Howdy Phydeux,
I completely agree
It's well established that endurance trained individuals:
1) Store more muscle glycogen (primary fuel for high intensity endurance exercise such as a marathon run)
2) Burn more fat and less muscle glycogen during prolonged endurance exercise
This glycogen-sparing effect aids endurance because muscle glycogen stores are limited and fat stores are abundant.
Endurance training confers a dual performance advantage -- the muscle glycogen stores are higher at the start of exercise and the endurnace trained person depletes them at a slower rate.
As Phydeux pointed out, I like to be as fit as possible so that I can enjoyably maintain a faster hiking pace and cover more miles on the trail.
Taking in the proper fuel and fluid makes the hike more pleasant by preventing dehydration and maintaining blood glucose. However, nutrition cannot take the place of hiking fitness/conditioning.
Miles of smiles,
Ellen
phydeux wrote:
One thing not mentioned above is you've got to be in shape to take advantage of all this nutrition stuff. If your primary exercise is channel surfing, don't expect any gels, drinks, pills (or should I say 'supplements?') to get you going any faster, farther, or higher. The better shape you're in, the faster (or easier) your hike will be, the more ground you'll be able to cover, and the quicker you'll be able to recover.
We now return you to your normal posting . . . .