Walking is good for us on so many levels. One of the positive outtakes from the last 3 years is that we are all walking a lot more than we used to. Many of us are googling local routes in anticipation to find beautiful scenery, exercise opportunities and may be, even a physical challenge.
Walking is a weight-bearing exercise that is good for our bones and joints, it trains our hearts if we go uphill, and core strength and balance on the way downhill.
Walking can be done at any age, doesn’t require any equipment and is incredibly beneficial for our mental health.
Once we become comfortable with our walks, we might decide to take them further and embark ourselves on a hiking journey. Hiking usually entails rougher, more natural paths, the journeys are much longer and require more physical endurance. However, the experience is such that we are usually striving to do more and more, choose more and more challenging trails.
This year I began collaboration with a wonderful Facebook group called Camino Confidence that empowers women of all ages to walk Camino de Santiago in Spain. Endless encouragement and tons of useful information is shared in this group by its founder Carol Alexander-Price and her team.
On 4th November Camino Confidence celebrated its 1st birthday, and I took part in an interesting workshop where we talked about everything ‘my first Camino’ related. I was asked to talk about Camino fitness requirements and about my Get-Go Camino Fit Program.
So, the question is: ‘Do you need to be super fit to do the Camino?’
No. However, your fitness level will define how far you will be able to hike and how much time it will take you.
If you can spare months to do the Camino and your finances are unlimited, then the world is your oyster, and you can take your time. For majority of us with jobs and family commitments, training to become stronger and faster is probably a better option.
1. Choose your dream Camino route
That is what so great about the Camino: it offers you so many options from the classic Camino Frances, to challenging Camino del Norte, to coastal and reasonably flat Camino Portuguese, to less crowded Camino Primitivo… Decide which route resonates with your heart and go for it.
2. Decide how far you will hike
You will need to walk the last 100 km on foot to be able to receive the ‘Compostela’, accreditation of the pilgrimage to the Tomb of St James in Santiago de Compostela. So that is your absolute minimum on the distance. Weather you take 4, 5 or 10 days to do this makes no difference to anyone but you.
You might decide to hike the whole 800-900 km depending on the route and availability of strength, time, and money.
3. Assess your current fitness level - What can you do right now?
Before you decide to commit to your Camino journey think about how far you can hike now, what terrain are you used to, can you walk that distance day after day after day…
Then adjust for
· Weather (hot or pouring rain)
· Weight of rucksack
· Muscle fatigue
· Health conditions’ flare ups under stress
· Blisters
4. Now compare what you can do now to your desired Camino adventure
Being honest with yourself at this point will determine if your Camino will be an experience of a lifetime or a painful struggle to finish what you have set out to do. It is ok to decrease planned daily distances, take the bus, have rest days, or longer breaks but if you are anything like me these will be marked as little failures in your brain. Also, let’s not forget hotel cancellation charges if you booked accommodation in advance. At the end of the day nobody sets out to run a marathon without training, why should the Camino be any different?
5. “The best things in life come from stepping outside your comfort zone” H Coles
So, instead of adjusting the Camino to fit your ability, advance your fitness levels to give you strength to do the Camino you dream about. Step out of your comfort zone not only to complete the hike but also to make your body stronger and healthier. Our amazing bodies are capable of change and improvement at all ages. We just need to tell ourselves that it is only our minds that are stopping us doing what we want.
6. Get-Go Camino Fit Program
Hikers require a wide range of physical qualities to cover desired distances, handle elevation, high endurance. Therefore, you will need a specific workout program.
Get-Go Camino Fit Program will be tailored around your current fitness level, training preferences, chosen Camino route and distance. It will contain a mixture of cardiovascular, strength and hiking training sessions. You will get nutritional advice and daily motivation.
You can choose to have 1, 2 or 3 weekly online personal training sessions which will set up correct exercise technique which will make your training more efficient.
Sign up for my Get-Go Camino Fit Program and see if you can get fitter and closer to your dream.
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