Rest breaks on ups

[harryfred]

I can't make it up most--make that any--of the notch to ridge/summit climbs here in NH without breaks. Just too steep for me. I probably stop at least every 500 ft of vertical or so for a couple minute pack-on break, take a drink, look about, let the breathing and and heart rate decrease, etc. The rest step works for a while toward the end of a long climb. Sometimes it's just so steep though that I just stop whenever I have to. I'm better doing tough climbs in the morning. I hate a long uphill at the end of the day, that's when I really struggle.

I agree! and Me too!

Yeah me three

[YohonPetro]

I worked with a Park Ranger in the Cascades that had been doing trail maintenance in the back country for years. His approach to a big hill was to take tiny steps. I followed suit, and my stamina grew, the calf-burn was less and my lungs didn't work as hard.
My brother, OTOH, lights up a cig because it "numbs the lungs"... and out-paces me.
I guess try different methods until you find one that works!

[Kerosene]

When I know that I have a long climb I typically go into what I call "Low-Slow Gear": basically shorter steps at a slower but consistent pace. If the trail gets steeper I will shorten my steps still further but try to keep the pace. On a nice day when I'm feeling strong I may try to blast up moderately long climbs just to "get my workout" for the day, but it's surprising how little difference there is in my overall speed. Unlike other posters, I try to keep striding once I reach the summit, unless the trail heads straight down then I will search for a place to take a quick breather. Keeping watered and sugared up (lollipops work great for this, and reduces the chance of choking on a piece of hard candy) helps keep me going.

[atraildreamer]

What does everyone do for rest breaks on climbing up hills/mountains? On short climbs, I tough it out to the top, but on long climbs (1 mile or more) I find myself hyperventilating and having to stop several times.

I have been told that I have two sppeds; stop and all out. I have been slowing my pace to one foot in front of the other and it helps sometimes.

Just posing a question.

Thanks,


Tumbleweed

Jim Woods, of Jim Wood's Base Camp, has a very informative article that covers this subject:

http://www.jwbasecamp.com/Articles/Breathing/index.html

This should help you get up the mountain!

[Lyle]

I also use the four steps (two each foot) for each deep breath method of pacing myself. Most times it's a matter of shortening your stride rather than slowing your pace. On some particularly steep sections I will also make use of the rest step. After a while, it all just becomes natural, with no need to actually think about what you are doing. I have no aversion, however, of taking a couple of minute standing breathesr at a minor view or just when one feels appropriate. If a climb is truly an extended multi-mile uphill, I will take a sit-down, boots off break just like on any other terrain. Still need to add fuel and water during your exertion.

I'v never felt that it was so difficult to get moving again after a break that other folks claim. Yeah, your muscles may stiffen a BIT after a long break, but they loosen up again real quick. I take a break when I feel I want or need one, for as long as I need. Generally, I take fewer and shorter breaks when hiking alone than I do when hiking with others. I attribute that to tuning in to my exact needs instead of having to accommodate others'.

All in all, there is no hard and fast rule. I will not unnecessarily stress my mental or physical well-being and enjoyment just to cling to an arbitrary rule that I have set. Hike at the pace and rest as often as necessary to keep your hike enjoyable.

[Old Hiker]

I have to stop on the uphills to catch my breath, but I always look ahead a ways for a good spot. I always step over a root to a flat place, stop at the top of the first run of steps, wherever it will give me a psych advantage. I take some breaths, drink some water and start again. I always have a target up the trail to shoot for, as well.

[Lyle]

Another thing that I forgot to mention is that your mental state also plays a huge role in how comfortably and persistently you can climb. I psych myself up for the longer, steeper climbs and they usually end up much less daunting than they seemed initially. Expect you will have some discomfort, but adjust to avoid agony.

[Slo-go'en]

One thing that really bugs me is stopping at the end of the day at the bottom of a big climb knowing I'm going to have to tackle it first thing in the morning. If at all possible I try to position myself so that I can have a relatively easy first hour or so of hiking first thing in the morning.

Shelters are almost always located in low spots, so that almost always means a stiff climb first thing in the morning. About the only good thing to say about that is it does warm you up quick on a chilly morning.

On steep climbs I take two steps, rest a few seconds, repeat as needed. The trick is to keep a pace which you don't run out of breath and keeps the heart rate down. Otherwise you'll find you need to take longer and more frequent breaks.

[shelb]

Hiking with my kids, I found that when we had to stop to rest on an uphill, their attitude would be negative. They usually tried to go too fast up the hill and tired easily. We found out that it helped them to take "baby Smurf" or "mama Smurf" steps (depending on slope and length of uphill) to get them to slow down. This way they could make it the entire way without stopping. After a couple days of hiking, their Smurf steps would begin to lengthen as they got their trail legs.... and confidence.

[RoundEye]

I really prefer not to stop - unless I'm climbing a major multi-mile uphill. The best thing to do is work on establishing a pace and a rhythm such that you don't have to stop -- for a new backpacker or for someone who hasn't been out for a while, this pace might be really super slow. Like Garlic says, you should be able to walk at a "conversation pace" without overt sweating. The more you hike, the easier the hills will be and soon you'll just feel like you are rolling over them one after another - a great feeling indeed.

Couldn't agree more... AKA getting your trail legs. To some degree that's what it's all about for me.



Here today, gone tomorrow.

[Seatbelt]

Another thing that I forgot to mention is that your mental state also plays a huge role in how comfortably and persistently you can climb. I psych myself up for the longer, steeper climbs and they usually end up much less daunting than they seemed initially. Expect you will have some discomfort, but adjust to avoid agony.

I'm glad somebody brought this up, because I have found that if I don't allow myself to become "obsessed" with summiting or exactly where the summit is, then I don't have the accompanying "let-down" at the realization there is further to go. By just enjoying each step and moment, I keep my mind off of this and realize that it is ALL worth it! Just don't try to "keep up" with some-one else. You may or may not be able to.

[RETCW4]

Thanks for all of the good advice. I now know that it just wasn't me. I just have to remember to slow myself down. Hope to see you on the trail.

Tumbleweed

[BlakeGrice]

I take a knee or sit down for @ 20-30 seconds and am always surprised how much my legs will recover in that time.

[English Stu]

+1 for the rest step. Helps to know your pulse rate by checking at the throat. Use the pulse rate as a guide when to rest. If really steep I try to maintain the same pulse level on the ups as on the the level, which means slowing down, therefore the oxygenating of the muscles will be maintained.

[rusty bumper]

At the beginning of my "almost-thru", I found I needed to stop periodically on the steep climbs and when I felt the urge to stop, I'd look ahead for a landmark (blaze, rock, tree limb, etc.) and push on 'til I got there. A few seconds of rest was about all I needed and I'd move on from there. Just before Damascus (around the 400 mile mark), I realized that I was no longer making those stops on any climb and right then and there, it was clear to me that I'd finally gotten my trail legs. Of course, the nonstop speed I maintained on a climb was completely dependent on the steepness...the steeper the climb, the slower I moved, but I could keep going without a stop. For the steepest climbs, I just shifted into the lowest gear I had, and went right on up...nonstop!

[canoehead]

Long story short. Your not walking at your comfortable pace. If you're breathing hard-heavy or worse simply slow down. My way of helping out with this is to say. If you can't walk and talk with gulping for air you're simply walking to fast. SLOW DOWN.

[leaftye]

My hiking speed is limited by:

Chafing
Heart rate
Injury (ankle)
Hourly breaks

I usually don't have to stop while going uphill because I moderate my speed so that my heart rate doesn't get too high, but if I hit the one hour mark on the way up, then I'm plopping down on my butt for a short break.

[quilteresq]

Wow! I stop whenever I need to. You could have been writing about my tactics for getting up mountain passes on my bike ride 9 years ago, though. I learned not to stop too often because it was just too darned hard to get going again. On the other hand, my brother-in-law said we were carrying "boxcars" of stuff on our bikes. And, compared to what I'm planning on taking on the AT, he was right.

[MissMagnolia]

+1 for the rest step. Helps to know your pulse rate by checking at the throat. Use the pulse rate as a guide when to rest. If really steep I try to maintain the same pulse level on the ups as on the the level, which means slowing down, therefore the oxygenating of the muscles will be maintained.

A caution on checking pulse rate at the throat. You can actually make yourself pass out, though I don't know the odds of that, and I've never done it to myself. I like to check the pulse rate at my temple, just in front of my ear, but now I wear a heart rate monitor to make sure I can stay in a pre-determined range no matter what anybody else is doing. I need to do this because I usually start off way too fast and have trouble knowing where to set my pace without the HR info, though not being able to carry on a conversation is a dead give-away that I'm going too fast.

[Del Q]

My $.02

If you are huffing and puffing, slow down! We are not out there to over-stress or have a medical issue.

What helps me on the ups is a really slow, steady pace, and when I start wearing out, I take a 20-30 second break, a few great breaths of fresh air, laugh at how hard this (again), pick a spot 50-100 steps forward and start counting............50 or 75 or 100 steps, then 20-30 second break, repeat

100% of the time when I keep putting one foot in front of the other I get to the top............and its always great.