Follow the trail to enhanced trekking energy and post-hike well being
Whether your idea of a good hike or track is an occasional 5K walk in your local hills, challenges like Ben Nevis or even extreme adventures like the Arctic, fuelling your body with the right nutrition will help you hike faster, sustain endurance and suffer less aches and pains the day after. Power-up those steep climbs and leave your previous hike in your trail.
Fuel-up for the hike
Hiking and trekking challenge the body with constantly changing terrain, ranging from gentle walking to steep, prolonged inclines. Typically, hikers are constantly flipping between high and low intensity exercise:
Low intensity hiking > hiking at a low intensity (aerobic exercise) relies on stored body fat. However, even if you don't hike hard, hiking for longer than thirty minutes is likely to leave you dehydrated. An average hiker may typically lose two litres of fluid and essential sodium every ninety minutes, causing a performance decline of around 5%, including a loss of drive, impaired oxygen delivery and decreased endurance.
High intensity hiking > hiking at a higher intensity (anaerobic exercise) requires a faster production of energy, forcing your body to switch to burning carbohydrates as fuel. Whenever the going gets tough up a steep hill, you really up your walking pace or you simply can't sustain your intensity for long, you're very likely to be hiking anaerobically (heavy breathing and 'burning' legs are the classic signs). Unfortunately, the body only has a limited capacity to store carbohydrates (muscle glycogen), meaning fatigue quickly sets-in and gets progressively worse.
Because most hikes are a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise, tackling energy loss and dehydration should be your first step to aid your trekking energy. By combining sensible nutrition with proven sports fuel like Maxifuel – you can quickly become a better hiker:
Combat dehydration and energy loss:
- Ensure your diet is rich in nutritious complex carbohydrates (such as oatmeal, pasta, rice, fruit or wholemeal bread). A balanced diet ensures your body is fuelled-up whenever you hike.
- Eat a carbohydrate and protein rich meal two-three hours before a walk, hike or trek (for example, jacket potato and tuna).
- Drink 250ml of Viper Active or Viper Boost sports drink/bar/gel twenty minutes before hiking, supplying high-energy carbohydrates, fluid and electrolytes.
- Drink 250ml of Viper Active sports drink/bar/gel per hour of hiking. Viper-active contains branched chain amino acids (key proteins) to aid hiking focus and help prevent muscle damage. The sodium in Viper is vital to help the body retain the water it needs to hydrate efficiently, which is a key reason for choosing a sports drink over plain water.
Extra hill-climbing power?
A high quality sports drink, gel or bar like Viper-active or Viper-boost is the key nutrition that will aid trekking stamina. However, if you're a serious hill climber then creatine (Creatamax caps) could help your repeated ability to power-up steep terrain. Creatine is naturally found in foods including meat and is stored in small amounts in muscles, where it's used to create instant high-intensity energy (such as sprints and hill bursts). It's research proven to aid repeated sprint performance and power, which is why many serious trekkers swear by it.
Hiking recovery – or time to socialise?
Although regular hiking leaves you on a high and is great for health, it can often leave you pretty exhausted. It's common to feel low on energy the next day, with muscle soreness, aches and pains and reduced well being – all due to a loss of essential nutrients, muscle damage, and energy use. The key to enjoying the health benefits of trekking and getting you back in peak condition, is to supply your body with the nutrients it needs for fast repair:
- Drink a high quality recovery drink like Recovermax within 20 minutes of your hike (your body is able to process nutrients very quickly after exercise, so don't miss this key period).
- Eat a whole-food meal containing lean protein and complex carbohydrates about ninety minutes later.
Even if you do socialise after a trek – think about your recovery first and you'll feel the difference next day.
The convenience of Maxifuel makes hiking nutrition easy – just throw the products in your rucksack before you set off.
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