[at-l] Hike ended short after 13 miles

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 09:36 AM 3/5/2005 -0500, Bror8588@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 3/5/2005 9:33:31 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
>jbullar1@twcny.rr.com writes:
>My fondness for photography inevitably means that I'm
>carrying several pounds more than is really necessary. Lately I'm not so
>certain that it is making me stronger
>
>Your fondness for photography has resulted in giving pleasure to many.
>
>My thoughts about the weight come from the world of body building where 
>muscle grows when weights are used to tax them to their limits.  Perhaps 
>we haven't gotten to out limits yet.

Yeah, I've done the weight lifting thing off and on for years, not with the 
objective of body-building which is about size, but for strength building. 
Bigger is not necessarily stronger and the way you work out for strength is 
different. One thing I know is that with any particular exercise you can 
reach an optimal (as opposed to maximal) level of strength in a fairly 
short time (a matter of weeks) from a particular exercise and to continue 
building strength as well as to have balanced muscle growth it is necessary 
to change your routine periodically. Pushing the same routine to the limit 
is an invitation to injury. BTDT. I've  noted that thru-hikers hit a peak 
of fitness roughly 6 weeks into their hike. After that point most report a 
slowing or cessation of the process and some report an increase in fatigue, 
indicating that they are losing muscle through ketosis which is your body 
looking for more sugars to burn when it runs short of excess fat.