“Add hiking trails to exercise routine”

by Jeannine Stein for The L.A. Times

Rating: ***

The second article that I’ve decided to read and analyze is titled “Add hiking trails to exercise routine”. Being that this is an instructive article and not news related, the title aims to suggest helpful tips to the reader, and this is what the article does exactly. The focus is hiking preparation and physical preparation for strenuous climbs.

After the intro, the article is all skill based exercises to make even the most difficult climbs, very realistic and do-able for anyone who wants to get fit and have fun in the mountains. Exercises that are described in this article include; incline push ups, incline lunges, hill sprints and many more ideas to adjust your body to an inclined/rough walk through the forest. The idea behind this article is to sway readers into adding these exercises to their workout, meaning that it takes a lot of other training to hike large mountains for long periods of time. In order to ascend with ease, it’s important to train your body with lower body, cardio and balance/stability workouts.

After reading, I learned what other hikers are saying based on experience and this information will benefit me immensely. It had never occurred to me that I should do inclined workouts for hill climbing/hiking, but after reading, it makes sense and it will affect my hiking experience positively.

“Add hiking trails to exercise routine” by Jeannine Stein for The L.A. Times - published 05/01/09 http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/05/health/he-outdoorstrails5