100 | AG Outdoor
out there: outdoor fi tness
Is there such a thing as being ‘outdoor fi t’? Being physically fi t enough to tackle everything from multiday
hikes and road cycling events to multiday MTB stage races and a weekend of rock-climbing? Can fi tness be
that generalised? Or does the average adventurer need to specialise? We’ve picked the fi rst of our guinea
pigs – AG Outdoor Editor Justin Walker – to fi nd the answer.I
could say “how the mighty have fallen” but
the description “mighty” is a bit of a stretch
when referring my own fi tness. It’s been fi ve
and a half years since I jumped in the Editor’s chair
at AG Outdoor. This has seen me pile on the kilos,
cop an inordinately large number of long-term
injuries, witness the birth of two awesome kids,
and rapidly lose any ‘outdoor fi tness’ that I pos-
sessed, making a mockery of this magazine’s
‘explore adventure’ motto. This resultant lack of
fi tness has seen me really struggle when I have
been called upon to leave the chair (not an easy
task) and head out on a multiday hike/paddle/
cycling adventure, nearly dreading what should be
the most fun part of this job.
I have always championed the fact that you
don’t have to be a super-athlete to enjoy the out-
doors, but a certain level of fi tness is obviously
essential. And when I say essential, let me explain:
The long road
back
most of us get precious few moments in the out-
doors so, when you do, you want to avoid that
feeling of misery as you lug your unfi t body and
heavy pack up a mountainside. Instead, it needs to
be replaced with a sense of awe and wonder;
when you’re fi t you can focus more on (and enjoy)
where you are, rather than being head-down and
suff ering, a feeling that divorces you from your
surrounds when you’re not very fi t.
So, after many years of laughing it off , I have
decided to become an outdoor fi tness guinea pig.
I have a few goals over the next 12 months – a
multiday hike in South Oz, a 160km road cycling
event, and – pretty much 12 months away – the
BC Bike Race, a seven-day MTB stage race in Cana-
da’s British Columbia that I have already postponed
once due to lack of fi tness.
There’s more to getting ready for these events
than just walking/cycling/MTBing long distances.Eff ective fi tness training involves not only plenty of
variety in workload (mixing long, slow endurance-
focussed training with higher intensity shorter
work) but also paying close attention to diet to
ensure you are fuelling your body in the right way,
and are operating at the optimum body weight to
ensure maximum performance. Mental fi tness also
plays a huge part – you’ve got to be invested in
achieving your fi tness and adventure goals – and
you need to be able to make the time to get it
done.
It is the time factor that I envisage causing the
most grief. With two children under fi ve years of
age, and all that entails, plus being generally busy
like most Australians in this day and age, fi nding
time to train isn’t easy, and is something which I
am sure resonates with all our readers. So in the
next few issues I will be exploring diff erent ways in
which to gain maximum bang for you bucks in
terms of ‘outdoor fi tness’. To me, this term trans-
lates as being ready for whatever awaits in the
outdoors – and most of the time that is to enjoy it
in the best way possible. I just hope my mind and
body survive the shock of the next few months......when you’re fi t you can focus more on (and enjoy) where
you are, rather than being head-down and suff ering...
Our fi rst outdoor fi tness
guinea pig – the Editor –
won’t know what’s hit him
over the next few months.