Training for Backpacking

Beginner's Guide to Backpacking

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Training for Backpacking
We've all met body Nazis: people who ruthlessly punish their bodies with heinous workouts, then proceed to brag insufferably about their accomplishments as they sip Perrier at the party. Fortunately, there's no need to goose-step up the trail with military precision. You will enjoy backpacking more, however, if you make some effort get in shape before the season begins, then continue a regular exercise program in between trips.

Aerobic fitness, the kind most important for backpacking, is defined as the ability to take in, transport and utilize oxygen. One of the best measures of aerobic fitness, then, is the maximum amount of oxygen you can take in and use per minute. Since heavier people use more oxygen, maximum oxygen uptake is usually expressed in milliliters of oxygen consumed per kilogram of body weight per minute, or ml/kg/min. To estimate your maximum oxygen uptake, run as far as possible in 15 minutes. Record the distance run in meters (1 mile equals 1609 meters). Running on a track of known circumference makes estimating the distance easy. Divide the distance in meters by 15 to find speed in meters per minute. Your maximum oxygen uptake is approximately:

MaxVO2 = ((speed in meters per minute minus 133) x .172) + 33.3

Minimally fit people score around 40. Champion endurance athletes score in the 70s and 80s.
Sports that guarantee a high, sustained heart rate are the best preparation for backpacking. Hiking, cycling, cross-country skiing and running, particularly over hilly terrain, are all excellent because they train not only the heart and lungs, but also those muscles that will be taxed most heavily on the trail. Swimming, while great for the heart and lungs, should be supplemented by training that works the legs in ways similar to backpacking. Intermittently strenuous sports like tennis and racquetball are good only if played hard enough so that the heart rate goes up and stays up for the entire game.

Everyone has a "training threshold," the minimum intensity and duration of training that stimulates their body to adapt. The more slack your body, the lower your training threshold. The more taut your body, the higher the threshold. To keep making progress, increases in the intensity and duration of your training are essential. Brian J. Sharkey, author of Physiology of Fitness, gives this rule of thumb for estimating your training zone, the range of heart rates that will produce a training effect. The lower limit is:

Heart rate = 55% (max heart rate – resting heart rate) + resting heart.

The upper limit is:

Heart rate = 70% (max heart rate – resting heart rate) + resting heart rate

Your maximum heart rate is about 220 minus your age. To determine your exercise heart rate, take your pulse for 10 seconds immediately after you stop exercising. Sense your pulse with your fingertips at either your wrist or at the carotid artery in your neck just below the point of your jaw. Then multiply by six to get beats per minute. For a 25-year-old with a resting heart rate of 70, the training zone ranges approximately from 140 to 160 beats per minute.

If you are in poor condition now, a workout lasting only 15 minutes may be enough to nudge your body over the training threshold. As you get more fit, extend the workouts until you can train comfortably for 45 minutes to an hour or more. Working out every other day is the minimum for making significant progress. Using an intense burst of effort for about 1/20th of the workout (for example, by picking up the pace for the last quarter-mile of a five-mile run), gives the heart and lungs a useful added training stimulus. To keep track of your progress, record your workouts in a training log.

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