I'm kind of in the same boat as my goals are rather conflicting right now. I formerly did a lot of strength training, and I've been inconsistently lifting in that vein for the last few months. Now that I find myself doing a lot of hiking and backpacking in the summer, I'm questioning how I ought to be training. (Unfortunately, that just means I'm not doing as much non-trail training as I ought to be.)

My best suggestion for cross-training that incorporates hiking goals with strength goals is a combination of sprints with longer walks. Throw in some compound strength training a few times per week as well.

Hi Lyn

> muscle cells are rarely lost, they just shrink or grow, and become stronger or weaker.
Yes, I know of course.
I was questioning the assumption the original poster was making, that she was losing actual muscle in one week. Doesn't seem very likely to me.

> being able to lift and carry a bag of cement is quite nice!
But OHS halved the weight of the cement bags some years ago because many people could not lift the original ones (110 lb?). More recently OHS made the flour mills reduce the size of the flour bags too, for the same reason!

Cheers

Would OHS kindly halve the weight of rocks/boulders? Same size, hardness and toughness, just half the weight. It'd make trail maintenance much easier. I do barbell squats and deadlifts to help get me ready for rock work, but I'd gladly be able to move twice as much rock.

"I was questioning the assumption the original poster was making, that she was losing actual muscle in one week. Doesn't seem very likely to me."

Agreed, unless you are ill, you don't usually lose (or gain) much muscle in a week. Longer term, I would use strength as a measure of muscle changes, though if you aren't doing any kind of resistance exercise this is not a good measure.

"But OHS halved the weight of the cement bags some years ago because many people could not lift the original ones"

INn NZ, we can buy pre-mixed concrete in bags as small as 15kg, but plain cement is usually still sold in 40kg bags. As for the reason for some countries dropping the weight of bags, this is as much a reflection on how we are deteriorating in our general fitness as it is the safe limit of a bag of product X. In NZ, they have recently decreased the weight of pellet fire fuel from 20kg to 15kg as many people can't even manage 20kg. Of course, unlike cement, some elderly people don't have a choice, so a choice of bag weights seems a good idea. But smaller bags of anything cost more, per kg, than larger bags. I was also being a little tongue-in-cheek. I don't know many women that can handle a 40kg bag of cement, and thus we bat our eyelids at young men to do it for us...well some of us anyway.

To me, functional strength encompasses more than just lifting a particular weight. Many gym junkies can lift a lot of *weight*, but still put their backs out when lifting much less weight in the real world. Their functional strength is poor unless the weight has a handy little bar to grip, and they can lift it in a straight plane in a pre-practiced pattern. And *most* people I now have very poor overall core strength, even some that can lift heavy weights. Personally, I still like to play judo, which requires core strength combined with good technique to do well. But really it would be good for the OP to clarify what kind of fitness/muscle/strength/stamina goals they are concerned about. My take-home message, and the only reason I posted that photo, was to emphasise the point that you don't need animal proteins to be strong, and even as a female on a strict vegan diet, strength is not out of reach with the right diet and training program. People who slag off proteins such as soy, fail to understand that it is only potentially limiting in methionine, but only if you are getting the minimum suggested protein intake. If you are eating LOTS of soy protein (or most other plant proteins), it is a non-issue. You will get plenty of methionine. But everyone is different. There are ways to incorporate strength and endurance into a single weight program. Good old Arnold S. did this with his German 10 x 10 method. That's a 100 reps per exercise, without reducing the weight on any rep. It's brutal and painful, so not for the feint hearted, but is do-able. I prefer to separate my strength and endurance activities. For me, I may weight train 3 x week, with sprints the other 2 days, and go hiking on the weekends. Throw in some judo twice a week, which is strength, speed and endurance, and it works for me. Whatever fits the lifestyle (and body type) is the best program...

For maintenence of lean mass even when doing little strenuous exercise, I would suggest learning how to make decent bone stock. Its regular consumption has long been recognized as aiding the body in retaining lean tissue despite being itself a rather imbalanced protein; the high gelatin content stimulates higher levels of natural growth hormone, encouraging the body to hold on to (and even build) muscle tissue. Not nearly as effective as proper exercise, but useful. Considering the high content of valuable minerals (many of which our usual diets are deficient in) and stock's healing effect on the digestive tract, a good stockpot and some quality soup bones are well worth having.

I find stock even more beneficial when I AM lifting, however. When I'm stuck not doing much 8 hours each day, going down to the creek and stacking/throwing rocks is my gym time. A spoonful of cold stock beforehand (texture of jello) and a bowl of rice boiled with some more stock and some steak or liver after always seems to make my body happy, and while muscle size hasn't changed much, I keep getting stronger.

A good how-to: http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-make-beef-broth/