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Bushwalking Equipment | Can I Really Do Without a Smartphone?

January 15, 2014 OutdoorVenturer Leave a comment

As a bushwalker, can you afford not to own a smartphone? Which smartphone apps can replace dedicated equipment? What are the limitations?

Over the last few years technology has made smartphones invaluable to bushwalkers, replacing many of the devices, which previously had to be bought and carried individually.

Probably the first device carried by bushwalkers to be incorporated into the iPhone was the still and movie camera. Today’s smartphone has a high quality camera which can take video and stills, including panoramas, mark each with the location at which the photo was taken, and then upload it to the web using wifi or mobile (cellular) data.

Next, the GPS became available, allowing routes to be mapped live, waypoints determined and marked, and distances accurately determined. Recently, apps which allow the viewing of calibrated digital maps have become commonly available, and some apps now incorporate the navigation features found in a dedicated GPS. High resolution colour screens make viewing these maps and navigational features easy. Modern smartphones have built-in compasses which can be calibrated and are accurate enough for the day walker, but not accurate enough for bearings over long distances.

Then high quality heart rate sensors came on the market which could pair with a smartphone, initially using a “dongle” plugged into the earphone socket but more recently using low energy interference-free Bluetooth.

Some apps even use the smartphone camera and built-in light to measure blood flow pulses in a finger, without the need for an independent sensor. Fitness training had become more scientific!

The next advance was the ability to measure heart rate variability (HRV) (see previous post), using the powerful analysis capabilities of modern smartphones. Initially measuring HRV was only possible with expensive laboratory based equipment, but soon Polar had incorporated this ability into some of their top-of-the-line wrist computers. In the last few years, this technology has migrated to the smart phone, allowing bushwalk training to be fine tuned.

Bush walkers visiting remote areas often feel the need to take emergency devices with them to obtain help if an emergency occurs. We are all familiar with personal location beacons (PLBs) which can transmit a message, including location, to an overhead satellite, and from there to emergency rescue services.

SPOT gen3 s can send a message via satellite to your emergency contacts or to the same rescue service. Version three is much better functionally according to the reviews, but has a more expensive subscription.

Recently smartphone apps (GetHomeSafe) have become available which can send an SMS or email, if a bushwalker fails to return on time, without the need for any action by the “injured” or “lost” person or instantly in a critical emergency to a contact list or even rescue services directly, including the current location, participant details and a route plan. “You don’t need a working phone (be within range) or even to be be conscious for an alert to be sent.”

Bush walkers on day walks and within range of a mobile tower, up to 70 km from a high enough vantage point, can add weather and tide apps and the ability to visualise routes or places in 3D using Google Earth.

We now have GPS, fitness, navigation, mapping, emergency notification and weather services available at low cost in the one device! The only problem is a lack of battery capacity, but even this can be overcome to some extent with a solar charger.

What is next?
How do you overcome these limitations?
Where will the future take us?

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Bushwalking Fitness | Pt 3 My Choice of Smartphone Apps for Fitness Training

January 14, 2014 OutdoorVenturer Leave a comment

Which apps should I choose to monitor my fitness? How should they be integrated? How should I fine tune my training, using the data collected?

As mentioned in the previous two posts, Part 1 and Part 2, technology incorporated into the smartphone and low cost, high quality apps now enable bushwalkers to monitor their fitness and training program in a way previously only achievable by elite athletes working in an exercise laboratory. Both of these posts should be read as they provide necessary background for this post.

To maintain a high level of fitness, the bushwalker needs to be able to

measure personal fitness levels (Polar Beat, iThlete, HRV4training)
log training sessions (Precision Pulse HRM, Polar Beat, Walkmeter)
plan future training sessions based on fitness levels (iThlete, BioForce HRV)

Many of these can also be monitored by advanced wrist computers incorporating GPS and heart rate monitors, but these usually lack the versatility of a smartphone.

Measuring Personal Fitness

Polar Beat has an in-app purchase which allows your to do a Fitness Test (see previous post for more details) which you can then match with VO2max norms for your age and gender. This should give similar results to the values produced by Polar OwnIndex® found in many of the high-end Polar wrist computers, but I have found them to be about 5 points lower.

iThlete, BioForce HRM, and HRV4training use HRV as an indicator of fitness, with higher values indicating higher fitness levels. I am currently trialling both iThlete and HRV4training and may continue with both, as they offer slightly different but important features.

iThlete enables you to log important “environmental” factors such as sleep, fatigue, training load, muscle soreness, stress, mood and diet and check for correlations with HRV scores. HRV4training automates the HRV measuring process, giving the option of lying down or standing or both. If this option is chosen, the difference between standing and lying down is automatically calculated and can give valuable information about fitness, as the difference increases with fitness.

Logging Training Sessions

Precision Pulse HRM monitors, HRaverage and HRmaximum, kCal burnt, and training load, as measured by an objective TRIMP score, determined by time in each training zone and heart rate. Without this knowledge, training loads become rather subjective, especially if there is variation in the type of activity, volume and intensity, and therefore affect the reliability of the HRV data.

I have been using Walkmeter ( Apple) for about 5 years and find it to be an excellent app for maintaining a log of your training sessions, including GPS location, Activity, Route, kCals, Heart Rate, Elevation climbed and Duration, which can then be graphed and mapped or viewed live. Most importantly it is very user friendly, making excellent use of the remote controller on the earplug to control start/stop, playing of motivational music and user defined voice announcements such as pace, time, progress in relation to worst, medium, best previous times for the route. This means you don’t have to take your iPhone out of your pocket to control the app. It has the ability to automatically stop if you are stationary for more than a user defined duration, which is very handy. All of this information can be shared live using social media, if you are so inclined.

Polar Beat offers some of the above features such as measurement of distance, calories, speed, heart rate, and provides voice announcements and map location, but appears to be not yet fully developed. It does however integrate well with the Polar website.

Planning Future Training Sessions

Both iThlete and HRV4training provide bushwalker friendly advice about the day’s training session by relating the morning’s heart rate and HRV measurements to previous days.

Careful analysis of data provided by Walkmeter, such as average and maximum heart rates, time in each training zone, and duration in relation to previous times, can provide a limited guide, but lacks the predictive ability of the first two apps..

Social Media and Web Integration

Many fitness apps allow social media integration with Facebook and Twitter, and may allow upload to a proprietary website, for more detailed analysis.

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Bushwalking Fitness | Pt 2. Using a Heart Rate Monitor and a Smartphone to Measure Fitness Variables

January 14, 2014 OutdoorVenturer Leave a comment

Knowledge of which heart rate variables can help you to plan your training? Can a heart rate monitor help you decide whether you are over-training? How do you know if you are getting fitter? How can measuring heart rate variability (HRV) help you decide?

Disclaimer: I am not a trained sports medicine professional, and therefore the advice given here needs to be checked with your doctor or fitness professional before application. Values vary enormously from person-to-person and depend on your health, age, gender and fitness level. Sometimes a value which would be excellent for a very fit person can indicate a heart malfunction for someone who has a sedentary lifestyle.

As mentioned in the previous post, there are now a number of low cost, high quality smartphone (both Apple and Android) apps which allow you to very accurately measure, and store, many of the heart rate variables of interest to bushwalkers and other athletes.

Aerobic Capacity (VO2 max)

This is one of the most reliable measures of your cardiovascular fitness, and measures your body’s aerobic capacity ie ability to take up and use oxygen.

Some smartphone apps such as Polar Beat and many of the Polar wrist computers with OwnIndex® can estimate this with 86-93% accuracy by measuring your heart rate (255 beats) over 3-5 minutes, when you are lying flat at rest. The watch takes into account your resting heart rate and HR variability, along with body weight, height, and activity level. Care is needed in taking measurements in a consistent manner, usually as early in the morning as possible, before any activity, to allow day-to-day comparisons.

The improvement you may observe in as little as 4 weeks of aerobic training, is more important than the absolute value, and tells you whether your training program has been successful. I have used an F11 Polar wrist heart rate monitor for many years, and find that measurements taken every week give a very reliable indicator of my fitness trend.

You can download a copy of the Polar OwnIndex® chart, which gives you an indication of your level of fitness, based on age and gender.

More…

Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

Overtraining is a major worry for those who train hard and often, as it may take many months to years to recover. Fortunately, overtraining can be predicted (controversial) by some high quality heart rate monitors and appropriate apps, which are able to sense small variations in resting heart rate and heart rate variability, the variation in the time difference between peaks, from day to day. In general, HRV decreases with overtraining and resting heart rate increases.

These apps (see previous post) can measure your HRV, in a few minutes prior to each day’s training, and advise whether you need a rest day for recovery, or whether you are making real progress. They are sensitive enough to be able to detect an approaching illness, changes in stress level, over-training and even variation in diet, if coupled with a high quality heart rate sensor (eg BlueTooth Polar H7); far more reliable and sensitive than the Tanita body composition scales I had been using until now to measure fitness trends.

These apps are widely used by athletes and professional sports people and have a lot of sports science research to back up their reliability claims. In the few days, since I have been measuring HRV, I have found these apps easy and quick to use and that they produce results consistent with my subjective assessment.

While trends on their own are useful, they are much more valuable if the trends can be correlated with changes in activity, diet, stress, training load etc. and several of these apps allow this “environmental” data to be logged simultaneously. Other apps such as Precision Pulse, allow training load to be calculated objectively, using the TRIMP method. Without an accurate measurement of your training load, a meaningful assessment of the trend is difficult.

More….

Maximum Heart Rate (HRmax)

If you are using a heart rate monitor to adjust your training load then you need to know your maximum heart rate (HRmax), as it is essential measurement to determine your training zones. This can be estimated by a formula, but the actual value (as measured by a heart rate stress test) will vary in the range ± 20 bpm for most people.

Many smartphone apps use one of these formulae to calculate your HRmax, but usually offer the opportunity to enter a user value, if you have had it measured accurately.

During my training sessions of about 4 km, which include a 200m climb and a similar descent, my maximum heart rate reaches an average of about 82% of my HRmax (162 for myself) and my average heart rate is about 63% of HRmax.

More…

Resting Heart Rate (HRrest)

This is usually measured after 15-20 minutes of lying down, before your day starts. If you are using a HRM, wait until it stabilises. The value depends upon fitness, stress, diet and health status, which varies on a daily basis. Very low HRrest may indicate a heart abnormality in someone who is not an athlete.

As you get fitter your resting heart rate should get lower. My average HRrest is 44, but varies daily between 40 and 49. An increase of more than few beats can indicate that your are over-training, but there are many other possible explanations, hence this measurement on its own has limited value.

Heart Recovery Rate (HRrec)

Heart rate recovery, a measure of the drop in heart rate when you stop exercising, is considered an excellent measure of fitness, with a more rapid drop indicating a higher level of fitness. After 30 minutes, your heart rate should have returned to its pre-exercise value, and if greater than 120 after 5 minutes, you have probably pushed yourself too hard. Walking slowly (cool down) for 5 minutes after stopping exercise is advised to increase recovery and reduce heart stress.

An alternative method involves taking your pulse during exercise and then again 1 minute after cessation. Divide the difference by 10 to get the Recovery Rate Number.

Outstanding greater than 6
Excellent 4-6
Good 3-4
Fair 2-3
Poor less than 2

You should consult a doctor if it is 1.2 or lower, as there is a potential heart risk.

The recovery rate is independent of age, but is linked to fitness and heart mortality.

More….

Orthostatic Heart Rate (OHR)

Your heart rate increases when you stand, and this increase is usually in the range 15-20 bpm. If it is greater than this you have probably not recovered from training the previous day, are under stress or have an illness approaching. This can be used as a rough guide to your fitness, as the lower this figure, the fitter your heart.

Measurements should be made after 15 minutes resting in a supine position (HRrest) and then again 15 seconds after standing, or alternatively just take the maximum reached after standing.

Alternatively, the difference between the your resting HR and standing HR can be recorded over a few weeks and the average used as a guide to decide the meaning of each day’s measurement and how to vary your training. My average difference (OHR) is 14 but varies widely between 6 and 31 depending on whether I have over-reached or have an illness approaching.

More…

Heart Rate Training Zones

There are many apps and web sites that allow you to calculate your heart rate zones, if you know your resting pulse and maximum heart rate. If you don’t already know this, you can allow the app to estimate it from your age. Polar have a free app Polar Beat which can monitor your training while it is actually happening and store the results, but I prefer to use Walkmeter, as it gives excellent voice (Australian) feedback during the walk and can be controlled with the remote.

Typically 60-70% of HRmax is your fat burning and recovery zone, 70-80% is your aerobic zone, 80-90% is your anaerobic zone, and 90-100% is reserved for interval training. Depending on your reasons for training, it is important to keep within the correct zones, otherwise all your efforts can be wasted

One of the main limitations of this method is that heart rate varies depending on dehydration (+ 7.5%), heat and humidity (+10 bpm), altitude (+10-20%) and natural biological variation (± 2-4 bpm). BrianMac

More…

Some more references

Bushwalking Fitness (14)
Training with iThlete
Maximum Heart Rate (BrianMAC)
Heat Rate Training Zones (BrianMAC)
More about the Polar Fitness Test
Heart rate training limitations
What Makes a Difference in Heart Rate Recovery Time After a Workout?
How Long After Working Out Does Your Heart Rate Return to Base?

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Bushwalking Fitness | Pt 1 Smart Phone Apps to Fine Tune your Bushwalk Training

January 13, 2014 OutdoorVenturer Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered whether you’re actually getting fitter for bushwalking? Are you over-training? Should you skip a training session due to illness or stress? Would a heart rate monitor (HRM) help? Can a smartphone replace a wrist HRM? Which smartphone apps are available to help?

Most of us judge whether we are getting fitter by subjectively assessing our level of tiredness/soreness/shortness of breadth after a strenuous walk or by trying objectively to beat our PB (personal best) on a fixed route. We may even use a smartphone app such as Walkmeter, Polar Beat, or Precision Pulse to record our training sessions, and hopefully progress.


Polar Beat

We may think that spending more time training and climbing steeper slopes (ie increasing volume and intensity) will help, but that is not always so. Sometimes we can over-train which will be detrimental to our performance, sometimes setting back our progress for months. There are affordable smartphone apps than can help prevent over-training. (eg HRV4training, iThlete, bioForce HRV)

iThlete

Heart rate monitors have recently become affordable, with iPhone and Android apps costing only a few dollars now, replacing expensive wrist watches worth hundreds of dollars. All your need is a smart phone with a camera, and with some persistence, and a lot of trial and error, you may not even need a chest belt with heart rate sensor. (NB: some user comments, supported by my own experience, suggest that this method is often inaccurate, so I would recommend using a Bluetooth HR sensor such as the Polar H7.)

Heart rate monitors are able to measure a wide variety of heart variables that are very useful indicators of your fitness:

heart rate variability (HRV); time variation between your heart beats
resting heart rate (HRrest): your minimum heart rate, when lying down, at rest
heart rate recovery (HRrec): the number of beats your heart rate drops in a minute after reaching a peak, following intense exercise.
heart rate orthostatic (HRortho): measures the difference between HRrest and the maximum rate achieved on standing (or after 15 seconds)
aerobic capacity (VO2max): can be estimated by doing a Polar “fitness test”

The measuring of these variables was once solely in the domain of exercise physiologist using equipment worth many thousands of dollars, but then in 1983 Polar developed a chest strap with heart rate sensor (transmitter) and wrist receiver. Heart rate monitoring (HRM) became relatively affordable for most athletes, with the cost dropping to a few hundred dollars.

In the last few years, with the development of the iPhone 4S or 5, which both have Bluetooth, wrist worn receivers are no longer necessary, with the smartphone taking over this job. iPhone apps able to perform as well as equipment once worth thousands of dollars, now cost less that $10 with some even free. Equivalent Android apps are coming on the market at a rapid rate. Chest sensors to monitor heart rate cost less than $100.

We have all seen professional athletes wearing heart rate and GPS transmitters, during sports. The science is well developed and much of this knowledge is now applicable to bushwalking.

The next post (Bushwalking Fitness | Pt 2. Using a Heart Rate Monitor and a Smartphone to Measure Fitness Variables ) in this series looks in more detail at the important fitness variables which can be measured by a smartphone and heart rate sensor and how they might be used to fine tune your training.

The final post Bushwalking Fitness | Pt 3 My Choice of Smartphone Apps for Fitness Training answers the questions:

Which apps should I choose to monitor my fitness? How should they be integrated? How should I fine tune my training, using the data collected?

This article by Bush Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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Bushwalking Fitness | Am I getting fitter?

March 24, 2013 OutdoorVenturer Leave a comment

How can you tell if you are getting fitter? Do you need to buy a heart monitor? Can your smartphone tell you? Can body composition weighing scales help?

My last three posts (see below) discussed how to plan a “get fit for bushwalking” program, how to make sure that each session is effective and that you are not doing more damage than good…….. but is it working?

If you are not technology-minded, then it’s easy; simply check your watch to see if you are getting any faster on a fixed route. If you enjoy using technology, then it can be a great motivator to watch the improvement, but take great care, as a single score, without supporting data, is often unreliable.

Some signs that you are getting fitter include:

Heart Recovery Rate increases
Resting Heart Rate decreases
Time to complete a fixed route decreases
Average Heart Rate for the route decreases
V02max increases
Metabolic Age (yrs) decreases

The absolute value of these readings will most likely depend on your age, gender, your level of general fitness prior to starting, your health and individual characteristics, which are often inherited. In addition, there is often wide variation from day-to-day and controversies about the formulae used to calculate your score and its relevance to you. The message is……. Don’t rely on one measurement to predict your fitness.

There are many different formulae to calculate your maximal heart rate, so if you find the popular (220 – age) doesn’t work for you, then try one of the others, which are likely to be more reliable, as they are based on research, unlike the “old standard”. As an example of the difficulty of interpreting individual scores, there is a general observation that fit people have a lower resting heart rate (less than 60, and even as low as 28 bpm), but there is an enormous variation between elite athletes, even in the same sport, and a very low heart rate can indicate that your heart is malfunctioning. Resting heart rates decreases with age too, at about 0.5 bpm/year.

Despite the problems with individual measurements, trends in body measurements are usually very reliable, especially if the measurement is done at the same time of the day and in the same situation each time eg on first rising or after climbing the same hill.

If you use a heart rate monitor, trends are often plotted as graphs or can be uploaded to an associated website and viewed. Smart phone and tablet apps can record and graph your results. ( see next post).

The first three tests of your fitness (1,2,3) are easy to perform, require little equipment and yet are very reliable indicators of fitness level. Average heart rate and VO2max (4, 5) require a heart rate monitor (HRM), while metabolic age (6) requires body composition scales. When the trend you are observing is backed up by another fitness measurement, you can be confident that the trend is real.

Additional records that many people keep, which give indirect measures of fitness trends, are:

Body fat % (calipers: skilled, scales: easy)
Waist measurement( tape measure) better than BMI
Body weight (scales)
Body Mass Index (BMI): not reliable

My next post will look at the technology needed to make these measurements; smartphone apps, heart rate monitors and body composition scales.

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Bush Walker

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Bushwalking Fitness | Stretches for Bushwalkers

January 5, 2013 OutdoorVenturer 1 Comment

Which muscles do bushwalkers use? Which are the appropriate static and dynamic stretches for bushwalkers to do? How should I perform each stretch?

Disclaimer: I have no training in sports medicine nor am I an elite athletics coach, so the advice given below should be discussed with a professional and modified to suit your age and fitness, or you can read the links to the research I have provided and decide for yourself.

Here are some of important muscles used in bushwalking, although most experts will tell you that bushwalking with a pack and walking poles gives just about all muscles a thorough workout.

Glutes: support body weight plus pack
Quadriceps: descending
Hamstrings: more important for bush walkers than runners
Calves: intensity of use varies with terrain, climbing
Abdominals: assist with posture, help you avoid back injury, stabilise pack
Middle and upper back muscles: stop pack swinging from side to side
Lower Back: for lifting and loading the pack
Obliques: scrambling
Ankle and Knee Complex: support body and pack weight

Inside and Outside Thigh
Hips: support body and pack weight
Neck (trapezius): support the pack weight via shoulder straps

Source: Fitness Blender Calories Burned Hiking – What Muscles are used in Hiking?

iMuscle is a great iPhone/iPad/laptop app which shows all the muscle groups and exercises associated with them.

Here are a selection of stretches for both before and after a bushwalk, recommended by three highly regarded fitness websites. Use the links provided, in the first column, to see how to do them or download one of the recommended posters or brochures, which I have cross-referenced. A search within YouTube for the particular stretch, will produce some excellent videos. You only need to select 5-10 minutes worth, and can vary these from session to session.

Many experts say that pre-exercise stretches should mimic the actions about to be performed (sports-specific) to get maximum value, while others says that each of the muscle groups should be stretched (generic). As most muscles groups are involved in bushwalking, especially with poles, I have adopted a generic, whole body dynamic warm up, as seen above, which can be done in 6 minutes, with no equipment.

While learning this dynamic stretch routine, you can download and play this video on your smartphone or tablet.If 6 mins is too short, you can repeat the routine or add some of the dynamic stretches below.
Take care when selecting dynamic stretches from websites/posters/brochures as some are really static stretches (held at maximum extension) rather than dynamic.
After your walk, when you are thoroughly warm, you should select some of the static stretches from the list below. Some will be more appropriate in an outdoors setting and others should be selected to target specific areas of soreness.
For a sample training session, see my previous post. Bushwalking Fitness | Planning a Training Session

Click the links below to see either a photo or video of the stretch.

Dynamic Stretches, during warm up, after a low intensity 5 min walk.	Type	Brian Mac	About. com	Peak Performance
Joint Rotations	D	√
Nick Mobility	D	√
Shoulder Circles (3)	D	√
Arm Swings	D	√
Side Bends	D	√
Hip Circles and Twists	D	√
Half squat	D	√
Leg swings	D	√
Lunges	D	√
Ankle Bounce	D	√
Ankle Roll	D		√
Twist	D		√
Arm Circle	D		√
Ankle Pops	D			√
High Knees	D			√
Butt Kicks	D			√
Carioca	D			√
Step Slide	D			√
Glute Walk	D			√
Back Pedal	D			√
Frankenstein March	D			√
Knee Hug	D			√
Pointers	D			√
Quad walk	D			√
Low Lunge	D			√
Over the fence	D			√
Inchworm	D			√
Scorpion	D			√
Static Stretches, during cool down, after a 2-5 minute slow walk.	Type	Brian Mac	About. com	Peak performance
Neck Stretches (2)	S		√
Arm Circle	S		√
Walking Reach Stretches	S		√
Thigh Walking Stretch	S		√
Abs and Glutes Stretch (2) (3)	S		√
Calves Walking Stretch	S		√
Walking Stretches for Shins	S		√
Quad Walking Stretches	S		√
Chest Stretch (1)	S	√
Upper Back Stretch	S	√
Shoulder Stretch	S	√
Shoulder Rotator Stretch (2)	S	√
Shoulder and Triceps Stretch (2) (3)	S	√
Side Bends	S	√
Abdominal and Lower Back	S	√
Hamstring Stretch (1) (2) (3)	S	√
Calf Stretch (1) (3)	S	√
Hip and Thigh Stretch (1) (2) (3)	S	√
Abductor Stretch (1) (2) (3)	S	√
Groin Stretch (3)	S	√
Front of Trunk Stretch	S	√
Iliotibial Band Stretch	S	√
Quadriceps Stretch (2) (3)	S	√
S=Static Stretch for during cool down D=Dynamic stretch for during warm up

References

Stretching posters and pamphlets

Start Stretching Guidelines Poster (2 pages) (American Heart Association)

Fact Sheet 3 Warm Up Guidelines (4 pages) (SmartPlay http://www.smsa.asn.au)

Sports Medicine Australia Warm Up (poster) (SmartPlay smartplay.com.au)

Muscles in hiking

Livestrong.com Hiking Muscles vs. Running Muscles

Fitness Blender Calories Burned Hiking – What Muscles are used in Hiking?

Livestrong.com Leg Muscle Fatigue After Hiking

About.com Weight Training Workouts for Hiking and Backpacking
iMuscle iPhone/iPad/laptop app

Brian Mac

Warm up and Cool down

Body Control Pilates

Mobility and Flexibility

Dynamic Stretching and Mobility Exercises

Conditioning- How Does Static Stretching Affect Athlete’s Performance

Static Stretching Exercises

About.com (moderated)

When to Stretch – Experts Recommend Static Stretching After Exercise

Understand the Different Types of Stretching

Benefits of Stretching

Warm up Stretches for Walkers

Peak Performance

Warming Up before training and competition

Warming Up: the latest research into stretching

Stretching, Performance and Injury Prevention

Warming Up: Does stretching actually hinder performance?

Warming Up: the dynamic alternative to static stretching

Warm Ups: mobility exercises will prepare the body to move quickly and efficiently

Warm Up drills

Active warm ups

Warming Up

How to Cool Down (cool_down_recover_faster_and_avoid_injury.pdf)

Warming Up to avoid injury (warming_up_to_avoid_injury.pdf)

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Bushwalking Fitness | Planning a Bushwalk Training Session

January 4, 2013 OutdoorVenturer Leave a comment

What are the essential components of a bushwalking training session? Why are warm ups and cool down important? What types of stretching should be used and when?

Disclaimer: I have no training in sports medicine nor am I an elite athletics coach, so the advice given below should be discussed with a professional and modified to suit your age and fitness, or you can read the links to the research I have provided and decide for yourself.

This post is to alert bushwalkers to recent changes in the advice given by sports coaches and researchers and to offer some safe alternatives, which can be incorporated in training sessions for bushwalkers, leading to more enjoyable bushwalking.

Controversy

In the 80’s, coaches and sports medicine practitioners were recommending static stretches before exercise as a way of preventing injuries and muscles soreness. Unfortunately, this incorrect advice is now incorporated into the pre-walk routines of many bushwalkers.

Recent research has shown that static stretches before exercise don’t prevent muscle soreness or injuries and can actually be counter-productive by reducing the explosive power of major muscles, for as long as several hours after the stretching.

Essential components

If you wish to reduce muscle soreness and injuries, the most important thing you should do before exercise is to warm up fully and only once this has been done, attempt some dynamic stretches.

Dynamic stretching increases range of movement, blood and oxygen flow to soft tissues prior to exertion. Increasingly coaches and sports trainers are aware of the role in dynamic stretching in improving performance and reducing the risk of injury. (Wikipedia)

Traditionally stretching before exercise has been static (ie held for 10 – 60 seconds at maximum contraction), but more recently dynamic stretches, typically swings and lunges, have become favored, as they mimic more closely the actions which occur naturally in the activity and can be considered part of the warm-up. During the controlled swing, the maximum stretch is reached but is not held and this is then repeated in a fluid motion. These are the sorts of activities you see Olympic runners and swimmers doing just before they reach the starting blocks.

After strenuous exercise, low intensity cool down exercises, involving the muscles just used, such as slow walking, are essential to remove metabolic products such as lactic acid from the muscles, to return the body to a pre-exercise levels, to reduce muscle soreness and aid in quick recovery.

Static stretching can be used as part of the cool down as it stretches tightened and contracted muscles back to original size, and in so doing produces a feeling of relaxation. For those over 65 years, this is the ideal opportunity to increase flexibility, without the risk of injury, as the body is already warm.

Example of a Training Program for Bushwalking (Thanks Jarrad)

Warm up

5 min Low intensity walk, slowly increasing the pace
5 Min Dynamic Stretches (eg http://youtu.be/E7ghNKOH9To or www.brianmac.co.uk/dynamic.htm)

This may take more than 5 minutes initially, but this will soon decrease with familiarity. Once you have completed the dynamic warm up, try some light repetitive exercise eg walking up and down stairs 10 times just prior to stepping off for your walk. Alternatively, commence your training session at a slow pace and low intensity for the first few hundred metres.

Your training walks

Logically, your training sessions should exercise all the muscles you will be using on your walk. In a gym environment, it is difficult to know which muscles to exercise and upon which to give more focus, but when actually walking this all happens automatically.

If your aim is to walk off-track with a heavy pack, in hilly, rough terrain then that’s the training you should do. If you intend walking on the flat with a light day pack then that’s how you should exercise. Training off-track has the additional benefits of developing balance, and adding interest to what can be repetitive and boring. Balance is an often ignored attribute of a good walker, and can have a major impact on speed of movement and safety.

Don’t forget to build up slowly: increasing either distance or speed a little each day, beginning on the flat and increasing the steepness of the terrain, and adding weight to your backpack at regular intervals, when you feel you have reached your maximum speed.

Unfortunately not everybody has access to a suitable training environment, so your gym programme will need to exercise all the muscle groups you will be using, developing the balance and strength that climbing on rough terrain automatically produces. I highly recommend that you incorporate a Pilates or yoga class or two, as they incorporate stretches which focus on the core muscles so essential for balance and carrying a backpack.

Cool downs

3 -5 min slow walk
5 -10 min Static Stretches (eg www.brianmac.co.uk/stretch.htm)
Refuel: both fluid and easily digestible food (eg fruit or sport drink)

Once, again Brian Mac has a number of very good stretches that should be conducted after exercising. The longer you can hold a stretch for, without bouncing, the more benefit you will gain. To start with hold a stretch for about 20-30 sec and conduct each stretch twice. Those over 65 years, may need to hold for 60 seconds to get maximum benefit.

Another site which is also very helpful is:

http://www.topendsports.com/medicine/stretches/index.htm

It has pretty much the same stretches as the Brian Mac site, and maybe a few alternatives if you find that some of the stretches are hurting etc.

References:

Brian Mac

About.com

Peak Performance

This article by Bush Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Uncategorized

Bushwalking Fitness | Is stretching a waste of time?

January 3, 2013 OutdoorVenturer Leave a comment

Is static stretching a waste of time? Does static stretching before exercise prevent muscle soreness and injury? Can static stretching beforehand reduce power during a bushwalk?

With a couple of almost 3000m Canadian mountains (Mt.Begbie near Revelstoke and Mt Tupper near Roger’s Pass) to climb in September, and with the festive season having played havoc with my fitness, I have again made my annual New Year’s resolution to improve my fitness.

Mt Begbie, Revelstoke (© goldenscrambles.ca)

Mt Tupper, Rogers Pass (© Selkirk Mountain Experience)

My usual weekly keep-fit regime involves 3 or 4, 45 – 60 minute walks on rugged and hilly tracks near my home, interspersed with a Pilates class or two, and as I approach a major bushwalk/climb, 1 or 2 bushwalk-specific weight resistance sessions at my local gym. In hot weather, I cool down after my morning walk with a 1 km swim.

While annual gym fees are substantial, cutting back on my wine consumption by a glass a day, more than pays for the cost! This training schedule may seem excessive to some, but I’ve found that to enjoy a bush walk, and in some cases a 10-12 hour day with a heavy pack, that a high level of fitness is needed. As I get older, it takes more effort to reach and maintain the same level of fitness.

Training Route, Brownhill (3.83 km)

I find that, as I usually train on my own, I need some incentive to improve and for this I use the highly regarded iPhone app Walkmeter which enables me to compare my times from walk to walk and from stage to stage within the walk. It even allows me to select background music with appropriate BPM (beats per minute) and gives me feedback throughout the walk as to how I rate compared with my best, median and worst times at key points ( see map above) along this route. All of these statistics, including calories burnt, can be viewed online , exported to Google Earth (kml or gpx files) or shared with your training partner.

As I have been noticing a little calf muscle soreness during these walks, I thought I would investigate if a stretching regime could help. To my surprise, I found that the benefits of stretching were rather controversial.

Researchers Robert Herbert, Ph.D., and Marcos de Noronha, Ph.D. of the University of Sydney conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 10 previously published studies of stretching either before or after athletic activity. They concluded that stretching before exercise doesn’t prevent post-exercise muscle soreness. They also found little support for the theory that stretching immediately before exercise can prevent either overuse or acute sports injuries. (When to Stretch – Experts Recommend Static Stretching After Exercise ©2013 About.com. All rights reserved.)

Part 2 of this post outlines a bushwalk training session which has been designed for me by a professional trainer and includes a warm up with dynamic stretches, training walk, and a cool down including static stretches.

Other Bushwalk Fitness related posts (9)

Bushwalking Fitness
Bushwalking Fitness | Stretches for Bushwalkers
Bushwalking Fitness | Planning a Bushwalk Training Session

This article by Bush Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Bushwalking, Destinations, Uncategorized

Bushwalking in Remote South Australia | Warraweena Conservation Park, Northern Flinders Ranges

September 30, 2012 OutdoorVenturer Leave a comment

Looking for some off-track walking in a remote area in the Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia? Already walked the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges? Well here is your chance to walk in a similar environment, but with a few more amenities, a window into the past and a little less remoteness.

Just back from a week’s bushwalking in the Warraweena Conservation Park, about 30 km south of Leigh Creek, and about 550 km north of Adelaide, in the Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. (Thanks John for your leadership and planning)

Warraweena Conservation Park

Adelaide – Warraweena (Google)

View Larger Map

History

Warraweena is a 130 year old sheep station, which was originally part of the Oratunga Run (later renamed Moolooloo) until the late 1800s. It was acquired in 1996 by Wetlands and Wildlife, a private conservation company, destocked and converted to a private Conservation Park. More info…..

Source: SAAL – NRM – Northern Flinders Ranges – FS-052007

Nearby is the old Sliding Rock copper mine, dating back to the 1870’s, where hundreds of miners, their families and local shopkeepers lived in its heyday.

Sliding Rock was discovered in 1870 by John Holding and Joseph Hele because of its pure copper. In 1872 the township of Cadnia was surveyed a few hundred metres east of the mine. The town catered for up to 400 miners and their families and had a sense of permanence. Horse races and cricket matches were held. A court house dispensed justice, the Rock Hotel catered for workers while 4 general stores supplied goods and food. In 1877 the mine was inundated by massive flows of water. Although a steam powered pump was used to stop the water entering the shafts this failed and later that year the mine was abandoned. The town quickly followed. More than a century later the water became valuable as a temporary supply to Leigh Creek. For fossickers and history buffs there is much to see. Enjoy the walk around the ruins of the early township and mining site. There are also 2 cemeteries marking the passage of time. Permissions to camp should be sought from the Warraweena homestead, a short drive from Sliding Rock. (Source: Leigh Creek Visitor Information Outlet downloaded 01/10/12)

More pictures of Sliding Rock mine and town

More recently, water pumped from the disused mine was used as a temporary water supply for Leigh Creek, until the Aroona Dam was built.

Bushwalking Potential

C. Warren Bonython in his book Walking the Flinders Ranges (Rigby 1971) pp103 – 118, describes how he walked on the Narinna Station, during early July1968, NE parallel to the eastern boundary of Warraweena from Patawerta Gap, through Narina Pound, past Narina Hut, Mt Tilley and Old Warraweena, Claypan Dam, Mt Hack and finally through Main Gap, continuing north towards Angepena. He met the owner of Warraweena, Keith Nicholls near Mt Hack and had a lengthy chat.

Extract from Walking the Flinders Ranges (Rigby 1971) p104

Extract from Cadnia 50K Topographic Map NB Only the central part of the Warraweena lease is shown

The Park is 341 sq km in area, accessed by a small number of 4WD station tracks and numerous dry creek beds, making walking relatively easy. The country is beautiful and typical of the arid Flinders Ranges, with open ridge lines and broad pebbly creek beds, lined with ancient River Red Gums and native pines on the flats and slopes.

Mountains: The Park includes many of the highest peaks in the Flinders Ranges including Mt Hack, which is over 1000m. The photos below show Mt Stuart (881m), Mt Gill (914m), and Mt Hemming (799m), which are prominent (higher than Mt Lofty) mountains in the region and well worth the relatively easy climbs for the views.
Vegetation is relatively open (see Google map above), especially on ridge lines, but there are places where native pines are thick and spreading. Creek lines are easily walked. Beautiful wildflowers abound in season. The central-western area toward Mt Stuart, is open grassland with a sparse overstorey of drooping sheoak and gum and pine in the creeks.( Source: SEG 1999)

Walk duration: day walks to 9 day extended walks are possible within the confines of the Park, and with a little planning, a variety of circular loops originating and finishing at Warraweena HS or the strategically placed shepherd’s huts are possible.
Water Availability: water is available each night, either at one of the 27 permanent springs (Source: SEG 1999), the ephemeral creeks (Black Range Spring, Sandy Camp and Warriooota) or at the shepherd’s huts with their rainwater tanks.

Mt Hemming (midground) Cockatoo Well (yellow pin NE) Mt Stuart (further back)

Cockatoo Well – Mt Gill

Warraweena (yellow pin to NW) – Cockatoo Well – Mt Gill (foreground)

Accommodation

The Homestead and Shearer’s Quarters provide a base camp for those planning day walks, with 4WD access from these to more remote sites. Shepherd’s huts, such as those at Cockatoo Well, Dunbar Well and others, provide basic amenities (long drop pit toilet, bed frames, water tank, fire ring and table) and are spaced about a day’s walk (15 km) apart throughout the park. They are accessible by 4WD, but not 2WD. More info and bookings…

Wildlife

Red and western-grey kangaroos, euros, dunnarts, bats, emus, native birds (Inland Thornbills, Southern Whitefaces, Australian Ringnecks, Yellow Throated Miners, Red-capped Robins, White Browed Babblers) and reptiles (sleepy lizard, snakes, tree dtella, geckos, skinks) and frogs abound. (Source: SEG 1999)

Thirteen Colonies of yellow-footed rock wallabies have been sighted and one very rare plant, Menzell’s Wattle. There is an enticing panorama of open hillsides, pine forests, ranges, creeks thick with red gums, waterfalls and water holes and towering the eastern section of the property is Mount Hack, 1086 metres and the second highest peak in the Flinders. Bird surveys have counted 77 species here and the property is a great place to observe bird life. Around 168 species of plants were found. Anyone can camp here, bushwalk or bird watch for a nominal fee. There are shearer’s quarters with amenities that are very comfortable. (Source: Leigh Creek Visitor Information Outlet downloaded 01/10/12)

You will see the occasional small woolly flock of sheep, invaders from a nearby sheep station. Unfortunately, there are still some large herds of goats remaining, despite the efforts of sports shooters. Foxes and rabbits are common.

Weather

Best months for walking are May to August when the average monthly maxima are in the low 20’s (19-24ºC). Overnight temperatures are just above freezing (2-7ºC). These are also the driest months, as most rain falls December – April.

Check the Copley weather and Leigh Creek Airport forecast (Weatherzone)

Links

Contact the Park Manager, Stony Steiner, by email or phone (08) 8675 2770
Warraweena in the North Flinders: In the Flinders Ranges area of the Outback region of South Australia (Postcards)
Warraweena Wetlands and Wildlife (Wetlands and Wildlife is a conservation company that was founded by Mr Tom Brinkworth to hold land of significant conservation value for the benefits of future generations. )
Warraweena: The Sentimental Bloke (Spectacular pictures by Peter MacDonald, capturing the essence of the Flinders Ranges and outback South Australia. )
Warraweena (Flickr photo search)
Goats on Warraweena (Sporting Shooter Magazine, 22 Sep 2011)
Expedition Warraweena pdf (Scientific Expedition Group)
Warraweena – Cockatoo Dunbar Loop (LCOOL Flinders Ranges Trip Day 7 – 3 Oct )
Warraweena – Mt Gill Day Drive (LCOOL Flinders Ranges Trip Day 6 – 2 Oct)
South Australian Arid Lands – Natural Resources Management Group – Northern Flinders Ranges – FS-052007 Fact Sheet (pdf 1.2Mb)
Copley weather and Leigh Creek Airport forecast (Weatherzone)
Public Access to Pastoral Lands (pdf) Four Wheel Drive SA
Public Access Routes Four Wheel Drive SA
Public Access Routes Fact Sheet (lists 24 routes, including Warraweena) DEWNR (pdf)
Pastoral Access Request Form DEWNR (pdf)
Arid Lands Information System DEWNR ( zoomable map of pastoral leases)
Bushwalking in Warraweena, Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia Ian Bate, Shannon Carne, Shane Hutchins ( Wetlands and Wildlife, South Australia 2003)
Corbett, David A Field guide to the Flinders Ranges (Rigby 1980)
Barker, Sue et al Explore the Flinders Ranges ( Royal geographical Society of Australasia
Davies, M et al Natural History of the Flinders Ranges (Royal Society of South Australia, 1996)

Similar posts

This article by Bush Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Bushwalking, Destinations, Uncategorized

Bushwalking in Remote South Australia | Warraweena Conservation Park, Northern Flinders Ranges

September 30, 2012 OutdoorVenturer Leave a comment

Looking for some off-track walking in a remote area in the Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia? Already walked the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges? Well here is your chance to walk in a similar environment, but with a few more amenities, a window into the past and a little less remoteness.

Warraweena Conservation Park

Adelaide – Warraweena (Google)

History

Source: SAAL – NRM – Northern Flinders Ranges – FS-052007

Nearby is the old Sliding Rock copper mine, dating back to the 1870’s, where hundreds of miners, their families and local shopkeepers lived in its heyday.

Sliding Rock was discovered in 1870 by John Holding and Joseph Hele because of its pure copper. In 1872 the township of Cadnia was surveyed a few hundred metres east of the mine. The town catered for up to 400 miners and their families and had a sense of permanence. Horse races and cricket matches were held. A court house dispensed justice, the Rock Hotel catered for workers while 4 general stores supplied goods and food. In 1877 the mine was inundated by massive flows of water. Although a steam powered pump was used to stop the water entering the shafts this failed and later that year the mine was abandoned. The town quickly followed. More than a century later the water became valuable as a temporary supply to Leigh Creek. For fossickers and history buffs there is much to see. Enjoy the walk around the ruins of the early township and mining site. There are also 2 cemeteries marking the passage of time. Permissions to camp should be sought from the Warraweena homestead, a short drive from Sliding Rock. (Source: Leigh Creek Visitor Information Outlet downloaded 01/10/12)

More pictures of Sliding Rock mine and town

More recently, water pumped from the disused mine was used as a temporary water supply for Leigh Creek, until the Aroona Dam was built.

Bushwalking Potential

Extract from Walking the Flinders Ranges (Rigby 1971) p104

Extract from Cadnia 50K Topographic Map NB Only the central part of the Warraweena lease is shown

Vegetation is relatively open (see Google map above), especially on ridge lines, but there are places where native pines are thick and spreading. Creek lines are easily walked. Beautiful wildflowers abound in season. The central-western area toward Mt Stuart, is open grassland with a sparse overstorey of drooping sheoak and gum and pine in the creeks.( Source: SEG 1999)

Water Availability: water is available each night, either at one of the 27 permanent springs (Source: SEG 1999), the ephemeral creeks (Black Range Spring, Sandy Camp and Warriooota) or at the shepherd’s huts with their rainwater tanks.

Mt Hemming (midground) Cockatoo Well (yellow pin NE) Mt Stuart (further back)

Cockatoo Well – Mt Gill

Warraweena (yellow pin to NW) – Cockatoo Well – Mt Gill (foreground)

Accommodation

Wildlife

Thirteen Colonies of yellow-footed rock wallabies have been sighted and one very rare plant, Menzell’s Wattle. There is an enticing panorama of open hillsides, pine forests, ranges, creeks thick with red gums, waterfalls and water holes and towering the eastern section of the property is Mount Hack, 1086 metres and the second highest peak in the Flinders. Bird surveys have counted 77 species here and the property is a great place to observe bird life. Around 168 species of plants were found. Anyone can camp here, bushwalk or bird watch for a nominal fee. There are shearer’s quarters with amenities that are very comfortable. (Source: Leigh Creek Visitor Information Outlet downloaded 01/10/12)

Weather

Check the Copley weather and Leigh Creek Airport forecast (Weatherzone)

Links

Contact the Park Manager, Stony Steiner, by email or phone (08) 8675 2770
Warraweena in the North Flinders: In the Flinders Ranges area of the Outback region of South Australia (Postcards)
Warraweena Wetlands and Wildlife (Wetlands and Wildlife is a conservation company that was founded by Mr Tom Brinkworth to hold land of significant conservation value for the benefits of future generations. )
Warraweena: The Sentimental Bloke (Spectacular pictures by Peter MacDonald, capturing the essence of the Flinders Ranges and outback South Australia. )
Warraweena (Flickr photo search)
Goats on Warraweena (Sporting Shooter Magazine, 22 Sep 2011)
Expedition Warraweena pdf (Scientific Expedition Group)
Warraweena – Cockatoo Dunbar Loop (LCOOL Flinders Ranges Trip Day 7 – 3 Oct )
Warraweena – Mt Gill Day Drive (LCOOL Flinders Ranges Trip Day 6 – 2 Oct)
South Australian Arid Lands – Natural Resources Management Group – Northern Flinders Ranges – FS-052007 Fact Sheet (pdf 1.2Mb)
Copley weather and Leigh Creek Airport forecast (Weatherzone)
Public Access to Pastoral Lands (pdf) Four Wheel Drive SA
Public Access Routes Four Wheel Drive SA
Public Access Routes Fact Sheet (lists 24 routes, including Warraweena) DEWNR (pdf)
Pastoral Access Request Form DEWNR (pdf)
Arid Lands Information System DEWNR ( zoomable map of pastoral leases)
Bushwalking in Warraweena, Northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia Ian Bate, Shannon Carne, Shane Hutchins ( Wetlands and Wildlife, South Australia 2003)
Corbett, David A Field guide to the Flinders Ranges (Rigby 1980)
Barker, Sue et al Explore the Flinders Ranges ( Royal geographical Society of Australasia
Davies, M et al Natural History of the Flinders Ranges (Royal Society of South Australia, 1996)

Similar posts

This article by Bush Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Oz Outdoor Adventures

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Bushwalking Equipment | Can I Really Do Without a Smartphone?

Bushwalking Fitness | Pt 3 My Choice of Smartphone Apps for Fitness Training

Bushwalking Fitness | Pt 2. Using a Heart Rate Monitor and a Smartphone to Measure Fitness Variables

Bushwalking Fitness | Pt 1 Smart Phone Apps to Fine Tune your Bushwalk Training

Bushwalking Fitness | Am I getting fitter?

Bushwalking Fitness | Stretches for Bushwalkers

Bushwalking Fitness | Planning a Bushwalk Training Session

Bushwalking Fitness | Is stretching a waste of time?

Bushwalking in Remote South Australia | Warraweena Conservation Park, Northern Flinders Ranges

Bushwalking in Remote South Australia | Warraweena Conservation Park, Northern Flinders Ranges

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