| CONCLUSION (II): The experimental walkers got the most mileage per food calorie at the rate of 2.5 Mi/Hr. That is one mile every twenty four minutes. I believe that is a little faster than most hiking groups walk. Mother fitness expert, whose name I forgot, stated that the practiced efficient hiker uses one third as much energy hiking as the average person. When I divided the 0.11 Kcal/Min by three and plugged it into the equations, I got 4.3 Mi/Hr as the best speed for a very efficient hiker. I believe from long experience that my own most efficient rate is about 3.4 Mi/Hr. When I converted this to metric and plugged it in, my efficiency came out to be only 58% more than the average person. That's crushing! Here I thought I was the one who hiked three times as efficiently as the average person. How do I get myself out of this? Easy! If I assume that the experimental athlete walkers recorded in the book were actually 60% more efficient that the average person, then the best rate for the average person would be 2.0 Mi/Hr and my 3.4 Mi/Hr would yield an efficiency of three times average. Flattering! My wife says I tell lots of lies; but anyway, now my ego is salvaged. CONCLUSION (III) For each hiker there is a speed of hiking that will yield him the most mileage per Kcalorie of food energy. Most likely it is between two and a half and three and a half miles per hour. Unfortunately. I know of no simple way to determine it for the individual. For a variety of reasons, most hiker groups go too slow for efficiency. For unfit members, their aerobic gait is slower than their efficient gait, so they slow down and cause others to wait. Carrying an unbalanced load (hike stick) tends to slow the pace. My foot pain (blister) slows and causes inefficient gait. There are many ways a hiker can improve his efficiency to reduce strain and gain time and energy to spend looking into what's out there. I would like to hear from any of you who have ideas on gaining hiking efficiency. |
Ol' Creosote (also known as D.W. Tomer, P.O. Box 3031, Eureka, CA 95502). is president of the Desert Trails Association, a group dedicated to creating a marked route from Mexico to Canada through desert areas. or Creosote is also known for being able to hike through Death Valley on periodic two day trips without carrying food or water.
Energy Expenditure walking on the level at different speeds. Different symbols represent the mean values from various studies reported in the literature. (Vertical scale is Kcal/min, lower scale is miles/hr)
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