“I’m not fit enough to hike..” Many people feel they couldn’t do a hiking trip because they aren’t fit
enough but with a little training you can easily improve your fitness for bushwalking and all kinds of hiking adventures.
But what about footwear for hiking?
I know there’s the considerations of the right footwear, so let me help you unravel the facts from fiction. The right footwear may not be boots (often boots are TOO HARD – what you need often depends on the terrain – hard boots on hard terrain equals very sore feet). So do a little research of what kind of terrain you are hiking on and then explore footwear.
How do I increase my stamina for hiking?
Research the terrain as not all walks are up steep hills or over rocky ground. You can increase your fitness for bushwalking but doing longer hikes on straight forward terrain. Get your confidence on easy trails and then increase the difficulty by walking in soft sand, or along fire trails, over beach headlands and along gravel roads. Incrementally you will increase your stamina and be able to take on bigger bushwalks with confidence.
How do you get fit for much longer bushwalks and hikes – should you just hike or go to the gym?
The preparation time before the ‘event’ (or the long walk) is very ,much dependent on the length of the walk and whether it is a day walk, multi-day walk, and whether it is at sea level or high altitude. You can greatly improve your fitness over a 12 week period providing you are doing a combination of mini-hikes and gym sessions. The longer your hiking adventure the more time you need to prepare for it. For example, if you are going for an extended hike (10 days plus) and heading into mountainous country I would be building my fitness over a 6 month period. If you are adding high altitude to your adventure I recommend a longer lead up time, but sometimes the best plan for dealing with hiking at altitude is to have enough time to adjust to altitude.
However you have got to start somewhere, so here are my top tips for those
who are curious about how to improve their fitness for bushwalking and longer hikes in general.
To begin with try some easily accessable tracks, something that is well
known because these tracks are generally well formed and not too rugged. If you live in Tasmania try something like:
· Silver Falls (base of Mount Wellington)
· The Springs to Junction Hut and return (mid way
up Mount Wellington)
· Wineglass Bay (East Coast)
Don’t over think things, this is easy walking for those capable enough to walk for an hour or two. The terrain on these types of walks is not difficult and sandshoes or hiking shoes will be adequate.
Once you are confident hiking for 1 to 2 hours you are ready to take on something longer – there are many fantastic website resources to find what you are looking for.
Here are some of my favorites:
- Waterfalls of Tasmania
- Hiking in SE Tasmania
- Greater Trails Tasmania
- The Parks and Wildlife Website
If you feel you would benefit from specific hiking fitness programs you might like to consider 6 week Friday Night Hikes which are supervised 75 minute hikes around the hills of the Eastern Shore of Hobart, Lindisfarne, Geilston Bay, Bellerive and Howrah. Reach out if you’d like to come.
