When I was about 17 I started training for my first backpacking trip. First shakedown hike I loaded my pack up with about 40 or 50lbs, and I think I lasted about 5 minutes before I went back to my car to lighten my load because I was dying carrying it.
Worked my way up to doing it no problem over the next few months, and for the next few years I hiked and backpacked pretty regularly. I never exactly got in good shape, I had a gut the whole time but I could carry a heavy backpack 10 or occasionally 20 miles a day up and down mountains no problem.
I’ve been a lot more sedentary the last few years just due to being a busy adult with a wonky schedule. I still squeeze in some hikes here or there, but nothing with a heavy pack, and rarely doing more than 10 miles, and usually not going up and down any significant mountains, and I’m definitely not hitting the gym or anything, and I’ve probably packed on about 50lbs of mostly fat since I was 17.
But still, a couple months ago I went backpacking with a friend. Didn’t really do anything in particular to prepare for it, and I still carried about 40-50lbs in my pack
And I did just fine. Definitely huffed and puffed a bit more than when I was in my prime backpacking shape, and I was definitely a bit sore and had some blisters after it, but I was able to hit the trail with a heavy pack and almost no prep and I definitely couldn’t have done that when I was just starting out at 17 years old despite being generally younger, healthier, and more active back then.
So to a pretty great extent, my body definitely “remembers” how to backpack.
I was a good middle-distance runner, did some competitive road cycling with moderate success, and did martial arts for a long time. I’ve also done some long-distance walking, but never with heavy packs. I hate those.
I took an extended break from the martial arts, but recently returned to a related activity. My mind knows what I should be doing, but my body isn’t always able to deliver. But that tells me where I need to train in order to get back to it, and the training has been yielding results.
I had always assumed the memory was in the cerebellum rather than in the muscles themselves, though. That’s where fine muscle coordination happens. So this is an interesting finding.
I struggle to run now. My natural stride, what I’m comfortable at, was my old normal pace of 7:30 minute miles (8 mph or 12.9 kph or 4:40 minute kilometers). And that’s where the muscle memory wants to put my feet. Except I don’t have the lungs or the muscles to do that for more than a minute or two without getting spent.
I know if I want to get faster again I should just train, but my heart just isn’t in it at the speeds that I have to go.
When I was about 17 I started training for my first backpacking trip. First shakedown hike I loaded my pack up with about 40 or 50lbs, and I think I lasted about 5 minutes before I went back to my car to lighten my load because I was dying carrying it.
Worked my way up to doing it no problem over the next few months, and for the next few years I hiked and backpacked pretty regularly. I never exactly got in good shape, I had a gut the whole time but I could carry a heavy backpack 10 or occasionally 20 miles a day up and down mountains no problem.
I’ve been a lot more sedentary the last few years just due to being a busy adult with a wonky schedule. I still squeeze in some hikes here or there, but nothing with a heavy pack, and rarely doing more than 10 miles, and usually not going up and down any significant mountains, and I’m definitely not hitting the gym or anything, and I’ve probably packed on about 50lbs of mostly fat since I was 17.
But still, a couple months ago I went backpacking with a friend. Didn’t really do anything in particular to prepare for it, and I still carried about 40-50lbs in my pack
And I did just fine. Definitely huffed and puffed a bit more than when I was in my prime backpacking shape, and I was definitely a bit sore and had some blisters after it, but I was able to hit the trail with a heavy pack and almost no prep and I definitely couldn’t have done that when I was just starting out at 17 years old despite being generally younger, healthier, and more active back then.
So to a pretty great extent, my body definitely “remembers” how to backpack.
I was a good middle-distance runner, did some competitive road cycling with moderate success, and did martial arts for a long time. I’ve also done some long-distance walking, but never with heavy packs. I hate those.
I took an extended break from the martial arts, but recently returned to a related activity. My mind knows what I should be doing, but my body isn’t always able to deliver. But that tells me where I need to train in order to get back to it, and the training has been yielding results.
I had always assumed the memory was in the cerebellum rather than in the muscles themselves, though. That’s where fine muscle coordination happens. So this is an interesting finding.
I struggle to run now. My natural stride, what I’m comfortable at, was my old normal pace of 7:30 minute miles (8 mph or 12.9 kph or 4:40 minute kilometers). And that’s where the muscle memory wants to put my feet. Except I don’t have the lungs or the muscles to do that for more than a minute or two without getting spent.
I know if I want to get faster again I should just train, but my heart just isn’t in it at the speeds that I have to go.