Training for trekking

Getting ready for a challenge such as cross-country skiing to the North Pole requires understanding the physical, psychological and emotional stresses of the trip. Younger people typically benefit from having strong bodies and energy reserves that can help them deal with the physical stresses of the trip. Older trekkers may have the edge in skills and experience. And all will need the fuel of good nutrition to make the trip. In this section, we will learn how Sue Carter of WomenQuest has trained for the trip, as well as what kinds of food the trekkers will eat and how it will be prepared on the trail.

Students will also learn how to assess their own levels of fitness and list areas of possible improvement.

Teaching objectives:

• Understand the importance of training to achieve fitness
• Learn how to assess your own level of fitness
• Explore the role of proper nutrition in providing energy and promoting good health

Equipment needed: Notebook for a journal

Time required: 10 days

Tips/special instructions to teachers: The Internet abounds with excellent resources on fitness, training and nutrition. We urge you to share your favorites so that we can include them here:

Health and Fitness Tips

Fitness JumpSite

Health Fitness Network

Activities - Day One:

(1) Assign students to read the accompanying text on how Sue Carter trained for the event

(2)Visit this site to learn how to take your pulse. Then enter your age in the calculator to find out your maximum heart rate, minimum heart rate and maximum training heart rate. Remember that you should try to get close to - but not exceed - your maximum training heart rate whenever you work out.

(3) Begin a 10-day training journal. Each day for the next 10 days, write down the kinds of exercise you did each day and for how long. Also include what you ate. Remember that muscle weighs twice as much as fat - even if your weight goes up, you may not only be getting stronger but leaner.

(4) If you have access to a set of scales, take your weight and use the measuring tape to calculcate your height in inches. Then click here to enter those figures to calculate your Body Mass Index. See if this changes during the 10 days you keep your journal.

(5) Read this article in FitnessHeaven about sound nutrition for teenagers. Also read this article on osteoporosis prevention for teenagers in Kid Source. Take a look at your journal - are you getting enough good nutrition? Especially if you are a girl, are you getting enough calcium?

Follow-up Activity:

(6) Write three or four paragraphs at the end of your journal about whether your current lifestyle would help to prepare you for a challenge such as Polar Trek. What, if any, changes should you make to improve your level of fitness and good nutrition?