should be targeting 'failure' at the end of three sets. Then it is a matter of mixing up machines/procedures to keep the body from going slack on you.
Don't dawdle at a gym. Get in, do your plan and get out - get on with life.
In all your walking/hiking make 'interval training' routine. Something as simple as 3 min strenuous interval with 10 mins of 'recovery' walking works like magic.
Always be involved while you are moving during the day. Try to do things with a purpose - but not so much that others notice. While standing in line or waiting for something to happen, keep heels on the ground and lean back and a little down as if you are sitting on a large balloon - putting as much weight on your heels as you can. Hold for as long as you can then repeat. Walk by slightly moving your foot toward the stationary foot just barely grazing the ankle and placing the step just a bit to the side of an imaginary line. This should cause you to feel it in the inside of your thighs - just slightly.
Panamint City is a great place to visit - on a cool day. It gets more beat up by vandals each year. It can be a strenuous and dangerous hike in the summer. There are many books on the early mining days and the hardships the early miners had just getting to work. All up and down US 395 are old almost forgotten treasures of information and adventure. So many places...really.
mapper.acme.com/?ll=36.14235,-117.09254&z=14&t=T&marker0=36.11828%2C-117.09533%2Cpanamint%20city%20ca
Telescope Peak near by Panamint is a worthy goal for one who is reasonably fit and is packing plenty of water.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescope_Peakwww.summitpost.org/telescope-peak/150584
