Prepare Now for Summer Exertions

When described in brochures and on Internet sites, outdoor vacations planned around physical activity look appealing, especially if you’re often desk-bound or gridlocked.

Among the most popular options: distance walking, kayaking and mountain climbing trips that range from a few days to a week or more. Participants explore as they exercise, viewing up close the beauty of national parks, historic locales and challenging landscapes.

Most tour operators for these active vacations welcome novices or the newly active, along with the physically adept, but exercise experts caution that these trips aren’t always as easy as they look. A bit of preparation, sometimes even beginning two or three months in advance, can go a long way to sparing you a miserable vacation--not just soreness or impairment but also, perhaps, the wrath of tour mates who expect everyone to pull their own load.

Find out in advance how far or how long you’ll be walking, kayaking or climbing each day, suggests Richard Cotton, an exercise physiologist and spokesman for the American Council on Exercise, a San Diego-based organization devoted to fitness education. Ask if the activity is done in one stretch or broken up. And find out if a support van will be available for participants who become too tired to continue.

Then plan how you will get in shape to make the most of your outing. Medical clearance from a doctor is recommended before starting an exercise program, especially if you’ve been sedentary and are over age 40.

Here are some pointers:

Walking

Some of the most popular walking tours average seven to 10 miles a day. That’s the distance, for instance, on a ramble in Provence, France, May 9 to 15 by Europeds (telephone [800] 321-9552, Internet https://www.europeds.com). That translates to about five hours a day on your feet, walking at a leisurely 2- to 3-mph pace, says Adam Taylor, a Europeds guide.

About the same distance is covered on tours sponsored by Walking Adventures International (tel. [800] 779-0353, Internet https://www.walkingadventures.com). “Plan on doing a 10K walk [10 kilometers, about six miles] every day or every other day,” says spokeswoman Lea Robinson. During her group’s 18-day tour of Spain and Portugal May 16 to June 2, 10 walking days are planned.

To train for putting in seven miles or more a day, Europeds suggests its clients walk three or four times a week, fitting in longer walks on weekends.

If you’re sedentary, figure on three months of training before going on a walking vacation, says Bob Hickey, the walking coach for the Los Angeles Marathon.

Start out slowly and add half a mile per session every week or so, Cotton advises. For instance, Week 1 might include one-mile walks; Week 8, 4 1/2- or five-mile walks; and Week 12, seven-mile walks.

If most of the walks on the trip will be done in the morning, train in the morning, Hickey suggests. Ask about the course itself, too, he says, and “try to find a neighborhood course to mimic the vacation course.”

And pack the shoes you have trained in. “A good running shoe is the best walking shoe,” Hickey says.

Kayaking

Kayaking trips can involve hours of paddling. For a three-day trip near Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska, guides plan three to seven hours of kayaking daily, says Rachel Parks, a spokeswoman for Spirit Walker Expeditions (tel. [800] KAYAKER, Internet https://www.seakayakalaska.com).

Kayaking requires endurance, as well as strength in the back and abdominals, upper-body strength and flexibility for trunk-twisting motions.

The best preparation is to find a body of water and practice the real thing. If that’s not possible, Cotton says, concentrate on getting shoulders and arms into shape. General strength training, with weight machines or free weights, can help. Include crunches in your routine to strengthen the abdominals. Consider hiring a personal trainer for a session or two to give you a crash course in weights and strength training, he suggests.

For basic information on strength training and fitness, see the American Council on Exercise’s Web site at https://www.acefitness.org and click on “Fit Facts.”

If you’re already in reasonable shape, step up your routine, including the strength training, about a month before leaving, Cotton says. Otherwise, allow three months to prepare.

Climbing

When travelers contact Gary Bocarde, who runs Mountain Trip (tel. [907] 345-6499, Internet https://www.mountaintrip.com), about climbing Alaska’s Denali (also known as Mt. McKinley, elevation 20,320 feet), he sends them detailed instructions on how to train, providing a daily log of what they should be doing, from strength training and stretching to cardiovascular activities.

But novice climbers might be better off finding organizations such as Mountain Trekking and Tours (tel. [403] 678-8733, Internet https://www.mountaintrekking.com), which offer customized climbs after determining the abilities of the participants. For instance, a trip to Mt. Indefatigable (elevation 8,760) in the Canadian Rockies requires climbing about three hours one way, with a stop for lunch before descending. That is considered moderate, says Fran Gallagher, co-director of Mountain Trekking and Tours. Climbers are asked to be in good physical shape and exercising regularly before even a moderate climb.

To train for a climb? “Practice,” Cotton says. Check out health clubs that have climbing walls or tread walls. Also strengthen the upper body with pull-ups.

If you’re in reasonable shape, focus on climbing skills for about a month before the trip, Cotton says. Otherwise, take a few months to get into shape.

Last but not least, Bocarde cautions climbers not to ignore mental preparation: “Besides being physically fit and having climbing skills, you need to have the proper attitude and mental discipline.”

Healthy Traveler appears the second and fourth Sundays of the month.