Project 1: Overloading on overload

Attempt no. 2 on the Fan Dance route. 
Weight carried: 14kg made up of water bottles and dumbbells 
Pack: 45L Daysack

The only downside of wearing a slightly smaller, more appropriate sized backpack was it looks considerably unimpressive for the amount of weight I felt I had to lug up Pen y Fan. There was a LOT of huffing and puffing and swearing and dry retching, because I had eaten a full english breakfast slightly too late in the morning.

I wish I hadn't eaten eggs and bacon for breakfast

Are we there yet?

I wanted to trial the route with "overload". The Fan dance load for women is 25lb (11.3kg), so I decided to do the route with 32lb (14.5kg). The rationale being that training should be done both with heavier and lighter loads at different training intensities and volumes.

The conclusion: It is hard and not my greatest idea.

In terms of metabolic cost of carrying extra load, one review on the physiological strain of load carrying showed during weight carrying showed the average energy cost per kg load at first decreased (1.1 W'kg-1 for the first 5.4 kg load) but then increased (6.3 W, kg-1 for the next 5 kg load) with increasing loads. The average energy cost per kg load for the first 5 kg was surprisingly lower than for a kg of body mass, but increased with increasing loads. It is no surprise that energy cost increases with increasing load but the anomaly of data for the first 5kg and decreasing energy cost remains unclear. I can see the use of training with "overload" for these events but the time frame for carrying the extra load needs to be adjusted as physiologically and muscularly it is much more demanding! Possibly I didn't adjust the backpack very well and I am a true advert for why packing properly and offloading the weight round the hips is recommended! There was definitely trapezius DOMS the day after, explained by walking kinematics 101; When walking, the shoulder opposite to the leg striking the ground is lifted and rotated forward, in line with natural pelvic rotation that occurs during walking. With extra load being carried on the shoulders, the trapezius then has to work "with resistance" to lift the shoulder through every stride. Essentially it is like doing "shrugs" for 4 hours! I can concur! In this particular study I have referenced below, for a weight of 5.4kg and 10.4kg using a military pack with no waist strap the extra absolute force level was 8.4N and 17N respectively. Force level of the descending trapezius therefore effectively doubled with doubling of load. The force level during load carrying using a backpack with waist strap was not significantly influenced by the load, showing that most of this weight had been transferred to the hips, leaving on the shoulder only a constant load needed for stabilisation.

CONCLUSION: Get a good backpack and pack it well. If you can tolerate carrying heavier weight do so, but for shorter durations of time to avoid injury.

Other things of note:

• My knowledge level of "how to pack a rucksack with water bottles" goes up in tandem with that of the m4 services.  

• A Chunky Kitkat and Storey Arms Burger van Welsh teacakes is good for energy and morale. 

• Helly Hanson or similar Base layer and waterproof outershell make a good "competition" day outfit. Anything more is akin to "boil in the bag" scenario.                                                      

All in all however, another good run. It really drums home how difficult it is to replicate this route. The weather, the terrain, the route, time on feet, wearing good kit and pack admin all make such a difference. In an ideal world, one would be hitting these hill all the time but in the absence of that...... creativity of good substitutes will have to make do. 

References:

 Holewjin, M. and Meeuwsen, T. (1990). Physiological Strain During Load Carrying: Effects of Mass and Type of Backpack. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 61 (3-4), 237-245.