Hiking outdoors has many perks! Nice views, fresh air, and the sounds and smells of nature! Hiking is a powerful workout that can improve your physical and mental wellbeing. To get the best out of results we put together tips on how to prevent 5 of the most common injuries in the backcountry
Many of these injuries are preventable by increasing your distance and elevation gain in stages. A good rule of thumb is avoid increasing your distance and elevation gain at the same time. For example. Week 1 hike 6km and 200m elevation gain. Week 2 aim for a 7-8km hike with the same elevation gain, 200m. Week 3 look for a hike that keeps the distance around 7-8km with more, 250-300m, elevation gain. Keep alternating between elevation and distance until you’ve achieved the desired level of difficulty.
Progressing to longer hikes too soon can lead to many of the injuries below. Here are some ways to prevent and treat these issues.
1. Achilles Tendon Strain
The main cause is from increasing the load on your body too soon. This can occur by either increasing distance, elevation, or backpack weight. Other common causes are having shoes that rub against the tendon or if your ankle has decreased mobility. The main mobility you want to look at is your ability to bring the top of your foot back towards your shin.
Prevention and Treatment
2. Plantar Fasciitis
Like achilles tendon strains, the cause of plantar fasciitis is due to to progressing one's activity too soon. Other common causes are having a tight calf, weak feet, and improper footwear.
Prevention and Treatment
3. Twisted or sprained ankle
If you haven’t rolled your ankle before you are a unicorn. Well done! For the rest of us, rolled ankles are most often caused by decreased balance and body awareness.
Prevention and Treatment
4. Low Back Pain
Decreased mobility and a poor fitting backpack are some of the biggest causes of low back pain when hiking
Prevention and Treatment
5. Shoulder and Neck Pain
Like low back pain, shoulder and neck pain is often caused by a poor fitting pack while hiking. If the pack is not fit properly it will pull down on your neck instead of placing the weight on your hips. For the moms out there, it's like carrying around a small child; you won't be able to do it all day!
Prevention and Treatment
These are a sampling of the tips covered on our programs at Get Outside. I enjoy being able to combine my physiotherapy knowledge with my guiding expertise.
If you'd like to learn more, get your body ready for the summer, and learn more injury prevention, join me! Our Fitness Hiking Series is a 5-week series where we increase the difficulty of each hike to get you ready for a summer of fun. We also teach you warm up and stretching techniques that will keep you hiking for a lifetime!
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