Take A Hike

Something I rarely do is hike and I never realized how unfortunate that is until today. It’s not that I’m opposed to hiking, I actually enjoy it very much, it’s just that I rarely have the time. Between my training schedule and my kids’ athletic events, most of my weekends are pretty full. Today however, my sessions were early in the AM and there were no sporting events. The kids were spending the day with their grandmother so my wife, an avid runner, suggested we go on a hike. She did some research on the AllTrails website, which I highly recommend, and planned a great day at one of the Watchung Reservation trails in our area https://www.alltrails.com/explore/parks/us/new-jersey/watchung-reservation. We did the History Trail because I’m a huge history buff. There are some really interesting things along this particular trail, including the remnants of a large paper mill that thrived in the mid 1800’s,

Felt’s Mill stood at the side of the brook in the picture on the right in the mid 1800’s

but I digress, this is supposed to be about incorporating hiking into your fitness routine. The reservation has a good variety of trails with varying difficulty levels designated as easy, moderate or hard, so regardless of your fitness level, you will find a trail that works for you.

I think what I enjoyed most about going for a hike is that it’s a great way to enjoy a day of exercise with freedom. There are no constraints about the number of reps you have to perform or a time you have to beat. I know that most of us are creatures of habit and our regular fitness regiments are strictly scheduled into our daily routines. Believe me, I’m all for consistency and trying to do better than we did last time, especially when it comes to staying healthy and improving athletic performance, but we also have to consider our mental fitness too and pushing all the time is not healthy. Hiking on an active rest day to me felt like a mini vacation. Even though we were only 15 minutes from home, the reservation felt like the other side of the world. There were no barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, speed ladders or agility rings. It was just me and mother nature and I have to say, she is a pretty good trainer. Here’s the workout she put me through:

As soon as we hit the trail, she started challenging my active balance. The ground was pretty uneven and there were rocks and stones of all sizes embedded in the soil. Almost every step challenged my proprioception. My ankle had to move in every way that it was intended to; inversion, eversion, dorsiflexion, plantar flexion and all angles in between. If I were in a gym, I would have had to use specific fitness tools such as slant boards, therapy balls, TheraBands, or a bosu to achieve those ankle positions, but out on that trail, ankle movement had to be completely functional to get me from point A to point B. Of course, you must be engaged and aware of your next step but improving the mind / body connection is always going to make you a better athlete.

Next, we worked on deceleration. Walking down the sloped trail automatically trains your body to slow its momentum. If you don’t, you may find yourself at the bottom of a ravine, or someone else may find you there. With every step, that lead leg, specifically the knee joint, is bearing the brunt of approximately 7 times your body weight, depending on the slope of the decline. Luckily, the muscles of the leg are performing an eccentric contraction which can handle more force than a concentric one. An eccentric contraction occurs when an active muscle is lengthened under load such as the quadriceps muscles would be when lowering the weight on a seated leg extension machine. The picture below shows the exact same contracted quadriceps position, but in this case, we are slowing the force of our body weight rather than a weight stack. The hip flexors and anterior tibialis are also assisting in slowing our momentum while the posterior leg muscles are stabilizing our hip, knee and ankle joints. The muscles of the lead leg have to be strong and flexible through a full range of motion in order to absorb force safely and effectively.

After our descent at the ½ way mark, we had to start the climb if we wanted to get back to our car. This is when we started the acceleration portion of the workout. There is a lot going on in the acceleration phase and there is a transfer of pull to push on the leg that’s propelling you up the hill. The movement is very similar to doing a partial lunge and really working the same muscle groups. To put it in perspective, the average stride length for most of us is between 25 and 32 inches. Using myself as an example, my stride length is approximately 30 inches based on my height. If I walk 100 yards up an incline, I’ve just done 120 lunges (okay, partial lunges) but that’s still a pretty good lower body workout. I’m targeting every major muscle group in my lower half, quads: hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, calves, you name it, you’re hitting it. Not to mention that all of this is being done on an uneven surface to challenge balance, joint stability and connective tissue strength. I know that the trail I hiked yesterday had more than 100 yards worth of incline, a lot more. I’m fairly certain DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) look it up, will be kicking in the day after next. There is no way I would have done as many lunges or leg exercises for that matter as I did on that hike. In order to activate all of these muscles in the gym I would have to do lunges, leg presses, squats, leg extensions, leg curls, calf raises, abductor/adductor movements, not to mention variations using multiple types of equipment, to simulate proprioception and balance training. However hiking, especially during ascent, is going to get it done with one perfect exercise which our bodies are made to do; walking.

The Video is showing uphill acceleration.I want to point out the pull to push transfer as the front foot becomes the back foot. Walking uphill shows a very clear example of the transfer.Walking or running uphill helps us neurologically train that transfer and makes it a more powerful movement on level surfaces.

There was also time for a little fun (well, fun for me). Single leg squats from a tree stump, just like we do them from a plyo box in the gym.There are lots of opportunities to add a variety of resistance, balance and plyo activities along the trail, just get creative.

Don’t get me wrong, I use all of the exercise that I listed above with every athlete that I train. They are extremely useful, beneficial and will no doubt increase your strength, mobility and athletic performance, but if you’re looking for a beautiful change of scenery, hiking is an exceptional alternative to walking on the treadmill in your gym or home. Depending on the level of the trail you chose it will not only improve your cardio conditioning, it will challenge your deductive reasoning too. Which stone in the creek looks solid enough to step on so you don’t submerge your foot in the babbling brook and walk the next 3 miles with a soggy shoe? There is thought and awareness involved in a hike just like there is on the athletic field and just like there should be as you go through your fitness routine at your gym. How will you challenge yourself and keep your mind sharp, focused and ready for something out of the ordinary? I have a suggestion, take a hike.