Bushwalk Australia

I did a return to difficult walking last week with a 700m ascent, and then descent of course, in Qld's scenic rim. Mt Maroon to be precise. I'm 56 and only recently been getting fit again, mainly aerobically, through cycling. I did really well on the ascent, better than I've been in years. But after the steep descent my quads gave me hell for 3 days. So obvioulsy I need to prepare my downhilling muscles through some conditioning. I live on the flat darling downs, so there's no chance for regular practise hikes up and down hills. What exercises can I do at home ? Thanks.

Squats or lunges are good quads and glute exercise (you need to exercise the opposing muscles and stabilisers as well).
Find some hills to ride up - how about up and down the escarpment from Toowoomba and back

i think that there is some good crossover from cycling to walking fitness.

Agreed re: squats and lunges. Also step ups onto a bench/platform at about knee height or a bit lower. There are heaps of variations if you get bored eg. try doing squats on an upturned bosu ball or walking lunges up and down your driveway. Avoid any gym machines like the leg press machine as it's much better to do body weight/free weight exercises to engage all those little stabilizer muscles you'll definitely need when climbing hills.

I like using this site to find exercises: http://exrx.net (use the muscle map to pick quads or whatever you want).

Also you'll find a million websites talking about DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) its avoidance and cure but IMHO the only thing that works is ibuprofen (I like to take it before the soreness kicks in which seems to help a bit, but you can't always tell.)

Wall sits!

AlexB wrote:I like using this site to find exercises: http://exrx.net (use the muscle map to pick quads or whatever you want).)

Looks pretty comprehensive although a bit intimidating for someone like me who does activities and not exercises. Maybe I should try to change that.

I found the page I think you're referring to at http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

The majority of the exercises use equipment I don't have, so I'd really like to know how effective are those exercises which use only body weight and stretches?

Muscle building is one aspect and the bulking of lower limb muscles will certainly benefit, but one must not forget endurance is what can carry on those long ascents and descents. I'd say endurance runs, even on the flat on the flat, would greatly assist in the preparation.

Trekking poles...

If by sore quads you mean DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) then your best bet is repeat training and carbs/protein after the event.

It's caused by small tears in the muscle fibres, and is best elicited when you lengthen the muscle against resistance (like when you use your quads to slow you down when going downhill).

Some people use a downhill treadmill for the exercise.

Have a read of this for more info: http://fellrnr.com/wiki/Delayed_Onset_Muscle_Soreness (the guy is a ultra marathon runner)

peregrinator wrote:The majority of the exercises use equipment I don't have, so I'd really like to know how effective are those exercises which use only body weight and stretches?

Very, very effective, if you do them right. But if you're not experienced with "exercises" vs "activities" then I can understand that it's daunting I used to do a lot of weights training at the gym with a trainer, and if you were interested then I'd suggest that's a good thing to do. The magic words to tell the people at the gym are that you're interested in "functional fitness" and that you prefer bodyweight exercises that you can do without lots of equipment. They should be able to match you up with someone who understands that, who can show you the drill.

However, if you don't want to do that (and I can completely understand that, as it's a very different sort of activity!) then I would just say to keep doing lots of the sort of walking that makes you sore, and you'll get more used to it over time Then you can build up to do something a bit harder, and keep on challenging yourself from there.

As someone else said upthread, DOMS is caused by micro-tears in the muscle, which is perfectly normal and is how you build muscle and strength... the body will heal those tiny microscopic tears so they're a bit stronger than they were to start with, and that's how we improve over time. As long as you're not causing "macro" tears then there's no real harm done, other than staggering around and saying "owww" a lot for a day or two afterwards. For that, there's ibuprofen as I said

Oh and BTW these were the muscle maps I was referring to:

male: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WtMale.html
female: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WtFemale.html

(the muscles are the same of course, just the images are different).

Before I learned the names of most of the muscles I would use this to click on the bit I was interested in and find out from there For instance clicking on the front of the thigh (quadriceps) leads me to http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/ThighWt.html which lists all kinds of quad exercises. You would want the "body weight" ones which usually use no equipment or just simple equipment like a step. You probably also want to look at the glutes too (muscles in your bum) which also work hard when climbing hills: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/ExList/HipsWt.html

To climb better, climb. To walk better, walk. Forget about specific muscle names, you'll just need to walk and run more and the regime will naturally provide a balanced work load to all that's needed. Do stairs as much as possible and train for endurance if you are on the flat.

GPSGuided wrote:To climb better, climb. To walk better, walk. Forget about specific muscle names, you'll just need to walk and run more and the regime will naturally provide a balanced work load to all that's needed. Do stairs as much as possible and train for endurance if you are on the flat.

That's been my approach too. I've certainly not wanted to read about muscle names because I'd forget them by the next day. (Except Muscle Shoals, for some of the music from there. Though I can't work out why it's not Mussel Shoals!)

But at this time of the year, I'm not out bushwalking/camping very often due to short duration of daylight and/or weather. So AlexB's suggestions make a lot of sense and I'll see whether some of that works as a supplementary practise.

ErichFromm, I assume you mean two walking poles? I can only occasionally manage one, needing a free hand for various other tasks. So probably no great physical workout will occur doing that?

I'm a recent convert to trekking poles. Primarily I started using them for my knees but you'd be surprised what a difference they make to muscle fatigue and soreness. Sometimes you need them to stay in your pack to keep your hands free, but the rest of the time they are useful and make all the difference..

And unless the route is close to vertical poles are better than grabbing trees and roots for stability, as they are more consistent to trust.

I agree with ErichFromm the poles will help Ive had bad knees for years and use one on just about any hike with ups and downs .
They do help in keeping your weight balanced handy going downhill .Also as GPSGuided suggests walk , walk , walk wont do any harm either.
Love the line activities Vs exercises.

GPSGuided wrote:To climb better, climb. To walk better, walk. Forget about specific muscle names, you'll just need to walk and run more and the regime will naturally provide a balanced work load to all that's needed. Do stairs as much as possible and train for endurance if you are on the flat.

That's been my approach for many years. Keep it simple. Very difficult to find an exercise that exactly duplicates the activity being trained for.Stairs seem to be more effective than stool stepping, and even on the Darling Downs there should be some easily accessable stairs. Squats are ruination on my knees. Wall sits/semi squats aren't as bad. As mentioned, poles are great.

Not mentioned are deliberately taking very short steps when descending, and also not stopping or sitting down at the end of the activity.

The "not stopping" thing is very effective at preventing DOMS. Worst possible thing for me is to drop pack and immediately get into car, or sit for a long period. Massive stiffness is always the result. If I simply stay on my feet and keep moving around for 15/20 mins. I never have a problem. I'm not sure if this prevents DOMS or removes lactic acid or what, but it definitely works.

stry wrote:The "not stopping" thing is very effective at preventing DOMS. Worst possible thing for me is to drop pack and immediately get into car, or sit for a long period. Massive stiffness is always the result. If I simply stay on my feet and keep moving around for 15/20 mins. I never have a problem. I'm not sure if this prevents DOMS or removes lactic acid or what, but it definitely works.

It's an inflammatory process, there's tissue fluid congestion in those affected tissues after a hard work out. Continued mobility, like a warm down, helps to keep up the circulation and minimises the ensuing oedema/stiffness. Post exercise recovery drink/meal with a suitable protein/glucose load is also important in speeding up the recovery. Inactivity post exercise kills!

stry wrote:The "not stopping" thing is very effective at preventing DOMS. Worst possible thing for me is to drop pack and immediately get into car, or sit for a long period. Massive stiffness is always the result. If I simply stay on my feet and keep moving around for 15/20 mins. I never have a problem. I'm not sure if this prevents DOMS or removes lactic acid or what, but it definitely works.

Yeah, something else you usually learn the hard way. Keep moving around, do some proper stretching, never try to drive off immediately.

north-north-west wrote:

stry wrote:The "not stopping" thing is very effective at preventing DOMS. Worst possible thing for me is to drop pack and immediately get into car, or sit for a long period. Massive stiffness is always the result. If I simply stay on my feet and keep moving around for 15/20 mins. I never have a problem. I'm not sure if this prevents DOMS or removes lactic acid or what, but it definitely works.

Yeah, something else you usually learn the hard way. Keep moving around, do some proper stretching, never try to drive off immediately.

Unless you're being fire-bombed (sorry).

peregrinator wrote:

north-north-west wrote:

stry wrote:The "not stopping" thing is very effective at preventing DOMS. Worst possible thing for me is to drop pack and immediately get into car, or sit for a long period. Massive stiffness is always the result. If I simply stay on my feet and keep moving around for 15/20 mins. I never have a problem. I'm not sure if this prevents DOMS or removes lactic acid or what, but it definitely works.

Yeah, something else you usually learn the hard way. Keep moving around, do some proper stretching, never try to drive off immediately.

Unless you're being fire-bombed (sorry).

No, even then. Unless it's the car that's being firebombed. Fortunately they didn't go quite that far . . .

Recovery is key; both during the trek and at the end of the day. I make a point of stretching at every break when I'm out on the trail; regardless of the difficulty level.

Bottom line is, if the work load was significant, there will be soreness. The only difference being the severity and duration. But remember, no pain no gain. All good training.

Deadlifts and squats if you enjoy the gym. You'll need a trainer if you head down that path. (2 day split is the common name for the whole program) supplement with power walking or cycling as you see fit.

On your bike, simulate hills by doing 2/3/4 mins of pushing a hard gear, mixed with spinning as fast as you cam while staying smooth.

Follow up on off days with yoga or Pilates.

soreness as you've described can also suggest lack of electrolytes, magnesium, or even protein and glucosamine can help.

But as mentioned it's usually best to walk as training for walking.