energy saving tip?

[Adk_dib]

I just turned 50 and can't go like I used to. I try different forms of saving my legs for the climb. I will step over logs and around rocks instead of on them. I always go by the route of least resistance. For example, if two trails go around a tree I will opt for even route instead of two large "2 foot" steps. If there is a large step, but a tree root is 1 foot off the ground I will use the tree root and take two small steps instead of one large one. I find that instead of stepping up a 1 foot step, if i stretch my step 6 inches further I can keep my leg straight and my momentum will pull me through. That way I climb the step without bending my knee and save on my thy muscle. Anyone have any tips for going the long haul?
Also, when is the best time to "carbo load", the night before or two nights before. I am doing a high peak this sunday and and want to know when would be the best time to pound down some pasta. Would it be thursday, friday or saturday night?

 

[Neil]

I'm 52 and feel yer pain. My way of dealing with the aging process:

Train like hell (but you have to be wary of overuse injuries and leave more recovery time)
Get rid of all excess weight in your pack and get a really light pack.
Wear light footwear.
Rest for 1 or 2 days before a hike depending on its size.
Shoot heroin.
I try and eat a lot the day before but I think that the typical hiking pace is primarily fat burning anyway.

 

[Chip]

48 here. Train on short, steep grass hills during the week; up and down 20, 30, 40 times. Add some weight in a pack when you want. STRETCH, stretch and stretch, even for only 10 minutes a day. Drink and eat as much as you can on the way to the trail. For the trail practice the Rest Step whenever possible. Over the course of a decent hike, this makes a huge difference. Use poles. Maintain a slower but steadier pace. Having been on a couple of guided climb/hikes, I call it a "Guides Pace". It might feel like a "Snails Pace" at first, but you get the job done without a sweat in book time.

 

[DougPaul]

Upper 50s here.

Getting in some training once or twice during the week makes a big difference for me. I carry a 40lb pack up and down a nearby hill (2 mi, 200 vert ft)--enough to build the system without breaking it.

Rest is also very important (weight lifter's rule--don't exercise a muscle group more often than every other day). Over training can be very nasty--I've had a number of bouts that take a month of rest for recovery.

When hiking, go at your own pace. Don't try to keep up with the young whipper-snappers.

Oh yes--don't break your leg. It makes hiking much harder...

Doug

 

[Bob Kittredge]

64 here.

I just like to stop once and a while and let the chest pains subside.

 

[JohnL]

I agree with most of what Neil has to say except for the heroin part. I particularly agree with the train like hell part. If you are in your 50’s and do not exercise regularly (3 one hour sessions per week minimum), then you should not be surprised if you’re sucking wind during a hike and sore afterwards. If you’ve hurt yourself during training, you’ve obviously done something wrong. It's not necessarily overtraining, though overtraining is itself doing something wrong. Everything in moderation. If you’re lifting weights, remember: It’s not about the weight. It’s all about the form. Learn how to lift from a good trainer or from someone who has. More injuries are incurred from mistakes in technique or excess weight.

The weight lifter’s rule applies to lifting weights. It does not apply to cardio-vascular exercise so if you can, get out there nearly every day and do something aerobic, even if it is a long brisk walk.

Stretching – more important now than at any other time in your life. And the more you test your body, the more small and hidden muscles you find you need to stretch. I find a good session of stretching at the end of the hike is critical to the crux of the hike: getting out of the car at the end of the ride home.

Carbo loading can start as soon as 48 hours before the hike starts though the 24 hours prior to the event are the most important. Remember your liver and muscles only hold so much glycogen so overloading will only go into storage (fat).

As for the long haul, I drink a diluted form of Gatorade all day long. There’s enough diluted sugar in the drink to keep my blood sugar from falling too much. During the early part of a hike I eat a mixture of high and low glycemic carbs and some fats. I save most of my protein for the last stages of a long hike and post hike recovery drinks and meals.

Energy is a complicated combination of fitness, nutrition and mental toughness. That’s about all I can say about that without writing a treatise.

I hiked my first 4K in 1973, I’m in my late 50’s now and I am considerably physically stronger and mentally tougher than I was then. My regular hiking group is all above 50 (at least all the guys are! I’m not about to ask the ladies their age.) and some are over 60. These people are some of the strongest (in terms of strength and endurance) hikers I have met. Hiking does not stop at 50 and neither does hiking long and hard. I’ve completed my most demanding hikes since I turned 50.

JohnL

 

[Neil]

I’ve completed my most demanding hikes since I turned 50.

Yes, and as we get older they will get even more demanding, won't they?

Actually, it's good to hear from a real old timer that hiking keeps on getting better. After all, it's not about sprinting, it's about finding the "gear ratio" where you can go and go and keep on going.

"Find the pace that works for you and you can use it all your life."

 

[mookie]

Shoot heroin

Shoot heroin

cant wait to hit 50!!!

 

[KayakDan]

What Neil said.

Mid fifties and determined to keep going,but ya gotta adjust.
No more than 1850 ft of vertical with a full winter overnight pack,which we managed to get to about 40lbs for me,35 for her.
No more than 3.5 miles one way with same gear.
No lists to complete,and there's no shame in plan B.

Working out on a regular basis is a must,or you'll just crash and burn.
Weights and cardio 4 days a week. Trainer at the gym couldn't figure out why I was doing a 12.5 grade all the time...

 

[Neil]

Actually, most of our replies don't address the OP's question about energy saving tips while hiking.

Avoidance of bigger steps is best and I will usually opt for 2 or 3 smaller ones. Muscles all have an optimal length for max. strength and the more you go beyond that length the tougher it is on the working portion of the muscle. That's because you're concentrating a bigger chunk of work into a smaller length of working muscle. (It has to do with the interdigitation of 2 proteins. The more you stretch or contract a muscle beyond or below the length that affords the most interdigitation the weaker it will be and more effort will have to be born along the shorter length of muscle wherein this interdigitation occurs).

Another great energy saving tip: stay off of all slopes and never take heroin.

 

[leaf]

Avoidance of bigger steps is best and I will usually opt for 2 or 3 smaller ones.

Small steps up steep terrain. Works everytime. Hope I'm allowed to post here beings I'm only 32.

 

[jfb]

http://www.teammudge.org/training/TrainingLogIntro2.pdf

 

[carole]

I just turned 50 and can't go like I used to. I try different forms of saving my legs for the climb. I will step over logs and around rocks instead of on them. I always go by the route of least resistance.

At 8 I couldn’t leave the yard.
At 16 I didn’t have a car.
At 21 I had no money.
At 34 I had no babysitter.
At 50 'father time' said it was too late.
I said, “Eat my dust!”

 

[Little Rickie]

Small steps up steep terrain. Works everytime. Hope I'm allowed to post here beings I'm only 32.

Age 32....I think I remember age 32?

 

[peakbagger]

What not to do, Joins Matts and crew for a fourth of July Presi Traverse when the rest of the crew is on average half my age and mostly marathoners to boot. Then only gnaw on clif bars all day (except for the traditional Mt washington bowl of chili and a brownie at Lakes)!

 

[Little Rickie]

I just turned 50 and can't go like I used to.

At 55 I think I qualify to add my $.02.

I'm not heavily goal focused, I'm enjoyment focused.

Small steps are the way to go up & down hill. If you have the room to traverse a spot some that helps too. I have a ten step thing I do as well as the rest step. I'll take ten steps, stop, catch my breath, then take 10 more steps. (It's ten steps from my lazy boy to the refrigerator so I get to practice at home)

Stop and stand in silence once in a while and listen to the woods. It's quite refreshing.

Sit down for 5 min every hour and let your heart rate come down. This isn't always easy when climbing with a group.

I'm always the slowest in a group because I will not overextend myself trying to keep up with fitter people. I'm am fine walking well within my limits and catching up when the group takes a break. If I exaust myself hiking someones elses pace then who is going to get me out?

Know your limits and don't exceed them, thats when you are more likely to get hurt. Save some energy for the unexpected.

Don't use poles if you don't have to or use one pole. Arm swinging add 2-3% to your pulse.

Carbo loading and eating the day before a hike is no proble for me, see 10 steps at home above

Avoid gresy food before and during the hike! It will slow you down and sap your energy for several reasons.

Hike alone and then you can go any pace you want.

 

[rhihn]

Just turned 62 last month...I tried Neil's heroin suggestion but it didn't work. Looking for alternatives...

In the midst of all of this great advice (do these exercises, drink this elixir, eat this food, which 30-something hikers have no business recommending to 60-something hikers) what works for me is simply to do SOMETHING each day. And get regular checkups from my doctor! Taking a couple of weeks off was no big deal when I was in my 30's. At my age, it sometimes feels like taking a whole year off! Will doing something each day allow me to do the 46 in three days? Of course not. But in recent years it has allowed me to do any of the 46 at MY pace and enjoy the experience, beyond the physical challenge and enjoy the trail and what it has to offer. It has also allowed me to backpack the Northville-Placid Trail the Grand Canyon, and Utah (Buckskin Gulch, Paria Canyon, Zion NP) Long Range Mts. (Newfoundland), the Haute Route (Europe), The Catskill 35 (and a sizable handful of the 100) and a host of other hikes that "don't count" for anything. On the horizon is another New Hampshire peaks are on my horizon (I've only done a couple), another Utah trip in September, and hiking in Patagonia in January. Doing any of these at my pace was less than "impressive" but the point is, getting out there and hiking (which for me includes stopping and experiencing) is what counts, not merely how many miles can be covered in a day.

"Book time" be damned. Maybe I'll get "flamed" for this, but there is far too much emphasis on these forums by some on the fastest time, number of "rounds" of this, that, or other group of mountains. Perhaps, as Neil says, "not about sprinting" and we should "train like hell" (not sure what that means for any given age), but there is a significant group of people on these forums for which speed/miles/elevation gain is paramount. I don't begrudge those for whom it is a priority, but I write merely to bring up the point that there are other possible goals out there. Do what is enjoyable - and feasible - for you, and don't attempt the prevailing fad if it is beyond your means. It's not a sign of failure.

Adk_dib, personally I see nothing wrong with your hiking style. You may cover less ground, but you will see more.

Dick

 

[Neil]

You may cover less ground, but you will see more.

Lest we forget, there are 200 different species of lichens between Adirondack Loj and the summit of Mt. Algonquin. Slowing down and learning to see them is the path to enlichenment.

So, uh, who can learn to identify all 200 of them the quickest.

Training like hell makes hiking seem effortless. Well, maybe not effortless but a lot more enjoyable. I like to get out 5 days a week and do something strenuous and at least an hour long. I've not yet tried it but dragging a tire behind oneself for 2 hours every day has been recommended by one website.

 

[Bob Kittredge]

Avoid greasy food before and during the hike! It will slow you down and sap your energy for several reasons.

Fan of big greasy breakfasts here. "Oh boy, I'm hiking. That means I can have bacon and sausage with breakfast for a change." Once I hit the trail, it's complex carbs.

 

[rhihn]

I've not yet tried it but dragging a tire behind oneself for 2 hours every day has been recommended by one website.

And there are those who drag tires (spare ones) around all their life!