The Benefit in Doing Sit-Ups for the Wilderness Backpacker

Apr 17, 2011
Don Russell

Excellent core strength makes moving through this type of terrain safer and easier when carrying heavy loads - Don Russell

Most people think that if they do lots of sit-ups that they will get a six-pack and lose weight, sadly this is not the case. So, why do sit-ups?

Everyone has a six-pack, if you can’t see it the reason is that it’s covered in fat! I know, I know the truth really hurts but before you sneak off and slit your wrists ask yourself this... Is it important for what you want to do? As a wilderness backpacker, probably not. The very nature of wilderness backpacking generally means that you are likely to be carrying heavy loads over long distances and through extremely difficult terrain, often for extended periods of time; so a nice six-pack will be pretty low on the list and as it is no measure of core strength it can be regarded as of little actual use.

Fat

Our body needs fat to function efficiently and while I’m sure we would all love to look like Mr Universe, the fact is that Mr Universe wouldn’t last 30 minutes carrying a 30kg rucksack over rough terrain. Why? Because his body is more at home in dealing with anaerobic (short, large unsustainable bursts of energy) exercise. Whereas the backpacker needs to be at home in dealing mainly with aerobic (continuous, sustainable output) exercise; it also needs another important feature, endurance. The fat reserves in our body act as a buffer to help with this in the case of the wilderness backpacker.

Body Mass Index

Every day we hear people going on and on about their B.M.I. and being healthy; this is only a general guide that gives an estimation for everyone on the planet. It makes no allowance for the difference in density between fat and muscle or indeed the body’s hydration levels; this being the case you could have someone with a B.M.I. on the healthy lower limit being much less healthy than someone with a B.M.I. on the healthy upper limit. Your body measurements along with your mass and height give a much better picture. That’s not to say the B.M.I. is useless, it isn’t; just treat it as the basic guide it was meant to be.

Sit-Ups

I have always been used to carrying heavy rucksacks so my core strength has always been quite good with no visible six-pack; however, two years ago I decided to do an experiment. This involved doing 500 sit-ups (various forms and number of reps) every other day along with other core strength exercises, over a period of three months; this being in addition to mountain biking and cross-country running. The result was surprising and extremely beneficial. The amount of sit-ups and other core exercises resulted in extremely good muscle endurance. I packed an expedition rucksack to 30kg and covered 30km on steep, rocky unforgiving terrain; the increased stability from the improved core strength was immediately noticeable, resulting in fewer balance problems along with a reduction in leg muscle and joint fatigue. At the end there were no abdominal muscle aches as is so often the case due to the immense work they have to do in keeping your body upright with the additional weight.

The general consensus is that there is no benefit from doing this amount of core exercise but I think this is based on getting a six-pack so that you look good. My own experiment however, indicates that there is certainly an enormous benefit from a wilderness backpacking point of view. Of course, this is just a relatively simple, mostly uncontrolled experiment; even the word experiment implies some form of control so perhaps ‘observation’ may be a better description. Nevertheless, anything that makes carrying a heavy rucksack easier must be worthy of consideration.

Mental Strength

We have looked at how core strength and muscle endurance can help in carrying heavy loads but what about mental strength? In endurance events a determined strong willed person can often outperform someone who is physically superior; I think I'll leave this experiment to someone else!