Urban Training for back country bushwalks

[forest]

Hi All

Just thought I'd throw this one up.

What do you all do to stay fighting fit for those elusive back country trips.

We are not all graced with high mountains at our backdoor to keep the "EDGE" that's helpful while in the wilds.

For me it's regular walks around the local streets with a loaded 17kg pack in my walking shoes. Normally I just put water filled milk bottles, weights etc in the pack, then stuff my old syn bag around that to fill the pack to capacity (Not a fan or squeeking packs). If I have the time there are a few short local steep 4x4 tracks I can go up and down (1hr round trip), GNW above Freemans waterhole, up to the handgliders lauch site above Heaton gap and down again with the pack on. A lot of locals seem to train on this for Kokoda.

Keeps me fit and I find that when I do get out bush I don't have to spend the first day or 3 getting into "walker" mode

Best thing I find is the exercise wearing my pack. Get's my feet, legs and shoulders used to the load.

I have found the pack training the best, especially with some decent hills thrown in. Gyms and running help but I have found those training methods secondary.

Nothing worse than planning a fantastic trip and turning up unprepared physically.
I'm sure once upon a time either we or our companions have turned up unprepared and paid the price for that.....

So, What do you do to keep "walker" fit.

[Strider]

I have a mountain 5 minutes up the road. Too easy

[Aushiker]

Ride my bike and just walk and run. Nothing special. No local pack carrying that is for sure.

Andrew

[Malbena]

I find the bike is great for this. It helps maintain fitness and the muscles around my knees.

[under10kg]

I am lucky in that I can do a hard walk just outside my place. Up to one and a half hours of rock scrampling up one creek and down another and a visit to a waterful in between. That is a good 3 hour training walk and I do a 1 hour easier walk most days too.

[norts]

I have a a rather big hill that I am half way up( South Sister) it is another 2.5kms to get to the top, and an elevation gain of about 200 metres, plus a few logging tracks of the main road up to it which I head down when I need to get up a few extra k's after going to the top.
I carry an old Hallmark H frame that I found on the tip, I have taken what was left of the sack off and tied on a 20 litre container to the frame.
As I am about to do the OLT and 4 days after that SW Cape I am going up South Sister every second day. The 20 litre container at the moment has 26 kilos of stones in it. Only reason I am carrying that much is that I am taking "she who must be obeyed" through the OLT and I will be the pack horse. It is about 1 3/4 hours walk at the moment.
Usually train with about 15kg a couple of times a week, but when about a month out from a large walk boost it up.
Main problem straight after a walk I get a bit lazy and the training falls off until I have another walked planned , then I have a more motive to train.
I do try and walk on as rough ground as I can ie in the drains on the side of the logging roads etc, like to keep my ankles and knees working and use to rough ground.


Roger

[ninjapuppet]

If you're in sydney Forest, there were many great suggestions from other members here in this post

http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=7381


and like you said, many sports are very muscle specific. I met a marathon runner struggle up a mountain with a pack while i found it quite ok. On the other hand i would have struggled to run a marathon beside him.

[Lindsay]

I'm lucky enough to be close to the Great North Walk and other tracks in the Hornsby area so I can get plenty of excercise in a great environment.

[forest]

If you're in sydney Forest, there were many great suggestions from other members here in this post

yep read that one.

I'm in Newcastle. Plenty of close options at hand.
Corker trail in Barringtons is only 1.25 hours from my place. Hard to be that locally for a challenge with a decent pack.
Anyone that goes up that way will know what I mean.

This topic wasn't really a what can "I" do thing.

Maybe more of a collective opinion that others new to the hobby might draw from before a trip.

[doogs]

Get a job in which you are physically active and on your feet 8 hours a day Works for me

[Nuts]

Mee too!! Kinda dampens the enthusiasm though.

[doogs]

Mee too!! Kinda dampens the enthusiasm though.

Mines indoors which makes me want to get outdoors!

[Nuts]

Arr, yes, that would work... I'm lovin indoors, nice smelling soft stuff and armchairs today.. might even spend ten whole minutes in the shower

I have noticed that those with an active 'on yer feet' job find stamina much easier when walking.

[stepbystep]

Get yourself a couple of kelpies or border collies, they will need about 20km's a day of your time....

[ILUVSWTAS]

Make sure you have at least one person in your group who isnt as fit as you. Then it seems easy.

[weetbix456]

i ride to work everyday and run 3 - 4 times a week..the runnings kinda pointless though unless you got some hill work and are out going hard for atleast 40 minutes. if you get a lunch break just walk round and round the blocks even if you're not looking at anything. it's not exactly pack training but if you're generally pretty fit you'll be bouncing by the second day atleast mish!!

[Peaksnik]

I think it's important to always maintain both aerobic fitness (e.g. jogging, vigorous walking, swimming etc) and body strength (weights and/or isometric exercises). Then it's much easier to prepare for a multi-day trip by incorporating short day walks carrying a pack and building it up to your intended starting weight. This should be done several weeks out from a big trip.

I'm fortunate to have easy access to Brisbane Forest Park. This provides both on and off track walking and decent hill climbs very close to the CBD. Regular Walking on uneven surfaces is essential for preparing ankle and knee joints.

I think that getting into and maintaining a regular exercise routine is probably more important for older people wanting to get the most out of bushwalking and to extend their bushwalking lives.

[flatfoot]

4 flights of steps to visit the coffee van each day at work

[Bluegum Mic]

Like Lindsay mine was on all the local tracks in the hornsby area usually weekly with a friend. Some great steep tracks and fire trails.

Now I've moved Im quite close to Mount Cot-tha so I plan to have a bit of an explore round there for fitness. Also D'Aguillar range. We've also got great bike tracks where we live so we're enjoying that.

[igor]

It is interesting that nobody is mentioning gym. Are you guys against indoor training at all? I wear special weight jacket (weighs around 18 kilo) and walk on tread mil at lunch break for around an hour each day. I choose hilly terrain on the computer and the speed of 6 KM/h. Believe me that after that all all so called "hard" bushwalks are just like a strall. The proof - just two weeks ago we've done Overland Track from Ronny Creek to the car park at the lake in just 2.5 days. With my wife who is 3.5 months pregnant and couldn't carry much load at all. Each day after work I do another another training with kettlebells one hour with these lovely cannon balls each weighing from 16 to 32 kilos. And you juggle them, throw, push etc non stop with heart beat 130 hot one hour.
And each weekend we go either bush walking for 25-30 km in Blue Mountains or along GNW or do kayaking for 20-25 km.
But I have experience going to 35-45 km day walks with people who never ever did any bush walking at all. Ever. But they we very fit and did a lot of swimming, wrestling etc. Some have been in the army. Not the army where you eat nice healthy meals and sleep in the clean beds. No the brutal Russian army when you have to do force marches with 35 kilo total weight for several days in a row passing for up to 50 km a day. After that any Australian bush walk is just a lovely stroll in the shade.

[hikingoz]

I do beer curls and burger lifts. It can be brutal at times but it gets me by

[igor]

yeah, until you hit 40. Then you just grow beer belly, watch TV, and talk to your mates what a trooper you were. Then you are a regular customer at the local pharmacy, you know all GPs in the medical center by name and by 60 ... Well you've got the picture

[doogs]

After that any Australian bush walk is just a lovely stroll in the shade.

Maybe you need to take up off track walking in the South West of Tasmania then if you aren't finding the track walks challenging enough. I have heard Leilateah is a 'challenging' day walk or. Mount Bisdee as a challenge for a long weekend enjoy

[igor]

This whole idea of off-track is a bit unclear to me. The tracks are normally headed somewhere. Somewhere interesting. Somewhere worth looking, or where you can be picked up to go back home for example. So how do you go off-track? Unless you are lost and forced to go through the bush (that we did a few times in Blue Mountains completely loosing the trail). But normally tracks and trails are there for purpose. Nobody so far could answer me coherently how do the go "off-tracK". How do you plan such a trip? Are you just stop anywhere on the road and just head through the bush using compass or what. Most of the time when people say off-track they still mean a trail of sorts, just more difficult, not the nice OT type trail but one where there are some overgrown branches, shrubs some creeks to cross.

[ollster]

This whole idea of off-track is a bit unclear to me. The tracks are normally headed somewhere. Somewhere interesting. Somewhere worth looking, or where you can be picked up to go back home for example. So how do you go off-track? Unless you are lost and forced to go through the bush (that we did a few times in Blue Mountains completely loosing the trail). But normally tracks and trails are there for purpose. Nobody so far could answer me coherently how do the go "off-tracK". How do you plan such a trip? Are you just stop anywhere on the road and just head through the bush using compass or what. Most of the time when people say off-track they still mean a trail of sorts, just more difficult, not the nice OT type trail but one where there are some overgrown branches, shrubs some creeks to cross.

There is a lot of very interesting, untracked wilderness in Tasmania (a classic example is Vanishing Falls). Hence people walk through the bush (ie: "bushwalking") to get there. When we say "off track" we mean trackless, nothing, nada. You plan the trip based on your and other people's experience in the area or similar areas. You plan approximate times based on distance, climbing and descending, terrain, vegetation, and have a rough set of waypoints in mind.

Basically if you don't walk off track, you don't know hard. Come down here and do some real bushwalking - it redefines hard.

[Nuts]

Go and get yourself into some of the blackberry choked gullies in the upper goobragandra catchment, as 'hard' or harder than anything down here and a lot closer. Y'know, climb over, under get tangled/untangled cut up and bruised... nothing 'special'... do it alone for the extra 'wilderness' effect!

There are very few walks not following historical notes or others experience of routes, something to make the experience 'easier' nothing 'hard' just tedious!! Dont use a track or part of to get there, walk along side. Whatever, Its all 'bushwalking'

[photohiker]

Getting back to the topic (training)

I log my local walks, mostly via the phone, but also via the GPS if it's a longer jaunt. I'm lucky in that I live in the Adelaide hills, so I can get some elevation to push against. Generally do about 5km and around 250m elevation a day, with the odd gap caused by life intruding in my space. Average for last year was a bit under 4km per day.

Walklog.jpg (19.11 KiB) Viewed 14939 times

If I have a trip coming up, I gradually add load to the pack, otherwise its 1-2kg.

Works for me. I have a hard time putting on weight, I know that.

[igor]

Yes we've done this kind of off-track walking when for instance we've lost a track following some purely written notes and GPS is showing the track some 500m or whereabouts ahead. Then we just climb/crumble/push ourselves through the bush. But the speed is very slow sometimes not more than 1-2 km/h so you wouldn't get far. This is purely physical exercise nothing to do with enjoying the nature. My experience with Tasmania bush walking is limited by Overland Track which in many places ridiculously civilized so to speak. We live in Sydney you see. Coming back to the topic of this thread - there are plenty one can do to keep him/her fit while living in city. For those lucky enough living cose to mountains and bush the indoor training may be indeed less critical.

[Nuts]

...

Igor, if you had time to look sideways while on the overland track and imagined making a direct route though it then it would have taken a lot longer right?
Imagine that scrub to be much thicker, different species, 10 or 20m deep and perhaps you've lost sight of the ground. Slippery, rotten, steep, sharp or tangly. Not what you wouldn't find in different areas up there but add relatively colder and wetter. Perhaps even following a ridgeline with no lying water, no visibility, no certainty of whether you'll need an hour or a day to reach somewhere you would prefer to lie down. Not following a compass line but whatever your senses tell you may be easier than alternatives to reach a goal (for an evening or the day). The goal may be (eg) a peak that offers no view as a reward...

Your 1/2k's an hour could be 1/2k's a day, day in and out.

That's what tassie walkers are talking about when they mention 'off track' (i believe )

[ollster]

That's what tassie walkers are talking about when they mention 'off track' (i believe )

Well put. I like to think of it as "getting in touch with nature".