Backpacking Burns Blubber Bigtime!
One hour of backpacking with a moderate to heavy load for an individual who weighs 160 pounds burns an estimated 686 calories. (According to a calorie calculator I found on www.fitwatch.com)
Why is this interesting fact so…interesting? I just got back from Yosemite a few days ago. I went with my good friend and client, Steve, and my son, Jesus, who is 9 years old.
We hiked 16 miles at an easy 2.5 miles per hour pace over 3 days. This means that we did a total of 6.4 hours and that I burned approximately 4,390 calories during the trip. Cool!
That means that I burned over 3,500 calories!
FACT: When you burn 3,500 calories that means that you burned 1 pound of fat off your body, (assuming that you ate enough protein throughout the day to keep your body in an anabolic state).
If you don’t eat enough protein, or forget to spread the grams of protein out throughout the day, your body goes catabolic, meaning it burns muscle for energy instead of fat, and you don’t want to that to happen!
Steve told me just today that he and his wife, Karen, are embarking on an incredible journey in the spring of 2010. They are going to hike the PCT! The PCT is the Pacific Crest Trail, a trail in which a brave number of backpackers each year attempt to traverse from Mexico all the way to Canada!
From what I’ve heard, PCT “thru-hikers” start on April 15th and finish around September. And, of course, not everyone actually finishes the full hike, and for some, it takes more than one season to do, but for all that take on the PCT, it is the adventure of a lifetime.
The journey seems to me a mental, physical, and spiritual one. However, since I’m a trainer talking about burned calories and fat loss, I’ll stay on topic and discuss the fat loss implications of such a enormous hike. I’ll bet you’re just as curious as I am!
Here’s a few FAQ’s to keep in mind that I got from www.PCTA.org:
Q. What is the Pacific Crest Trail and where is it?
A. The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is a 2,650-mile national scenic trail that runs from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon and Washington.
Q. How much will it cost to thru-hike the PCT, and how long will it take?
A. A typical hiker wears or carries $1,500 to $3,000 worth of equipment, spends $800 to $2,000 for trail food and posting boxes, add $500 to $1,000 for restaurant binges, junk food, and motels at re-supply points, add $500 for replacement boots, clothes, and other gear, add travel costs to and from the trail and that should just about do it. You can cut the cost of gear/clothes/and food drastically if you are willing to make up your own. Most thru-hikers complete the 2,650 trail miles in 5 to 6 months that means averaging 20 or more miles a day for days actually hiked. For more help figuring out the cost and timing of your trip, visit Craig Giffin’s Trip Calculator.
Q. How many people start and finish thru-hikes of the PCT each year?
A. In recent years out of 300 or so who start out to hike the entire trail, roughly 60 percent finish. A list of “2600-Milers” is now available online.
Okay, so if it the PCT is 2,650 miles (that’s crazy!!), and you hiked it at a pace of 2.5 miles per hour, a 190 pound person carrying a heavy pack would burn a total of 814 calories per hour. That means the hike would take 1,060 hours to complete, and the 190 pound individual would burn a total of 862,840 calories over the course of the hike! Divide that by 3,500 calories (what it takes to burn one pound of fat) and you’ve just burned yourself a whopping 247 pounds of fat!!
Jumping Jupiter, Batman!!
Let’s say the person starting this hike weighs 190 lbs and he loses 247 lbs of fat. Then won’t he just disappear off the face of the earth, or in this case, the PCT?
Of coure not! He’ll have to adjust his caloric needs to meet his daily energy requirements. There’s also something called “set point theory” which means the body will set itself to a certain weight and want to stay there once it finds a point it feels comfortable with.
These thru-hikers really need to chow down a lot of GORP! (that’s hiker lingo for Good Ol’fashioned Raisins and Peanuts).

Although the numbers I’m using here may not be exact, this little thought experiment clearly demonstrates the amazing energy expenditure of a hiker on the PCT. Hopefully this article inspires you to add hiking into your fitness lifestyle repertoire!
Good luck Steve and Karen!
Your Trainer For Life,
Forrest Folen, MCT
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 3:19 pm.
