Knapsack Treks
  • Detian Waterfall Then & Now
  • Good Vices
  • NDP – National Day Pendaki
  • Trip Reports
    • Australia
      • Aussie Odyssey Part 1, Uluru, Kata Tjuta
      • Aussie Odyssey Part 2 Kings Canyon
      • Aussie Odyssey Part 3 Kangaroo Island
      • Dunes Downunder Part 1
      • Dunes Downunder Part 2
      • Dunes Downunder Part 3
    • Climbing Tianyou Peak 天游峰 @ Wuyi Shan 武夷山
    • Europe
      • My Greek Odyssey (Athens & Acropolis)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Delphi)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Meteora)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Mt Olympus)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Pella – birthplace of Alexander the Great)
      • My Greek Odyssey (Thessaloniki)
    • India
      • A Tale of Two Jahans
      • Akbar The Great
      • Dungeshwari – where mistakes are made and corrected
      • Horriday In India – Trains
      • Sarnath – first lesson
      • Shimla – legacy of British India
      • Taj Mahal
      • The Mahabodi Temple, Bodhgaya
      • Varanasi, a city as old as time
    • Indonesia
      • Beautiful Bali 2019
        • Batur Mountain & Lake
        • Kuta Sunset
        • Marvellous Munduk
        • Nusa Penida 1
        • Nusa Penida 2
        • Tirta Gangga
      • Dieng Antiquities
      • Gedung Songo
      • Gunung Lawu 2019
      • Sex & Temples
        • Candi Kethek & Ceto
        • Candi Sukuh
      • Back In Mt Bromo With A Kid In Tow 1
      • Back In Mt Bromo With A Kid In Tow 2
    • Magical Myanmar 2019
      • Hsipaw Trek
      • Paya Ko Thaung
      • Pining For Pyin Oo Lwin
      • Sunset In Sittwe
      • The Goteik Viaduct
      • Yangon Memories
    • Nepal
      • Tilicho Lake
      • Annapurna On Wheels With Two Kids In Tow
      • Gosainkund Winter Trek
      • Lost In Lumbini
    • The Water Curtain Cave
    • Kunming, Dali With A Kid In Tow
  • Wacky Workouts
    • Climb Stairs
    • Great Body Weight Exercise
    • Metabolic Principle – Fat Burn
    • Metabolic Principles – Muscles
    • Pull Ups Step By Step
    • Push Up Variations
    • Pushup Variations
    • Working With Elastics
  • About The Author
  • Knapsack Books
  • Fighting Fit
    • 1000 Squats
    • Alternatives For Prevention of AMS?
    • Buffering Your Blood
    • Carbo-loading: The Real Thing
    • Cold Dips
    • Fluid Replacement
    • Food For Hikes – Sweet Potatoes
    • Healthy Coffee?
    • High Altitude Diarrhoea
    • Jumpstart Cream
    • L-Carnitine
    • Low Carb Myths & Risks
    • MacRitchie To Bukit Timah Hike
    • Preventing Blisters
    • Sandfly Bites
    • Cheating AMS
  • Gear & Stuff
    • Choosing Footwear
    • Cooking Set
    • Cushion Gloves
    • Dressing Right For The Himalayas
    • Gelert Boots
    • High Fashion (Frogg Toggs)
    • Hiking Footwear Cheap & Good
    • How To Clean Mouldy Slides
    • My Neat Knapsack
    • The Humble SAF Combat Boot
  • The Aging Adventurer
    • Bye Bye Bunions
      • 6 Weeks Post-op
      • Day 1
      • Day 2
      • Day 7
      • One Month Post-op
      • Trying On My Boots & Thongs
      • Week 3
    • Clogged Arteries: everyone has them!
    • Don’t Lose That Muscle
    • Foot On Ice
    • How Exercise Affects Blood Pressure
    • Keeping Fit Past 70
    • Secret To Burning Fat
    • Stairs Workout
    • Strength Training
    • The Best Doctors In The World
    • Toes & Poles
    • Too Old To Run?
    • Training For Seniors
  • Legends
    • Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922)
      • The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition
    • Gigi The Bikini Hiker
    • Khoo Swee Chiow – K2, the ultimate peak
    • Xiao Peng 小鹏
    • Yu Chun Shun 余纯顺
    • Lei Dian Sheng 雷殿生
      • Horsehair & Blisters
      • Trust & Kindness
  • Other Sites by Chan Joon Yee
    • Chan Joon Yee On Homecooking
    • Chan Joon Yee On Social Issues

Login

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Categories

Foot On Ice

Mature trekkers often suffering prolonged periods of aches and pains after a strenuous hike. Sometimes, even after a tough workout, they may take days to recover. Part of the soreness comes from muscles and part of it comes from joints. Muscle pain after exercise is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS. For an intense exertion like climbing Gunung Kinabalu, muscle soreness typically lasts for about 3-4 days. The first couple of days may see the trekker limping. A variety of advice has been given by gurus and other experts. Some recommend spa, massage, heat treatment, liniment, Voltaren gel, glucosamine…

Been there, done it and I don’t believe in any of that except for the Voltaren gel. While pain is nature’s warning sign for trouble, DOMS is not very useful. The key to reducing the debilitating effects of DOMS is suppressing inflammation. Topical Voltaren gel cannot deliver a sufficient dosage of the anti-inflammatory drug to the muscles to suppress inflammation. You need to take the drug orally. No need for diclofenac, though. I find 500mg Ponstan quite effective. It not only decreases the debilitating effect of DOMS on the first couple of days after an intense workout, it actually shortens the duration of DOMS.

There’s another type of pain which is joint pain. This is a little more sinister than DOMS and the best way of dealing it is prevention. Unfortunately, you can’t just fly down every mountain that you have climbed and most treks would involve lots of ups and downs. There are walking techniques that reduce the stress on our joins. One of the most commonly affected is the knee joint. High impact exercises are sometimes unavoidable, especially if you’re an adventurer like me, so to keep your knees in good condition, you must train the appropriate muscles to support the knee joint. Stretching also helps, but especially important are good shoes. Foam insoles used to be the in thing, but I find the newer gel insoles even better. Most guys my age have knee problems. I attribute my lack of them to insoles that I use on every single pair of shoes I wear.

Walking technique also helps to prevent knee strain. When walking down stairs, always land on your toes and not your heels or flat on your foot. When descending a steep slope, slant your feet sideways and descend diagonally. This technique spares your knees but transfers most of the stress to your calf muscle. The result – your knees hurt less, your calf muscle hurts more. The good thing is, DOMS is much easier to manage than joint pain. The metatarsal area is also frequently affected. Here again, your enemy is the inflammatory process. What’s my secret? Foot on ice. This area is easy to treat with ice, so always seize the opportunity to do it.

Metatarsal pads are available from some sports shops. You can try them, but make sure there is ample space in your shoes/boots.

Another area that can hurt quite a bit after workouts or trekking is the back. A lot of it has to do with the backpack you’ve been carrying. You will find lots of advice on how to pack your backpacks online. Some of them don’t agree with one another, but there is one important point that they should agree on and that is, the bulk of the weight from a backpack should rest on your hips. Make sure you choose a backpack whose size allows you to do just that.

Of course, backaches can occur even if you’re completely sedentary. For this, you’ll have to consult someone else. I only deal with backaches due to outdoor activities. If pain persists or recurs in spite of everything you’ve done to prevent it, you may consider retiring from adventuring. You may also consult your orthopedic specialist or acupuncturist for further treatment. With the proper care and medical clearance, adventurers in their 50s and 60s should have no problems keeping up with the youngsters.

© Chan Joon Yee

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Knapsack Books

2021 Knapsack Treks. Donna Theme powered by WordPress