Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

outsideonline.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 281 posts

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#231

Post by mercutio2 »

SamWhited wrote: post #129
bitexploder wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You just kind of... do it. Step 1.) Pack what this dude tells you to and follow his advice for food -- http://www.adventurealan.com/best-backpacking-food/ Step 2.) Go when temperates are cool at night, but not cold (high 40F as a minimum). This allows you to buy cheap gear to learn with. Step 3.) Pack the gear this guy tells you to -- https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-ultimate-hikers-gear-gu... Step 4.) Buy the ch…

> If you are athletic stick with "trail shoes" and not hiking boots Use what works for you, but I completely disagree with this. I thru-hiked the AT in 2014 in full hiking boots, and didn't have any of the feet problems like friends in normal trail shoes did afterwards; I would have rolled my ancle several times if it weren't for the support, and it only took two pairs (friends with trail shoes went through a lot mor…

Number of people who were dismissive of my heavy hiking boots in the first 200 miles of the AT: too many to count (maybe dozens?).

Number of those people who went home with injured ankles: 2. Anecdotal, of course, but I certainly felt vindicated (and, of course, sad for those folks).

If you're in a super duper hurry, having your boots slow you down is maybe a slight drag. If you value foot health over speed, I, too, am a huge fan of heavy hiking boots.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#232

Post by ska »

andr3w321 wrote: post #11

Ya but how many toenails does he have left? Every time I've hiked > 15 miles at a time they start turning purple

This should not happen. Your shoes/boots are likely too short and/or laced improperly (it's not enough that your toes don't touch the end when stationary under load, you need a good cm or more room).

Also make sure to keep the nails trimmed!

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#233

Post by gaius »

ryanmarsh wrote: post #214
gaius wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US Army's Ranger School is 8 weeks on 2 hours of sleep a night, apart from one night you are allowed 5 hours because there's a parachute jump the next day...

Don't forget the malnutrition and that it takes a year to recover from.

I'm just a civvy and obviously don't know anything, but I've always found what I've heard/read about Ranger School puzzling. Does it really produce something that cannot be produced any other way? Why does no other military have something like it?

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#234

Post by mercutio2 »

morgante wrote: post #91
munificent wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are the easy steps. You forgot: 0: Acquire the free time and money to not have to work, take care of others, etc. for extended periods of time.

There are plenty of people hiking the AT who are decidedly not wealthy. Heck, I've met quite a few hikers who hike specifically to save money (living off social security).

I found lots of folks on the AT who weren't Silicon Valley wealthy (although I'd say more of them were than I expected).

But almost no one was actually poor, as in, had ever lived hand to mouth, or couldn't call in family support at a moment's notice.

So I'd say everyone I met was much more wealthy than anyone who's really poor in the US.

Certainly there are exceptions, but the general assessment that thru-hikes aren't for the poor seems sound to me.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#235

Post by dorfsmay »

brendan_a_b wrote: post #17
nicolashahn wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm willing to bet money that the single determining factor that led you to different results was the amount of sleep. 5 hours is not even enough for a sedentary person, much less someone riding a bike all day. The more you work out the more sleep you need. I'm guessing the author got at least 8 hours a night, or however much was enough to fully recover.

I'm reading a book on breaking the two hour marathon and one pro (I cant remember her name at the moment) sleeps 16 hours a day when her training peaks

This is really interesting, statistically people sleeping 7 hours have the highest life expectancy.

I personally need 8 to 9, but I'm sharper if I only sleep ~ 6 hours (and eventually crash and have to recuperate).

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#236

Post by Bartweiss »

morgante wrote: post #87
nicolashahn wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm willing to bet money that the single determining factor that led you to different results was the amount of sleep. 5 hours is not even enough for a sedentary person, much less someone riding a bike all day. The more you work out the more sleep you need. I'm guessing the author got at least 8 hours a night, or however much was enough to fully recover.

Indeed. One of my favorite things about thru-hiking is that you get a ton of sleep: it's not unusual go to bed shortly after sunset and wake up at sunrise.

I usually feel like crap hiking if I'm not in bed for 10+ hours. Mostly that's not hard - you're tired, and just sleep all night. It was a pain in the ass in Alaska, though; I think I'd have real trouble with long hikes there in the summer.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#237

Post by Bartweiss »

rsync wrote: post #224
ObeyTheGuts wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When i walk all day i sleep 12 hours, in morning i feel like i want to continue this way instead of noooooo no more walking! Sleep deprivation is just ridiculous, water sleep and food should be plenty in any of long strenous things or else its just self destruction madness

"When i walk all day i sleep 12 hours" I wish there was some perma-link from: - HN comment threads about insomnia (lightbulb colors, screen brightness, silly apps) - HN comment threads about light to moderate exercise It's amazing how simple the answers to these problems are and how close at hand those answers are ...

I agree that people often miss the easy answers on sleep. It's important, though, that light/dark and exercise are not interchangeable sleep aids. Very, very broadly:

Light issues are about melatonin, which is production-inhibited and rapidly destroyed in the presence of blue light. Increasing melatonin levels is the point of Flux and blue glasses and all the rest.

Exercise issues are about adenosine, which is produced over time and gradually with physical activity, and consumed during sleep. (It's also what caffeine inhibits.)

These aren't entirely interchangeable, so there's more to be gained from addressing whichever one is the largest personal issue. (Anecdotally, I have a suspicion that the feeling zombie-tired insomnia is about a bad mismatch from sedentary tiredness.)

I do think that people preferentially worry about light issues without trying exercise, though.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#238

Post by ashark »

BadassFractal wrote: post #124

Now if only we could replicate this somehow in the 21st century knowledge worker world without actually dedicating 8 hours a day to walking in nature. Any tips?

7 weeks minimum vacation by law, so everyone has the time to stay healthy and sane (could do a 4wk-long hike/year and you still have 3wks left for regular vacations and other stuff, plus holidays off). Quickest and surest route from here to there.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#239

Post by Bartweiss »

cpncrunch wrote: post #25

So the question is: at what point does this kind of long-term exercise turn from beneficial to burnout/overtraining? https://www.outsideonline.com/1986361/running-empty And can you reliably predict it beforehand? Having suffered from burnout/CFS, I would be very careful about doing something like this, and I'd be on the lookout for early warning signs such as elevated heart-rate, anxiety/depression, excessive fatigue…

Lots of good answers, but I would add that long-term hiking in particular is remarkably sustainable.

As far as I know, hikes like the one described here (8 hour days at a mild/moderate pace) can be kept up almost indefinitely if you have a good diet and don't run into acute injuries. Lots of overtraining injuries like shin splints are much less likely than in other sports.

That said, you can get badly burned by fairly tame risks just because you're doing something so repetitive. Even simple dietary stuff can blow up - if you're eating the same handful of meals every day you can run into uncommon issues like micronutrient deficiencies.

The risks you mentioned are definitely real, but most of the stories are hear suggest that there are solid warning signs (even just "I feel shitty now"). Most of the people who burn out seem to be ignoring those signs or pushing through them for some goal.

Re: What Happens to Your Body on a Thru-Hike

#240

Post by pmarreck »

notspanishflu wrote: post #164
jon_richards wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best foods for backpacking are actually peanut butter, salami (depending on the brand), cheese, and nutella. They all have roughly the same calorie density at about 70% fat. Toblerone actually comes surprisingly close (even compared to other chocolates/candies). Raman noodles or tortillas or something like that are generally used as a carrier for those foods to keep you sane, but they aren't very good from a weig…

I don't think is a good idea to feed a healthy activity with unhealthy palm oil. That peanut butter has palm oil probably, but Nutella has it for sure. Palm oil is very bad for your health, and it's very bad for the environment.

You can't throw something like this out there without the evidence to back it up, because right now there is too much bullshit nutrition advice floating around out there.
Post reply on HN