Strengthening my leg muscles the Rocky Style
01 Oct 2019 / Linus Lin
On 3 July 2019, I was 3.5 month away from my inaugural 13-day trek to Mount Everest Base Camp (5,380m) and Kalapathar (5,643m). That day marked the start of my commitment to 'convert' my fatty legs into muscular legs using whatever tools I can find at home. I managed to squeeze 10kg of rice into my tactical bag and carried it up and down the stairs to my HDB block for 50min before surrendering to my weariness.
Somehow this is way tougher than a 8km run. I felt giddier, my legs trembled like jelly after just 30min and in my exhaustion and dripping sweat, I even mistook my neighbour's hanging shirt as a phantom!!!
I thought I shouldn't push myself too hard on my 1st leg-muscle day and decided to just stop and record my timing.
The tremble ended after 20 minutes and my 2 calf hurt when I walk. At least I got to know that day which muscle I need to work on.
On 18 July 2019, my little 10kg rice tactical bag was upsized to a 16kg bagpack by adding some more weights. Surprisingly, no jelly legs and not giddy this time after a 30min climb. Furthermore, I did that right after my 4km run which I further reduced my recorded time of 22:00 to 21:49 with much more energy to spare. (Not too bad for a 39-year-old uncle yah??)
I felt the momentum to continue to improve both my running timing and my walkinh up and down the stairs.
Surprisingly though, after days of training, my weight remained the same. I was still overweight by 13kg on that day according to BMI standard. Hopefully it was due to my gaining of muscle weight as well.
Today, 30 July 2019, after 2 weeks of 16kg load, my training backpack got 'hydrated' to 21kg with 'whatever' I could find on the kitchen shelf. This includes 4 large bottles of beverage.
While climbing halfway up the stairs, my left knee started to feel a very slight 'needle' pain. After an hour of vertical training while stretching down, I could also feel a slight cramp-like sensation on both calf.
I think I am going to stay at this weight for a while. I read online that carrying a backpack that weighs about 30% - 40% of your body mass is ideal for leg muscle training for mountain trekking purpose. Since I weight about 70kg, 21kg - 28kg of load shall be the range I will keep within.
I shall keep pressing forward!
No pain; No gain!
