In light of Rionda's thread about recovering from an overuse injury in the "Over The Hill" category I thought I'd reawaken this thread here, because keeping physicially fit is one of the best ways to stave off overuse injuries from backpacking.

I haven't had any time to backpack, so I've recently changed my fitness focus to different goals. In the process I'm finding alot about how my body responds to sudden exercise. Ahem. Anyway... after my long drive to NC I noticed that my hips were so sore I could barely move, so I resumed the daily 3 mile walk routine I'd had all summer, and added more distance as I started to feel better. After spending a week wearing a lead apron and realizing how quickly that exhausted me, I started adding my weight vest to my walks. I think I walked with weights (8 pounds) for a couple of weeks before I decided to try running again. To my surprise, when I started running my joints did not hurt at all! Normally when I run my hips, knees ankles and shins hurt from the impact (even with my new shoes that were supposed to minimize that). I really think the weight bearing exercise helped prepare my body, so I'm glad I added that in. I thought I would offer it here as a suggestion for people wanting to stay in backpacking shape between trips. I got my weight vest at Wal-Mart for under $50 and currently have 12 pounds of weight in it. I use it on days when I don't feel like running but I know I need to keep the exercise routine up.

My new focus right now is triathalon training (no, not iron man, but short 3-sport sprints), so I've added swimming and biking to the mix as well. Hill climbing on my bike has been great, especially for cardio. Swimming I just started yesterday, but I can tell it is going to really help me gain strength and cardio as well. I'm amazed at how hard it is to get back into really good cardio condition - I've been working on it for over a year now and I still have a long way to go!

Does anybody else train for other sports or maintain a regular exercise routine that helps with the hiking?

MNS