Training

Warming up for hikes

If you want to tackle longer routes, you can take part in other organised hikes at the start of the season to get your body back in shape. And above all, before you start, remember to warm up properly:

→ Warm-up should be gradual, to move from rest to effort...

→ Remember that the more intense the effort, the more important the warm-up should be. This will prevent you from running out of breath or having a stitch in your side after just a few minutes of running.

→ Adapt the warm-up according to the weather. If it's cold or windy, the warm-up needs to be longer because more heat is lost, so the body takes longer to 'come up to temperature'.

→With age, warm-up must be particularly careful to avoid injury. Indeed, tendons become less elastic with age, and muscles are also less resistant with age.

→It should not be thought that the more you train, the less you need to warm up. On the contrary, it takes longer to mobilise all your muscles.

→Passive stretching before exercise is not advisable because it reduces the blood supply to the muscles ("cut legs" effect). They should be reserved for recovery at the end of the session.

→There is no such thing as a standard warm-up; it must be adapted to the session you plan to do, and to your current form. It's up to you to personalise it. It generally consists of two phases: an initial mobilisation phase in which the body is awakened (typically a slow jog), followed by a tension phase in which the exercises are gradually intensified.

→ For a hike, the warm-up is also reduced because the intensity of the effort will remain low throughout the session. You can simply start by walking slowly for 5 minutes and gradually accelerate to cruising speed.

Advice from Nicolas Cherpeau(http://www.courir-plus-loin.com)

You can also try out our moustache course - a 10 km circuit to help you prepare for this event.