Breaking out the pack

Monday, March 22, 2010


It had been raining all day and so a ride outside was not in the cards. I didn’t want to do the trainer, so I had decided it was time to slip on the pack and do step-ups.

I keep a backpack with 60 pounds of stuff in it for training hikes I do in preparation for trips to the Adirondack Mountains. I’m already getting the fever and this would be my inaugural walk of the season. I keep a 50# bag of rock salt in it to make up most of the weight, then add a sleeping bag and the weight of the pack to make it to 60 pounds. The salt is good to carry for practical purposes, as well.

“Hey, buddy, you got rock salt on ya? My car’s stuck on the side of this here bridle trail.”

“Sure do. Fifty pounds. Let’s get that sucker out of here before the Rangers come and ask you what the hell you’re doing driving back here.”

Happens all the time. Anyway, I’ll walk a trail with between 8-10 stops where I’ll step up and down on stumps, rocks, fallen logs or benches between 10-15 inches tall to get more of a cardio workout and to strengthen the thighs for climbing. I should have done about 150 step-ups for my first workout of the year…so I did 200.

The hike with the step-ups took about seventy minutes. My training heart rate ranges quite a bit on this hike, getting as high as 130 bpm on up hills and while doing the step-ups, but only 90 or so while on level ground. I try to make it tougher by going off-trail and wearing heavy boots for the slop from the rain, but it doesn’t generate nearly the heart rate from running. Having said that, it puts a real burn in the thighs and is a great conditioner, working all of the muscles of the lower body. Additionally, having the pack on and walking the trails helps to develop balance, which can be missing when doing all of your walking or running on flat, consistent surfaces like asphalt or concrete and no pack.

Another plus is the calories burned. When looking at the calorie burn charts, by adding sixty pounds to my frame, I am burning an additional 2 calories per minute of walking. That’s 140 more for the hike, which isn’t too shabby for just carrying a pack on a trip I was going to take anyway.

The bottom line is I don’t get the cardio workout I’d like from this, but it’s a good fit for the cross training I need for the many activities I like to do. It helps to relieve the occasional boredom and gives some muscles a break while working others. I’m going to consider it a recovery day so that I’ll kind of get a break from my bread and butter workouts and be more likely to avoid overuse injuries.

A final note: as I was driving out of the park, I couldn’t help but notice a woman walking the all-purpose trail. She was swinging her arms in huge, almost 360 degree circles as she walked what I observed to be a normal pace. I’m guessing this was some kind of power walking, but she looked ridiculous and, I’m sorry, but there is no value to what she was doing. Don’t get me wrong – walking is fantastic and if you’re using your arm motion to help your pace – move a little faster, you will burn more calories and get a higher training heart rate from the speed of your walk – not your flailing arms. I think there is some misconception that the extreme arm swing is somehow building muscle and tone in the arms and shoulders. It isn’t. To increase the muscle tone and strength, the muscles must be doing work, which is defined as force times distance. In other words, you need to be lifting something heavier than your hand and working against gravity.

Hike duration: 62 minutes.

Training Heart Rate: 90-130 bpm.

Calories burned during workout: 700.