News You Can Use-Mr. Brown's Secret Sauce Revealed!

Dear Philmont Bound Trekkers and Parents,
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Now here's some news you can really use all through the spring and summer and into the early fall before we start the backpacking part of our Philmont adventure! Here you go, straight to the point, let's get it right out there-....ready...wait for it...wait for it.....TRAIN! Yep, you got it, training is the key ingredient to a literal mountaintop Philmont experience. Period. Done!

But, Mr. Brown, you say, " I play sports!". Any my response, says Mr. Brown, " I'm happy for you!".  Playing sports does not maketh the man or woman, as the case may be, but training sure makes a difference. Sure, maybe those of you engaged in sports are getting an exceptional dose of aerobic exercise-and practically on a daily basis, too; but what happens in the off-season when the music stops, I ask you?  So, perhaps like me, you are not an athletic person, plain and simple. Most of us fall into this category. So you will likely approach training like one might approach the plague."Mr. Brown!", you say, "do I have to, really???" "Yes" says Mr. Brown, "Plain and simple, for your own good and that of your crew."

Your new motto, shamelessly stolen from Nike, and your new creed is "Just do it!"  No need to work yourself up into a hot mess over training either. No one is advocating that you enlist in the military and ship off  to boot camp for the summer. No hours on end of grueling, grinding activity, but you will score extra points in your training if you do on occasion. Beastly, primeval instincts are not called for here nor are expending buckets of sweat. What I am advocating, though, is a simple daily routine focused on increasing your lung capacity, your legs, and your core. This is an art not a science. Set a goal of at least 30 minutes per day. So what if you miss a day, no worries. It's the regimen, the repetition, and the fact that it is only for a short period daily, that will make the difference and take you over the top in your training commitment to yourself and your crew. Choose a specific time to train too, say right before or after supper or even first thing in the morning and stick too it.

So, you might ask "What exercises should a trekker do, Mr. Brown?" For me, my absolute favorite exercise is power walking. I have a two-mile stretch that I do daily during my lunch break at work. I throw some topo into the mix and I have a good walking regimen. Add a day hike bag with some weight in it to your walk. Philmont says hike with your pack, but I say, just Hike On! On the weekend or even a week night, I will go out to Fisher Farm and walk the perimeter of the meadows there. I use my trekking poles, so I am giving my upper body a workout as well. Hit the running trails at Davidson college, or one of the local greenways or beautiful trails at many of the parks close to home.  Make it fun! A weekend hike at South Mountain, Stone Mountain, or some other mountainous state park also mixes in the fun factor-fun with a purpose! Rather jog or bike? Go for it!

Now let's add other ingredients to really make a difference-exercises. You do not have to do a gazillion exercises or for copious, long hours at a time, nor do you make it into something it does not have to be! 15-30 minutes daily or even every other day will do the trick. Exercise bands for resistance training are great as are core-strengthening exercises. Even if you do one set of thirty repetitions for a few well-chosen exercises, you till see a tremendous improvement in  muscle tone. "What exercises do you do, Mr. Brown?" you might ask. I do sit ups, squat thrusts, planks, windmills, deep knee bends, a series of exercise band exercises to strengthen my ACL or whatever the leg tendons are called, and resistance exercises for the core and upper body. Get into a routine and stick with it.

OK, Mr. Brown's Secret Sauce is now revealed! And now for the charge to you all-Get to it, chop, chop!!!!  :o)

I can hardly wait to your first backpacking trip in the fall! You guys will be in such great shape!

Mr. Brown