trekker's knee

[deserteyes]

Hello,

Can anyone provide any guidance on getting fit for a trek and avoiding trekker's knee?

DE

[Michael Sunkist]

Nameste, being an old trekker I have a problem with bad knees having broken both of them in the past. When I am planning trekking in Nepal or India I get in shape by running up hill every other day for 3-6 miles. It's not the uphill that will cause you problems but the downhill will absolutely make you wonder why you are beating yourself up to enjoy the Nepalese mountain trails. If you do the circuit you will see what I mean when you summit Cho La and head down to Muktinach. Ouch! Happy trails

[Sharon]

Trekking poles & stretching.

[kegarne]

I am sure trekking poles do help although I have never used them myself.
Get a porter to carry your pack and learn how to walk downhill correctly - Nepali style. Try to skip from rock to rock rather than bang down hard like most westerners.
Also, vary your style of walking down....don't always go front on, move down sideways and even backwards if necessary. This will lessen the chance of RSI of the knees which is what 'Sahib's knee' is.

[Petrus]

If you do the circuit you will see what I mean when you summit Cho La and head down to Muktinach. Ouch! Happy trails

Ouch! indeed, if you are doing AC and find youself in Cho La in Khumbu and must head down to Muktinath for the night, about 400 km away. :D Truly hard on the knees. :p

[Michael Sunkist]

Ooops! my bad, I meant Throng La. Happy trails and get those knees in shape before you head to Nepal.

[Petrus]

Yeap, have osteoarthritis (hip) and just getting tickets for next year for Manaslu-NarPhu-Tilicho-ABC treks + EBC & Langtang for cooling off , 2 months. Antarctica-Patagonia-Inca Trail next. I'll crawl if it comes to that.

[yakshaver]

Yeap, have osteoarthritis (hip) and just getting tickets for next year for Manaslu-NarPhu-Tilicho-ABC treks + EBC & Langtang for cooling off , 2 months. Antarctica-Patagonia-Inca Trail next. I'll crawl if it comes to that.

That's my man!

I was going to say to deserteyes... to avoid trekkers knee, I suggest walking on one's hands. But maybe the danger then could be trekker's elbow...

[Michael Sunkist]

Yo Deserteyes, just a followup on getting in shape for trekking. Before I hit the trails I usually hang in Pokhara for a week or so just to get a bit climatized as the trails are tropical in climate until you start hitting altitude. I climb to the top of Sarangkot every day just to get my legs ready for the ups and downs of the trail and it's a nice place to hang out on the top. Sarangkot is a peak you see from town on the far end of the lake. You can also catch the trails to Annapurnas at the top as that used to be the old starting point. Also do 100 squat thrusts in your hotel room every day as well as maybe do a bit of jogging. My dear friend Govinda runs the Butterfly Lodge if you need a place to stay and he can help you out with all the permits and arrange transport to the trailhead via taxi. Cost about $10.00 US. He grew up in Pokhara and is a wealth of info for folks who have never trekked, as in his youth he was a guide and porter.Happy trails

[deserteyes]

Thanks Sharon: I've never walked with trekking poles, but I see they are helpful for a number of reasons (I also referred to Yakshaver's legendary list :-))

Kegarne: that's interesting. Yes, I often wonder how locals go about things without the use of the hi-tech equipment.

Yakshaver: While a resourceful method no doubt, I may just pass on it.

Michael Sunkist: Many thanks, it's great to hear how other people manage to cope. So what you're saying is that practising walking uphill and downhill is key to strengthening the legs? A friend recently told me that he managed to knacker his knees by using the treadmill in his gym on a gradient. Have you ever experienced this? He suggested that it was better to use the treadmill flat -- but I can't see how this would help with conditioning. Surely the shock of switching from training on a flat to walking up and down a mountain is bound to lead to the very thing you were trying to avoid? Unless of course he means that a treadmill gradient is more damaging than actually walking up and downhill, but I can't see how.

[deserteyes]

YMy dear friend Govinda runs the Butterfly Lodge if you need a place to stay and he can help you out with all the permits and arrange transport to the trailhead via taxi. Cost about $10.00 US. He grew up in Pokhara and is a wealth of info for folks who have never trekked, as in his youth he was a guide and porter.Happy trails

P.S. Many thanks for the contact. I'll keep it in mind.

[Michael Sunkist]

Yo Deserteyes, treadmills will not get your legs in shape for what you are going to be going thru, maybe a bit. Run hills, do squat thrusts, and do Sarangkot a couple of times while experiencing the extremely cool city of Pokhara. That will give you a real idea of what you will be doing. While in KTM check the gear shops for used ski poles. I usually buy these as it is a drag to check poles with baggage at airports, altho the breakdown ones I use in the states are nice. When I'm done trekking I give them away to porters and teahouse workers who just get ecstatic to receive such a gift. You can usually find a pair of nice ones for about $10.00 US. Happy trails

[deserteyes]

Thanks for the tip Michael.

Thankfully, I do live in a reasonably hilly area.

Squat thrusts huh? I must look those up. I think I know what you're talking about.

DE