Other/Mixed Building walking endudance?

[the hansenator]

I'm looking for ideas to build my walking/hiking endurance.

First, maybe the briefest of histories would help: I'm actually pretty weak right now from about 8 years of inactivity due to chronic pain and about 2 years of severe depression before that. I've had a lot of professional help and am in a place where I can do stuff again with no restrictions.

So now that I can do stuff, I want to do everything but am trying to keep my focus narrow. I'm at a point where walking for an hour still feels like a workout. I can go that distance well enough but not every day, I start to feel pretty worn out without rest days.

So there's a park that's about a two hour drive from my house and for a long time it's been a goal to walk out to the far overlook, it's maybe 10 or 12 miles round trip. There's no mountains or anything but it's uneven terrain and hills. Before I go out there, I want to be able to walk that distance fairly comfortably and am looking for tips or maybe some kind of schedule that works around my squat workouts, which have been a key component of my feeling better.

Thanks.

 

[offwidth]

I am thinking pretty much more of the same. It seems like you have been through a lot, so there is no need to rush it. The overlook probably isn't going anywhere.

Gradually increase your distance. Add variability with...

• Speed. Go a bit faster some days but for a shorter distance.
• Incline. If you can find some easy hills and mix that in.
• Terrain. If you goal has uneven terrain get adapted to it by hiking on similar ground.
• Load. Wear a pack; vary the load.

Don't neglect your rest days either.
Patience...

 

[Steve Freides]

@the hansenator, walking is easy, aerobic exercise. The rules that apply to other, similar types of activity apply here:

• If you're stronger, any endurance activity, particularly an easy one like walking, becomes easier. Strength is the foundational physical attribute on which one builds endurance.
• 
  
• Ease into it. A commonly-cited guidelines is to increase no more than 10% per week. Another commonly-cited guideline is to aim for about 20 minutes at first, stopping as necessary, and working up to 20 minutes uninterrupted.
• 
  
• When you reach a certain level of competency, add variety.

-S-

 

[Matts]

I agree 100% with the guidelines @Steve Freides posted above and frequently recommend them. However, based on personal experience after medical treatment, I'd say take it even slower at first! If you're systemically/medically weak, I'd recommend just walking 5-10 mins maybe twice a day for a few weeks, just to get the beachhead of strength back, and then, when that feels normal/easy for you for a few days in a row, I'd move up to that standard advice.

Also, be very careful to use proper stride- for most, that's lifting your back foot from the heel, pretending like the foot is velcroed to the ground. So you peel it off from the heel. This gets the hips out front (stretch hip flexors as needed) and takes the weight off the knees, and is the proper stride for most running, so it converts very easily. Try to pull your spine up out of your hips while you do this. For many, it takes a few weeks to make a transition, while stabilizers, etc. develop. This is important, because bodies have such a drive to be efficient, and a weak body will find and adapt to"shortcuts" that don't involve proper form and don't have much carryover to your ultimate goals.

Be very careful with sleep and nutrition, because your reserves can be very low. To start with, you just want to fill that tank back up, not to deplete it at all! Keep a positive attitude, because the body is remarkably adaptive and wants to be strong and healthy! PMO!!

p.s.- for goals, I'd keep the long, woodland walk you eventually want to do as a long term goal, but for now always have a short-term, attainable goal so you can keep going and successfully meet it every day/week. One day at a time, and all that rot...cause it works.

 

[Dasho]

I tried this on a variety day with a 16kg kettlebell in my pack and a pair of 2 lb indian clubs. I did just over a mile on an easy surface (running track), and I was smoked.
The main benefit for you, I think, is that it forces you to adjust your gait, slow your pace, and lift your legs a little bit higher when walking. I felt like I was somehow hiking on flat terrain.

That being said, if you try this, please start with less weight, both in the backpack and in your hands.

 

[william bad butt]

I like walking after barbell squat workouts, it helps me prevent soreness.

I am also a fan of the loaded walking, once you are comfortably able to walk unloaded for several miles.

Maybe you should just walk every day, and slowly increase the distance and or velocity over time. It should happen organically.

 

[the hansenator]

Thanks for the replies. Lots of sensible sounding advice.

To clarify a little, I don't have a condition that causes frailty or anything. Mostly disuse because it's been so uncomfortable being on my feet. I'm at a point where an hour walk through the woods is challenging but not too much if there's one or two rest days before doing it again.

Would a weekly long walk make sense, and shorter walks during the week? Maybe the shortest walks with weight after squat workouts?

I'm wondering if there's a certain structure or programming that makes sense or just free form it? Although free forming it in my enthusiasm has me feeling kind of beat up at the moment and was the motivation for this post.

 

[Bret S.]

@the hansenator Have you considered or are you doing any strength work? Perhaps some light S&S two or three days/week? The WTH effect may bring you to a better walking experience. I don't walk often but when I do (cue the beer commercial) and go for several miles it seems easy after a steady diet of S&S.

I realize you have fatigue already so proper planning and structure is in order. You can formulate a plan that makes some sense and adjust it as you go. That's what I do as things seem to change when the 'rubber hits the road'...

Just a thought..

Edit: Re-read your OP, squats will kick your rear end if doing them hard right out of the gate.. maybe look at that as needing adjustment?

 

[the hansenator]

Back squats have helped in a way that other exercises haven't. Those squat stands are probably the best investment I could have made. I think you're right about adjustment though. The weight is high enough now (still embarrassingly light) that it's getting hard to keep the right muscles engaged. I was going to reduce it a little and give the weakest hip muscles some time to catch up.

 

[Bret S.]

The weight is high enough now (still embarrassingly light) that it's getting hard to keep the right muscles engaged. I was going to reduce it a little and give the weakest hip muscles some time to catch up.

Other than load, as you know, you can look at volume, density etc. A little GTG seems to go a long way for me. Study the intricacies of the tension application sequence and make every rep as perfect as you can possibly make it. I know I'm doing this when I feel a little mental fatigue after training, this can also be an indicator that maybe I did too much (which I'm prone to do sometimes) A little fatigue = good (for me, YMMV)

Goblet squats are incredibly effective as they force strength adaptations in your mid section and could perhaps increase your hip flexibility, mobility and strength as well. GTG works well for me at sub-max load of around 70%.

At any rate, a bit of good planning goes a long way for me.


Proper
Preparation
Prevents
P**s
Poor
Performance

 

[Carl in Dover]

1. Footwear.
Get good quality footwear that fits well. It's not fun to walk long distances in ill. fitting footwear.
2. Logbook.
Track your time/distances and
restdays and how you feel afterwards.
3. Goals.
Make a reasonable weelky goal. Then
do it. Increase as your strength/endurance develops
4. Accountability.
It often helps the motivation when you
have to answer to someone. Start a
training log in the appropriate section
of this forum.
5. Training Partner.
Having a training partner to walk with not only helps in some of the areas
mentioned above, but great in-depth
conversations can happen when.
walking with a friend and miles will
disappear!

Carl in Dover

 

[Denny Phillips]

Leonard Schwartz promoted the HeavyHands system which has been touted by Dan John to this day. Dr. Schwartz referred to it as "inefficient efficiency" or something along those lines. By adding a load to the upper body you introduced an inefficient element to an otherwise efficient physical task (walking). Where it all ran afoul was when people simply held the weights at arms length instead of using different levels of arm swing. Trainees didn't see improvement at the rate they expected so the weights went into the closet. Where something like this might fit in your training sequence I can't say. Walking for 30 minutes with five pound weights was "stimulating." I (too) soon tried with ten pound dumbbells and and wound up thinking the better of it. A ruck session with five pound weights was a great alternative for me

 

[Bill Been]

Back squats have helped in a way that other exercises haven't. Those squat stands are probably the best investment I could have made. I think you're right about adjustment though. The weight is high enough now (still embarrassingly light) that it's getting hard to keep the right muscles engaged. I was going to reduce it a little and give the weakest hip muscles some time to catch up.

hansenator, can you flesh out your squat programming thus far for me? I’m heartened that barbell back squats have had such a positive impact for you so far. I’d like to see if your approach needs any fine tuning so you can keep progressing until your previous issues are so distant that your current physical being can barely remember them. Congratulations, by the way: you’re now “training”. Training is a step-wise progression that methodically and inexorably advances you from where you are to a higher level of performance. As you now know, the hard part is getting started and getting over being scared by some of the unfamiliar sensations in your body. Keep going. Become a beast. Dominate your physical world.

 

[the hansenator]

@Bill Been Thanks for your time.

Inspired by Starting Strength, I've been doing 3x5 threes times per week followed by a set of light deadlifts. I've been increasing the weights when I think it's safe but have had to back off a couple of times.

There's a couple of unusual concerns you should probably be aware of: There's a hip muscle on the right side which is the weak link and it affects everything I do. I think it's some of the fibers in the right glute medius. Whatever it is, I can point to it. When I feel more activity in that particular area then everything is better.

What makes it harder to strengthen is that the weak hip muscle fatigues easily and takes a long time to recover. As the fatigue builds up, it could be over a few weeks, that hip muscle starts to feel softer and becomes harder to engage, I feel more pain in the right foot while standing or walking, and the right-lower back gets tight and sore. The right QL has a hair trigger and is always trying to do work that the hip muscles should be doing. At that point, the only thing I've found that helps is to take it easy for a week or two and try to find the muscle again. I did a bit too much over the last month so, as I'm typing this, it just feels like there's an empty spot where a muscle should be.

What makes back squats unique for me is if I try to reach farther forward with the bar, the hips have to shift farther back. Then I can feel the right QL relax and the right-lower back straightens into a more neutral position. As long as I can maintain this I can have a productive workout. As the weight gets heavier it gets harder and harder to keep the right QL from tensing up and arching the right-lower back. That's what limits how much I can lift. The other leg muscles can certainly lift more but then I suffer for it.

 

[Bill Been]

This seems an entirely reasonable approach to me. As time goes on, the need for these breaks and small resets will diminish and eventually disappear.

If your body has been unadapted to force production for a very long period of time, the dang thing will fight you every step of the way as you change course. It helps to keep in mind that your body only “knows” what you asked it to adapt to yesterday. It doesn’t “know” that your end goal is a double body weight deadlift or a 1.5 x body weight squat. The reason you’ve seen some success so far is that you’ve been asking it to adapt to an incrementally increasing stress that is defined by the characteristic you have correctly determined needs improvement: force production. By wisely asking (it’s really “requiring”) your body - including the musculature that has bothered you in the past - to produce more force and grow, you have fundamentally altered the direction things were heading.

For your peace of mind, shoot a video of your final set of 5, shot from an aft 45 degree angle, with your feet and head both in the frame, not wearing black, in landscape mode. I would be happy to check your movement to further ease your mind about your training so we can keep it up. It’s going to work. You’re not going back where you were.

 

[the hansenator]

Thanks for the advice. It's improved a lot over the last year or so, just at a very slow pace. I've found that gently coaxing it tends to have fewer negative effects.

I think rucking will be a valuable addition as well. I tried a couple days ago with a 20 pound pack. It felt fine and was working the muscles that need to be worked but I went too far. After a while I started getting a sharp pain in my foot, a clear indication that the weak muscle was getting tired. So I'm taking it easy for a couple of days and will just go around the block the next few times out and see how that feels.

 

[offwidth]

Rucking, like many other physical pursuits is best entered into gradually and incrementally. Start light on easy terrain. Use appropriate footwear.

 

[Waryrenn]

Measure your walks by time rather than distance (or intensity) This helped me a lot.
Look for ways to add walking into your life. Frequency is key during initial stages.
Measure the quality of your walk by % of walk done in nature.
Re. Loading don't rush this: prefer increased time over increased load - however a backpack with an internal water bladder and drinking tube is a great way to add a little weight while also improving your walk.
Add suncream and provisions as necessary
Enjoy.
Also posture focus as per @Matts, and look around as you walk, with eyes moving first and head follows as per OS, this helps posture and increases enjoyment by being alert to surroundings