DOWNHILL TECHNIQUE & STAMINA BUILDING TIPS FOR TREKKERS.
In my this blog you will learn two very vital aspects of trekking, especially if you are on a mountain trail. While training for an upcoming trek these are the two aspects on which little emphasis is given by the budding trekkers, even by some of the seasoned trekkers. Neglecting these two aspects may turn your trek into a nightmare.
DOWNHILL TECHNIQUE :
During your trek when you start out on long descends, you often find that uphill climb was easier. This is because most of you do not know the right technique of descending and end up with bad knee and toe pain. There is a right technique of descending down a slope, which myself will mention in this blog.
One of the most important part during a mountain trek is going down, here are few techniques to go down faster and safer :
1. Visualise - look about 6-7 steps ahead and close, to anticipate where to put the feet and the trajectory.
2. Know the terrain - is it rocky, grass, wet, dry, snow, lose gravel, & so on , or a mix terrain.
3. The balance & gravity centre - use your body too keep the gravity centre on the centre or front of you.
4. Keep your knee joint lose - most trekkers keep their joints tight during descent as a result adds lot of pressure on their knees. Keep your knees lose, you should have a kind of spring in your step while you are going downhill, so to have more agility and flexibility while you are coming down.
5. Do not arrest your descending speed - most trekkers tend to slow down because they feel scared of going too fast downhill, this adds lot of pressure on their knees and toes. So, do not slow down, always go gravity as much as possible. If you think you are going too fast, then use trekking poles for more stability and to control your speed.
6. Use a trekking poles - this is very important especially while descending, it reduces your energy consumption by 40%. It also acts as your third leg. If you have 2 poles then you can come down easily like an animal. It is very easy when you use your poles when you descend, it gives you lot of balance and stability.
7. Put your heel down first and then your toe - when climbing down, put your heel down first then your toe,..... heel - toe..... heel - toe...... heel - toe....... always like that. If you put your toe down first then you are putting a lot of pressure on your toes, it is going to hit the inside of your shoes, resulting in blue toe nails , blisters and pain.
8. Lean back to lower your centre of gravity - while going down lean a little backward so that you lower your centre of gravity, that way you can maintain a good balance while descending.
9. Take a zig-zag path - when you are coming down a steep slope, try to take a criss-cross or a zig-zag path especially if it is a flat surfaced slope, that way you will reduce the gradient gradient that you are coming down, and the descend will be easier for you.
10. Take side-step - do not come down with your toes pointing front, take side steps so that you have more surface area gripping the surface and will not slip, it is also easier to criss-cross down the slope in this way.
11. Step on flat surfaces - always find flat surface to put your foot on, there might be rocky trails, gravels on the trail. This has to be kept in mind.
12. Tie your shoes tight - while going down make sure your shoe laces are tied very tight, so that you ankle is supported well with the ankle support of your shoes, and your feet should not slip down and hit the inside front part of your shoes, this will cause your toe pain.
These are some of the right techniques to follow when you are going downhill or descend.
STAMINA BUILDING TIPS FOR TREKKERS :
Whenever you think of trekking, you must know that the experience of trekking can only be blissful when you are well prepared for it. If you are unfit for trekking, then for sure your pleasure will turn into pain.
So, how do you build stamina for trekking ?
Thus before trekking , you need to build your inner stamina and endurance for which you need to follow the following tips :
1. Going for small trekking - remember that trekking is all about inner core strength and stamina. If you have low stamina and endurance it would be difficult for you to go on any trekking.
2. Start eating healthy - healthy eating is very necessary. A light body weight personis able to carry himself at a longer distance than fat or overweight person.
3. Be active - we know that off season activity can be tiring or boring or might be even difficult, but it is very important to make yourself active during the off season as well.
4. Weekday endurance activity - for building your core for hiking you need to get yourself trained.
5. Weekend endurance activity - on your weekends go for a small marathon. This will help you build your inner core strength as well as prepare you for long runs.
6. Never skip your workouts - workouts are very necessary for hiking. As our main aim is to build the stamina, endurance and weight management.
One should remember that workouts play a great role in building your endurance level strong. The more you train yourself, the more you make yourself better.
7. Be focused - the focus is very much necessary. A strong focus and will power you have, the more yo are going to get trek-fit .
Without focus and will power it would be difficult to move forward in training for a trek. Thus stay focused.
Trekking can only be done successfully if you have passion for it. Without passion, nothing would be easy to achieve. All the above tips mentioned to build stamina, endurance for trekking can only be achieved if you have the inner passion to work towards it.
IMPORTANT :
💪 It is always advisable to consult your doctor / a qualified instructor before starting any new exercise routine.
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thanks for sharing the information with us it was very informative Dream
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