Walk Up Hills More Easily

The ThreePeaksChallenge.com Walk is a fund raising walk across the peaks of Pen-y-ghent Whernside and Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales, and other locations in support of the Dave Owens and Frank Goodall Memorial Fund

http://www.threepeakschallenge.com

Why? Well, If you think about it, you're lifting your bodyweight against gravity with every step so it's a bit like resistance training. That's a big difference from flat walking where loads are significantly less, and a problem if you only get out on the hills occasionally. So, if you find walking up hills hard, what can you do about it? Here's a few tips that could help you motor up that hill next time out.

Pace Yourself
Don't be tempted to go screaming into things. You want to choose a nice, steady pace that you can sustain over a long period. Whatever you do, don't push yourself until you become

breathless and your legs are burning as you'll be asking for trouble later. What then happens is that you use hard-to-replace glycogen reserves and build up lactate chemicals in your muscles that will make you less efficient for the rest of the walk. Better to stop and have a quick breather than push yourself into the physiological death zone.

Some simple tips about getting up and over those peaks from the King of the Hills... The Mountain Goat

The Problem
Walking on the flat or downhill is basically easy. Strap on a heart rate monitor and you'll see that your pulse doesn't even reach what runners would think of as a training zone'. Heading up hills however is a different matter altogether. On steep climbs and

particularly with a backpack, you'll be working hard enough to push your heart rate up through the roof. (to running levels in fact).

Walking Technique
You'd be surprised how many people try to take huge steps going uphill. It's actually more efficient to lean slightly into the slope and shorten your stride a little. If you find a spot with a really big step up, look for an intermediate foot hold so you can do it in two paces instead of one and ease the load. Think of stairs - it's easier to breeze up closely-spaced steps than to go striding up huge, widely spaced ones. Watch where you place your feet as well... unsteady foot plants waste energy and make efficient walking more difficult.

Walk Up Hills More Easily