hiking cadence

[David Chenault]

I took a few self-samples on a hike this weekend. With a 25 pound pack I was right at 120 steps/minute on flat and rolling trail. That number is almost cut in half on significant uphills, and is the same or a little higher going downhill.

[Terry Sparks]

If you think about it for a minute, we really only need the trail to change our cadence for us. Uphill, downhill, rocks, roots, loose gravel, water and mud pretty much force this to happen. Not sure how you can compare trail running or hiking with running in circles on a track or even running down the road. There are times when I can put it in cruise and just walk but, this seldom last more than an hour or so before trail conditions change and forces me to alter my stride,

[Adam Kilpatrick]

^Yep

[Bob Moulder]

There are VERY few places here in the NE where one can set a steady cadence for very long… gotta be extremely careful even on the most tame-looking trails for pointy rocks hiding under the bunches of rabbit grass, waiting to bloody a toe or turn an ankle.

Even so, how are you folks counting cadence?

Cadence when cycling is counted as one full circle of the cranks, so it is one full revolution by either the right or left pedal. In cycling, 120rpm cadence is considered pretty high. When hiking, are you counting (I'm guessing) right-left-right-left, or just right-right-right-right? (I distinctly remember right-right-right-right from military survival school.)

Otherwise, if it's not right-left-right-left, some of these hiking cadence numbers sound awfully high.

[Sam Riggle]

This post was a joke. I forgot about it for months. How ridiculous would it be to see someone doing what I describe. I was kind of hoping someone would get a chuckle, but it wasn't the place for a silly post. I'm sorry for my youthful antics.

This may sound crazy but.

One way I've managed to increase my MPH is by going off trail (I hike in the south east, mainly N. GA) shirtless and in running shorts but with a pack. And I'll just take off running. You really learn to move that way. Every motion has to be fluid and easy to avoid getting torn up. Weaving through the branches and avoiding holes and all that jazz. As a kid I would always run through the woods so I've become accustomed to moving in a fluid way. Once you can move through the trees in such a way, moving down the trail becomes a breeze.

Another way I've learned to be efficient in every movement ( except in camp, just learning how to become more efficient there) is by working in manufacturing. Every movement on an assembly line has to have a purpose or else it's wasted effort and time. So I was able to over lap the discipline of the factory over to my hiking.

Every step I take is planned and precise, every break is planned and all my gear is positioned so I can eat, drink, or get whatever I may need while walking without having to stop, or really even slowing down. Which actually leads to fewer breaks. The only time I really actually stop is to get water. And boy am I proud of that process. I have to remove my pack for that but I have it so dialed in that it's basically one swift, smooth motion to remove my pack and grab the filter and dirty bag, and then reverse it all to hit the trail again.

But being able to move fluidly and efficiently plays a major role in cranking out miles. No wasted effort or time.

I hope that makes some sort of sense.

Edit: and it helps to be sort of OCD about it

[Terry Sparks]

To borrow from my past experience of running marathons, runners don't bother counting strides taken, except for possibly using a small sample as a baseline for training. From training, we all knew what worked for us and all of us were slightly different because our bodies are not the same. What we inherently learned to do is, feel the rhythm of our stride and bodies and made the automatic adjustments we needed for the demands of the course and competition. I'm sure we all do this hiking the trail in much the same way and most of the time we don't even realize the change, we just do it from experience. My feeling is, just get out and hike awhile, you will instinctively learn to become more efficient the longer you walk.

[Sam Riggle]

^^^^
"Feel the rhythym, feel the rhyme…"

Sorry, just had too. But I do agree with the previous post.

[David Chenault]

Bob, I think steps (counting both right and left) makes more sense, which is the metric I used above.

Rough terrain will slow cadence, but less than most think. Thinking and walking mix well, but not thinking about walking.

[Mike M]

it's interesting there is a lot of discussion about walking on trail running forums; on most long distance races there is plenty of walking (typically steep uphill) and the ability to walk fast is what often separates front pack from mid pack finishes

to learn to run fast you have to run fast; folks are finding out that to walk fast, you have to walk fast- it's a learning process like any other and practice (lots of practice) is what makes perfection

going fast is important, but with long distances speed has to be balanced with endurance, get the balance out of whack and you're not going to be happy with the results; throw in technical trails/off trail and you add in yet another significant factor

I think with a lot of walking and purposely trying to pick up the pace, you will become a faster walker-I've found the human body is an amazing and efficient machine

[Terry Sparks]

^^^^^^^^^
Perfectly said.

[David Thomas]

Mike: I concur. Hiking seasons in which I plodded along, I got better at plodding along. Other years, when I push myself to walk at a faster pace, my pace gets faster. That effect was most marked on the steep uphills.

[Mike M]

there was an ultra runner who used the mantra "walk like you're late for work", I've used this to get out of "stroll" mode :)

as much as I hate treadmills (dreadmill), the one thing I found about them I do like is fast walking- you can slowly build up the speed increments and w/ practice, you'll be moving out pretty good- you can also ramp up the elevation and try to maintain a certain speed

running, I really hate them (well except when it's -10F out :) )

[Terry Sparks]

It's nice to hear this from you Mike, as I did the very same training on treadmills in my quest to learn to walk fast. As I'm sure you have known for a long time, it's not just training our bodies to improve our performance, we need to also train our minds to improve our performance. Like most everything else we do in life, walking fast is a learned skill, mentally and physically.

[Bob Shaver]

I think there are subtle efficiencies in walking that one develops with years of practice. It could be maintaining a relaxed mind when encountering different terrain, matching heart rate, breathing rate, and cadence, finding an efficient stride, developing the physiology to carry a pack, maybe finding a cadence that complements the resonance of the pack weight. I can't say what they all are, but I feel it when they are present. When I hit the sweet spot of walking efficiency, I can go forever with little effort.

I went on a 6 day mountaineering trip called the Ptarmigan Traverse. My partner was a very strong runner, 10 years younger than me. He was running 5 minute miles, and I was running 7 minute miles for training. I thought he was going to crush me on the trail, but he had quite a hard time keeping up with me. Our packs were monsters, which is unavoidable when you carry a rope, some climbing hardware, camera gear, crampons, ice axes, and winter clothes. The route was totally on snow, and totally at an angle. A slip on the snow could lead to a long slide toward cliffs, that would be difficult to stop with a self arrest. Every step was kicked out of sloping snow and had the possibility of failing.

below: crossing the red band on the Ptarmigan Traverse

The last day was a marathon hike in bad weather and rain. We kept going and kept going forever, and he was totally beat up. It was a 20 your day. Yet he was totally fitter than me, just as strong in upper body strength, the main difference that I could tell between us was I was mentally relaxed and not stressing over every step and over finding the route, and my walking with a big pack weight was more relaxed and efficient. It was strange to observe, because he was totally crushed, as I got stronger day by day.

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