Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Step-ups with a pack...

Tuesday, June 14, 2016
I knew that the Survival Workout was important to my overall fitness and that it was also a perfect night for a bike ride, but with a trip to the Adirondacks looming and regardless of how tough a peak I hoped to encounter, I needed to get to the park…or the bleachers…with a pack on my back and do some hiking.

I pulled my pack from storage, placed thirty pounds of salt in it and with the sleeping bag and its own weight, was carrying around forty pounds once I strapped it to my back at the North Chagrin Reservation.  I started with 30 step-ups on the boulder next to my car before marching off down (up) the bridle path.  I noticed some fatigue as I climbed that first, steep hill and even more when I found a log just off the path on which I did my second set of step-ups.  In all, I did 150 step-ups, broke a very good sweat, pushed my heart rate to 120 beats per minute, and had some trembling, fatigued leg muscles by the time I returned to the Jeep and dumped my pack in the back.

Sports specific training cannot be over-emphasized and I will do some more of this before the next trip.  Painting late is no excuse.  I have the pack in the Jeep and can stop at the Mayfield track and hit the bleachers any night.  Tired?  Sure…I’m beat, but enjoying the Adirondacks the way I like to demands a certain level of conditioning and I’m sorry to say I’ve ignored that for too long. 
Hike: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-120 bpm.
Calories Burned: 600
Bonus:14,000 steps for the day.

No comments:

Post a Comment