IMO, there are very few methods of exercise better than
hill-climbing. Both running and walking are over-rated, IMO, for a
variety of reasons, but steep-hill walking/climbing is almost ideal. It
in fact straddles the aerobic/anaerobic fence, if you will, which means
that it can develop muscle AND wind. It's major asset is that it
provides a much greater low impact load over a much larger range of
motion than either running or walking--ergo more strength gain, more
calories burned.
Read rec.running-- I estimated at one time that about 40% of the
posts concerned injuries. Is there a hint, a message, a clue to this
number?? Might it have something to do with the fact that the impact to
the foot can be 15X one's bodyweight???
Paradoxically, in spite the high forces involved in running,
most people don't realize just how small the *true* (ie loaded) range of
motion in running really is. IOW, a large calorie expenditure with
nothing to show for it, muscularly/constitutionally--not the case with
sprinting, tho.
Ergo, the spindly legs of marathoners. Which just happens to
match their spindly upper bodies! No judgment here--just observation.
Just can't figger out how come they're so PROUD of it all... If *I*
were a marathoner, I'd be wearing long pants--and long sleeves.
The logical extension of hill climbing is... stair climbing! A
fine endeavor indeed, if'n you can stand it. Or Versa-climbing, if you
can stand that. Which also predisposes male users to murdering their
wives, at least according to Richard Benjamin in Sleeping with the
Enemy.
As some have noted, the problem is finding hills. A treadmill
at a steep angle should suffice, but I just can't get used to the notion
of walking, cycling, or rowing while going absolutely nowhere.
Maybe I'm too sensitive to symbolism... But then so is the
wife--she got *really* nervous when I started shopping around for a
Versa-Climber.
Stitches--I have read hypotheses that stitches are caused by a hypoxia
to the diaphragm--which is a muscle. A prophylatic for this might be
slow, deep deep breathing, sort of yoga style. I used to get stitches,
and for a while fooled around with this deep breathing, and I haven't
gotten stitches in years. Can't swear to a correlation.
One way to test this statistically is to poll singers and wind
musicians, who really push their lung volume--see how many of them get
stitches while running, compared to the normal population.
Recall Greer Childer's Breathing the Fat Offa yer Body-- a
complete bogus bastardization of an otherwise very very good
endeavor--very good for the lungs from a variety of perspectives.
----------------------
Kristofer Hogg, ms, rd
HoloBarre Rehab/Fitness/Stretching Systems, Yonkers, NY
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