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JAMIE 0:00
Don’t go straight uphill, or downhill. So going the fastest way straight up or down a hiking path is good for time. But it may not be good for your body if you have stiffness or pain.
INTRODUCTION 0:15
Welcome to the fit and healthy Denver podcast where we discuss all things revolving around health, fitness and wellness in the amazing state of Colorado so you can get behind the scenes information from industry insiders, special events, and more. Coming up is our host, physical therapist and strength coach, Dr. Jamie Beauvais. And here we go.
JAMIE 0:41
What’s up, everybody? Dr. Jamie Beauvais here is super excited to have you listen to the podcast today. You know, just thinking out loud. I think I should have a DJ name. I mean, I’ve got a microphone right here in front of me. What do you think about DJ health or DJ, fix your back DJ fixer back coming to you on the ones and twos? No, nothing. Okay, let’s move on. It’s been a little bit since we have put out a podcast. And you know, sometimes there are good reasons for this. Sometimes they’re bad reasons for this, like, you know, you’re just getting overwhelmed with work in life. But in this case there is a good reason. We’ve been out hiking almost every weekend, and enjoying everything that Colorado can offer. So thinking about that we’re also seeing lots of people come into the clinic with hiking related injuries or who are wanting to get back into hiking after a long time off. And I thought, why don’t we do a podcast on hiking. So this podcast is all about nine tips to have you enjoying hiking without stiffness, soreness or pain. All right, let’s get started. Number one, use poles. Now while you may not really want to use hiking poles, I admit, I didn’t want to either but on some of the long hikes some of the long hikes I’ve done like in New Zealand and other places where they’re super long, I can pull this can really ease the load on your muscles and joints. By using hiking poles or walking sticks, you’re spreading out weight over to additional points and making yourself more stable which allows you to climb or descend more sure foot idli now as you are more stable, your muscles won’t have to do as much work and you’ll be more likely to are sorry be less likely to twist and achy or sore joint. These can be really great for your backpacking trips or those long hikes. You know if you’re going from Crested Butte to Aspen or if you’re doing the Colorado trail, those polls can really make a big difference. Number two, don’t go straight uphill, or downhill. So going the fastest way straight up or down a hiking path is good for time. But it may not be good for your body. If you have stiffness or pain, try taking zigzagging lines to the top or the bottom. If this isn’t an option, think about looking straight up that hill turn 90 degrees and you can go up the hill you know to your with your left side going up the hill or to the right, just mixing it up can really help as far as where you stress the joints. This will make you use your muscles on kind of the side of your butt and it can ease load on your knees, feet and ankles. This is especially important downhill, which puts a larger load on your knees. On long hikes, try this sideways technique, see if it can reduce your achiness for a short period of time and just help to redistribute all those forces. Number three, stretch. tightness around the knee and ankles can cause you to move differently and add tension to the joints. Regularly stretching can ease the tension around the joints and muscles and making hiking more or more enjoyable as well as easier. So try stretching your quadriceps your hamstrings, your calves, and even that low back like that general ground touch where you kind of stretch that low back all these can just make everything just a little bit more enjoyable and the hike itself a little bit easier. Number four, try a dynamic warm up. While stretching may give you some long term flexibility gains during a dynamic warmup can give you an immediate mobility improvement that can decrease your pain or make it more likely that it won’t happen at all. Dynamic warm ups are typically more movement based more so than like static stretching. So the dynamic warm up takes all your joints through a full range of motion and Prime’s your brain and your body for the movements that’s about to make. Since we’re hiking we want to do the movements that are as close to hiking as possible. Think lunges five squats. For the lower body. Arm pumps arm swings for the upper body. These movements should start slow, and then you want them to build up into a similar speed as you’re hiking or maybe even just a little bit faster so that the brain and muscles can control those movements. Typical dynamic warmup for hiking should last five to 10 minutes before that hike. Number five, adjust your gear heavier, unevenly weighted backpacks can aggravate your shoulders, low back and poor shoes can give you arch ankle calf pain. So for those backpackers out there, make sure that backpack It snowed to your chest. And we just you feel a little bit of tension in there just a little bit and you want that backpack up on that hips
JAMIE 5:06
Of course not really too low so it’s not aching and arcing arching into the back. So if possible, try to get a pack with a hip support so that you can evenly distribute that backpack weight on your shoulders, your back and your hips. Try adjusting your, your straps, shoulder straps hip straps, strap across your chest, find that perfect fit for you, there’s one out there. For shoes, make sure they fit you will support your feet, and that you can easily move in them across a variety of trains for a long time. Never try a big new hike with new shoes that can just be a disaster waiting to happen. Another to bring a blister kit, just in case you might need it especially on those longer hikes. Or if you haven’t tried these current shoes on a different train that you will be trying out on this new hike. These blister kits can literally save the day, especially when you’re miles and miles away from home and bring more socks than you think you might need just in case you want to switch. Number six, make sure you bring enough food and water. Sounds pretty basic, I know. But I can’t tell you how many people that we’ve worked with that have gotten so far out there. And they’ve kind of gotten low on energy and all of a sudden, before you know it, they were injured due to slipping or something like that. So you know hiking can be difficult. Most people underestimate how good of shape you need to be and to go and enjoy hiking. So plus, we live at high high altitudes in the Rocky Mountains and this can make hiking even more difficult. So you know, you really want to fuel your body properly. If you feel weak, you may stumble on some rocks or a steep embankment or if you rush that hike because you’re hungry or tired or bad waters in the car, you’re more likely to suffer the same fate. So make sure you fuel your body for the challenges of the hike. It’s always smart to bring more than you think you will need. Number seven, get in hiking shape. I talked a little bit about this in that last one. But you know hiking can be difficult. You need to be in really good shape and a lot of people go out to hike and they’re under undertrained. So, your training should include lots of cardio and get your heart rate up. And you’ll want to be able to keep it up for a long time. Strengthen your lower body, you’ll want to go for steeper climbs and descents. Don’t forget that stair climbing or walking jogging on a treadmill with an incline, are great ways to train going uphill for hiking. But don’t forget, where we typically see people have the most problem is pain in their knees going downhill. So you need to do some eccentric or lengthening exercises for the muscles, the quads, single leg exercises where you’re kind of lowering yourself are really great for that as well. Number eight, try the right exercises. So while getting in shape can really help you, it can prevent many injuries. Once you have had some aches, pains or soreness, you will have to be more specific. So exercising the quadriceps around the knee won’t help if the problem is actually at the hip. General exercise likely won’t help either at this point as it’s only if it’s not addressing the root cause of the pain and stiffness. So the issue may require you to improve some strength and flexibility of your muscles, joints, nerves, and many other things so that you need to address the issue with the right exercise. super crucial. So if you’re not sure if you’re doing this, then go to an expert and try physical therapy, it’s going to be the absolute best trip finding somebody who’s worked with a lot of hikers and who can make a quick difference to get you back on the trails. So that is our nine tips on how to have you enjoy enjoying hiking without stiffness, soreness, or pain. If you found this useful, we do have this as a download on our website. I’ll put it in the show notes. But let’s get you out there hiking. We live in Colorado, one of the best states in the country, if not the best for hiking. Let’s get you out there enjoying everything out there. Let’s increase the green time, decrease the screen time and enjoy everything that Colorado has to offer. All right. Dr. Jamie Beauvais Signing off. Hope to talk to you soon. And if you want to join our Facebook group fit and healthy Denver posts one of your favorite hikes there. You’ll see that a lot of our members have done the same and it’s a great spot to get sicker hikes. One of my favorite secret hikes is Chihuahua Gulch. If you don’t know about it, you should. But don’t tell your friends you don’t want to overcrowd that thing. So go in there, post a favorite hike and enjoy the community that we’re building there. All right. Talk to you soon. Look forward to talking to you at the next podcast. All right. I’m out.
JAMIE 9:43
Thank you for listening to the fit and healthy Denver podcast brought to you by kinetic chain Denver physical therapy. If you know anybody that you think would benefit from listening to this podcast, please share it with them. And don’t forget to hit that subscribe button so you can enjoy all the great info nation we’re bringing you in the next episode
