The last couple of times I've been out, I've had no muscle soreness from upward hikes, either the day of or the day after. However, the day after I descend from an area, my calves will scream at me for a week (my quads generally are OK). Any suggestions to whip my calves into shape for downhilling so that I'm not walking around crippled for a week after a hike-down? Keep in mind that I live in the middle of Kansas and don't have the luxury of going out my door into the mountains to "train by doing."
As a fellow mid-westerner (Kansas City), avid mountaineer and climber I find that riding my bike frequently really helps keep my lower body (legs) in shape. I aim to ride 50 miles a week before a big trip to assure stamina for approaches and egress.
I also do not understand this. Going down hurts my knees (yeah I said it), going up can make my calves sore but not usually. For me the calve muscle is essentially a stabilizer, and not recruited much in the hiking/climbing experience. Of course there are those routes that are the exception. Anyof the long face climbs in the Portal for instance.
Jonny d wrote:The last couple of times I've been out, I've had no muscle soreness from upward hikes, either the day of or the day after. However, the day after I descend from an area, my calves will scream at me for a week (my quads generally are OK). Any suggestions to whip my calves into shape for downhilling so that I'm not walking around crippled for a week after a hike-down? Keep in mind that I live in the middle of Kansas and don't have the luxury of going out my door into the mountains to "train by doing."
How about box plyos? Kind of boring after a while, but you could use a weight vest too if your body can tolerate the impact.
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