Image credit: Peter van der Sluijs, March 2012

For those of us in sedentary occupations our vacations are an opportunity to be a little more active.  Even if we do not wish to partake in heroic levels of activity, a number of tours, excursions and destinations require quite a bit of walking, often on uneven ground.  Since you likely paid a lot of money for your holiday arrangements you want to enjoy these activities.  To do so will need a certain measure of fitness.

Significant improvements in fitness cannot be gained overnight.  If you are terribly unfit you might find it useful to start an exercise programme 12 weeks before you go on vacation.

We have already covered the choice of footwear  Suitable shoes for trouble-free travel   and  Shoes to help your feet survive your holiday

Here is a free exercise programme to condition your body for extended walking on holiday.

Usual warning

Before you start exercising, you should check with your medical practitioner first.  This is particularly important if you have any known conditions that will affect your ability to exercise safely.

Generally speaking, even severe medical conditions do not automatically mean that exercise should be avoided.  They merely indicate that you will need very careful medical direction to avoid causing yourself harm.  Your physicians can help you with that.

You get fit in stages

When you are starting out with exercise from an initially poor level of fitness you pass through stages when there is a risk of injury.

For many, the cardiovascular benefits of exercise start early.  The problem is that muscles, bone and ligaments get stronger at different rates.  So you can quite easily get to the point where you feel a bit fitter, and your muscles are stronger but your ligaments are still weak and injury can result.  Weight-bearing exercise like walking has been shown to improve bone density.  (Web site on osteoporosis at the University of Alabama)  The problem is that the rate of progress of muscle, ligament and bone density is dependent on your own specific physiology, so we cannot give you a chart that says, “be careful about ligament injury after eight weeks” or something like that.

Similar risks of injury can arise from a sudden increase in the intensity of your exercise.

Any sensible schedule includes days of rest in order for your body to heal from the rigours of exercise.  More benefit is to be obtained from an easy programme that you can stick to, than from an over-ambitious schedule.  We suggest that you walk every second day.

Some simple rules

First rule: No pain, no injury.  Take it easy. Always feel that you could have exercised a bit more.  If you still feel abnormally stiff from the previous walk, take the day off from exercise.

Second rule: Do not keep a workout logbook.  If you are a “Type A” personality then this is a sure way to over-exercise as you will want to go further, do it faster, to set “personal bests”.  Exercise each time on the basis of how you feel.

Third rule: If you are out of breath, you are trying too hard.  Ease off.  Stop and rest if easing off is not enough.  If you can only do very short walks without getting out of breath, do only very short walks.

You should walk at a speed that you can easily talk without gasping for breath.

LSD : Long, Slow, Distance

While you may be tempted to make your walks more energetic and brisk, the greatest training advantage comes from long, slow walks.  Over time, stretch your distance so that you can cover the target walking distance you have in mind.  Once you can walk the distance you want, you can gradually increase your pace.

Warm up

Warm up by starting your walk at a more gentle pace than you plan to use during the walk.  Then, as your muscles warm up, gradually increase your speed to your normal comfortable walking pace.  Research has shown that there is limited usefulness of specific warm-up exercises, and stretching before you exercise will increase your risk of injury.

Similarly, spend the last few minutes of your walk easing off, before finally stopping altogether.  If you feel a need to do gentle stretching exercises, immediately after the walk would be at the right time to do them.

Uneven ground

Once you have a level of basic fitness you can start including uneven ground in your walking route.  Again, do only a small stretch of only slightly uneven ground to start with, and as you build up and avoid injury, you can gradually include rougher terrain.

Once you start including uneven ground your choice of footwear becomes critically important.  Running-shoes generally have poor lateral support and expose you to a greater risk of injury.

12-weeks or 3 months, your choice

If you need a more structured programme then look out for a walking for fitness group near you.  They come in various guises and names, are available in most major centres, and the better ones use similar principles to the ones we have covered here.  They also have trained fitness experts who will assist you with specific training and advice, and remedial exercises where necessary.  These groups typically offer a 12-week schedule that will take you from unfit to a basic level of fitness.

Unless you have a particular problem, most people will find that they can get to a fair level of fitness within three months using these principles.  It will likely not give you enough fitness to be able to hike the Andes, but you should certainly be able to keep up with your tour group!

A special thank you to HH for reviewing this article prior to publication.

Many holidaymakers walk much more on holiday than they usually do, so cool, lightweight footwear that is easy to wear and does not require extensive “running in” is going to be a great help.

Good walking shoes are helpful even if you have not planned a very energetic holiday.  The foot has a whole bunch of bones that are held in place by ligaments.  Without support from your footwear those ligaments have to work hard to keep the foot in shape.  That quickly results in tiredness.  Once your feet are tired you put more pressure on your knees and back and your risk of injury increases.

Our recent article Suitable shoes for trouble-free travel covered a number of popular footwear options.  For many people there is an even better option than cross-trainers: walking shoes, or hiking shoes.

Hiking boots?

One could be tempted to think that hiking boots are the answer.  For most travellers however they are overkill – often too heavy, too chunky and  the fashion sense can make you look like you are on your gap-year.  If you are already accustomed to hiking boots, go right ahead – they will serve you well, and you can do little better.

Hiking shoes!

Enter the walking/hiking shoe.  These are light-weight, sturdy, and have a gauze top that breathes, which prevents your feet from getting too hot and sweaty.  That also means that it is easier to be in the same room as the shoes after a long walk!

A good hiking shoe has the following additional features:

• A sole that supports the instep (unlike tennis shoes) which helps one walk or stand for longer without getting foot fatigue.
• A stiff sole, resistant to twisting, so your feet are not going to be hurt when walking over uneven ground.
• A sturdy heel counter, so the shoes do not slip about on your feet.
• They are lower cut than a boot and the rims are padded for a comfortable snug fit under the ankles.
• The soles have a ribbed profile for a sure grip in wet conditions and rough paths in a Open Air Museum.
• Plus, they don’t come in the gaudy colours of some running shoes!

Walking shoes for fair weather

For summer wear, perhaps with occasional showers and puddles, get an open mesh, neutral coloured, medium-priced walker.  Don’t buy too cheap – you get what you pay for!  It will serve to traipse through cathedrals, museums, parks and open-air museums and will be just right to wear to “off-off Broadway” shows.

Walking shoes for wet weather

It is said that there are places in Ireland where it rains just twice a week: once for three days and the other time for four days!  For wet places like that, get enclosed walkers link those shown in the photo above.  If you get them in black they can also serve as formal footwear when you get an unexpected formal invitation, perhaps to listen to the fourth movement of Mahler’s Fifth played by your host on a banjo at the Town Hall.

If you are lavish and get both mesh-topped walking shoes and closed walkers, they will see you through every situation except deep mud.  You probably only need to take one type with you on an average holiday though.

Well-constructed walking shoes are long-lasting, so you money will be well-spent.  The shoes in the photo above have already been in service for many months and have walked a few hundred kilometres but show few signs of wear, even on the soles.

Emergency supplies

If you are planning an extensive hike then you should take a spare pair of shoelaces.  We recommend that you also keep four cable ties in your backpack.  They take up no room but can be used to hold your shoes together if you suffer the unlikely but debilitating problem of the soles of your shoes becoming unstuck.  Think of them as a “spare wheel” for your shoes.