Geocaching & Cardiovascular Exercise

[+Polgara]

I've read in other topics about people losing some weight since they started geocaching, and that is a great thing.

 

However, have you ever talked to people about the exercise you get from caching, for example, talk to your doctor, or people you might go to the gym with, or play other sports with, and they just piss off caching like there is no way it could ever be aerobically effective?

 

I keep hearing this from people.

 

Even if the walk to the cache is .10 miles by the crow, you still have to walk in and then back out, so thats at least .20 miles. And, if the path you are on isn't a straight shot, you can almost double that to get the real calculated distance that you actually walk. SO hypothetically that could be .40 miles, which is almost half a mile, for one cache. Not all the time, but most of the time, i notice cachers will go for 2 caches when they go out. So double that figure, to .80. That is almost a mile, usually over dirt trails, rocks, creeks, sand, or whatever the terrain is where you live, its not flat like a treadmill, in other words. And don't forget that pack on your pack full of a camelback or whatever else you take with you. This also doesn't inlcude any rock scrambling, or bushwhacking or all the circles you might walk in, while trying to find the cache once you get to ground zero.

 

Or

 

If you go on a day hike for one cache, and you're hiking all day.

 

I keep getting this response from people that geocaching isn't good enough as exercise to get your heart rate up. They keep saying that you start and stop too much, etc., for it to ever be effective as part of a workout routine.

 

I think it sure beats pounding a treadmill, I've never known someone to stop caching, cause oh my it was so boring, or the person before them left the machine so friggin sweaty and nasty you don't want to get near it. I don't hear cachers whining, oh, i don't want to workout today...they race for FTFs! At least cachers are consistent.

 

However, its preached in every fitness magazine for people to go out and take a walk to be heart healthy. What is the difference between caching and a walk around a track? Caching is definetly more interesint, and it fulfills the spirit.. cause you complete a short term goal....you hope!

 

During last spring, i had my cardiovascular endurance measured in April, and by September, it had gone up 30%. So I don't understand why caching isn't socially accepted as exercise.

 

Anyone else experiencing this?

Edited April 14, 2004 by Ce'Nedra

[+bigredmed]

You have to get your heart rate into the aerobic training range and keep it there for 30 minutes to get the aerobic activity needed for a work out. Easy to do this when jogging or cycling. Hard to do this while walking. Why? We are evolved to be migratory omnivores.

 

We use SO LITTLE of our maximum oxygen consumption (measure of exercise potential) walking that we can walk for hours without getting into the training range.

To walk around your house, an average person uses about 1% of their VO2 max.

 

Many walking miles before you fatigue and get into the range, then you have to go 30 more minutes at that rate.

 

Factor this plus the abundance of 1/1 park and grab caches, and the irregularity with which many of us actually go geocaching (I am on service 22 weeks a year, therefore 22/52 weekends are shot for me), the sport really isn't that good as a standalone sport. Its real role in aerobic training is dealing with wall issues. If you can't stand the idea of one more trip to the gym, chasing a geocache through some park is more acceptable.

[+briansnat]

However, have you ever talked to people about the exercise you get from caching, for example, talk to your doctor, or people you might go to the gym with, or play other sports with, and they just piss off caching like there is no way it could ever be aerobically effective?

 

Haven't heard it all. Most Dr's agree that walking is great exercise. Now if you're doing all 1/1's and walking very slowly (as many of us tend to when staring at the GPS), you aren't getting a real lot of exercise, but its still better than sitting on the couch.

[+Explicit Dank]

However little good it may do, it beats sitting on the couch, drinking beer and eatin' chips.

[+2qwerqE]

I'm one of those people who have lost lots of weight and improved all my blood count numbers over the last year. Certainly dietary changes played a huge roll in the 70 pounds I've lost. But I was having trouble staying commited to any excercise program, including walking ( I live in a, ummm, urban neighborhood. Walking alone is a bit scary.) I'd be diligent for a few weeks, and then blow it off for weather or any other excuse I could think of, until I was couch potato city once again. Then, last Aug, I discoverd geocaching, and all that changed. Because it was fun. Because I wanted to go out. And I didn't stop at one little .1/ mile cache. I'd keep going, fill up all the time I had, and often do 2-3 miles a day, (4-5 on weekends). I never let the weather deter me, and through the winter, I never missed a weekend. 8 months and 118 caches later, everything's in line, and I feel great. I even found a new friend through caching, and we go out together most weekends.

 

So, why don't doctors think caching's any good for exercise? Well, my doctor thinks it's great, and when I told him what I was doing for exercise, he checked it out and is now a cacher himself. Don't know if he recommends it to other patients or not, tho.

 

It's mostly just walking, after all. Occasional hills to climb (Indiana's not much for hills, but there are some here and there). But it's loads better than driving the remote control from the couch.

[+Polgara]

Its great to hear all the different responses.

 

Congrats to 2qwerqE on the weightloss.

 

I do alot of hiking on weekends, most weekends i do several miles with friends, we go on all day hikes for caches, usually 3+ terrain. But not EVERY weekend. With SPring and summer coming, it will change to every weekend though.

 

Its just frustrating to hear from people that caching isn't what they feel is real exercise. I can understand if you are doing 1/1 park and grabs, then no, it may not be most effective, unless your' dashing after several in only a few hours...actually that migh create more anxiety than its worth. I never feel better coming out of the gym, then I do on a SUnday night after a long weekend of caching/ hiking. Oh well.

[+Perrin]

bigredmed makes some good points, but leaves out a few things. Everything he said is correct, so I'm not disputing any of it.

 

However, what he failed to take into account was what Explicit Dank said "However little good it may do, it beats sitting on the couch, drinking beer and eatin' chips. "

 

So, yeah our bodies were meant for certain activities, but the problem is that a large chunk of the population doesn't even come close to doing anything (physically) that our bodies were meant to do during the day. Even the moderate activity supplied by caching can have huge benefits to some one who comes home from work and then sits on the couch drinking beer all evening. This is assuming that their job during the day involves more sitting on of the butt.

 

Unfortunately, when trying to make an arguement to back up the validity of caching as a form of exercise we run into a problem. The notion of what is required for a good work out keeps changing. One year it says that 30 minutes of moderate activity per day is enough. The next year says relatively the same thing, but then says that you don't have to do all 30 minutes at the same time (10 minutes here and 10 minutes there, then another 10 somewhere else will work). Then a year later they hit us with "for health benefits, you need at least 60 minutes of moderate to strenuous activity."

 

In my opinion, I say forget the numbers. Especially if you are just starting out with a work out routine. They will just frustrate you when you can't achieve them. Besides, a lot of the people that have said they lost weight due to caching, probably weren't doing any other kind of physical activity at all during the day.

 

Any extra walking you get in as a result of caching is only a good thing! Even if you only go out to find that one 1/1. You are still off of the couch, walking around the house finding your gear, walking to the car, walking to the cache, walking back to the car, then walking back into the couch to plop down in front of the computer to log the find. Now for those of you that really want the exercise, if you find the cache is in a nice park, take the opportunity to explore it and walk some more.

[+tirediron]

However little good it may do, it beats sitting on the couch, drinking beer and eatin' chips.

D'uhhhhh of course it does... Everyone knows its Pretzels that go best with beer. Geeezzzzz..

[+Sloopy]

Bigredmed is right about aerobic training and VO2 max. In order to get a good aerobic workout, you need to challenge yourself enough to raise your heart rate to within the aerobic training range (an easy way to estimate this is to subtract your age from 220, and then shoot for a heart rate of 65 to 75% of that number), and then keep it in that range for at least 30 minutes. Aerobic metabolism takes a little time to kick in (about 20 minutes IIRC), so figure on a good 45-60 minutes for a good workout.

 

If you consider this, then caching could be a good exercise strategy, or it could be an ineffective one. It depends on what you do. If your style is to stroll to the cache at a leisurely pace, and most of the caches you go after have a terrain rating of 1, then it might not be the most effective way to exercise for you. However, if you quicken your pace and go after caches that require going up and down hills, hiking a long way, etc., then you probably are getting a decent workout. That's a little oversimplified and doesn't consider age, fitness level, medical problems, and the like, but you get the idea.

 

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can get a good workout from caching if you try, but it's not always the case. On the other hand, any increase in activity is better than no increase in activity, so go for it! As always, if in doubt, it's best to check with your doctor before beginning a new exercise program.

[+Wacka]

About a year ago I finally started working out at the gym at my apartment complex. After about 6 months I wanted to do something on the weekends instead sitting around and nothing boring like walking or riding the same trail over and over again. I saw an article in the paper about geocaching and took it up.

 

Last Saturday, while about 20 miles from home, my car started hesitating a lot at lights while I was out caching. I took it to a dealer and knew it would take at least a couple hours to fix. I grabbed the sheets for the two closest caches and set out instead of sitting at the dealer. Got one that was .25 miles away. Went after one that was 1.3 miles from the dealer that I had a DNF on. Too many people around, but I did get a 2.5-3 mile hike in instead of sitting eating donuts at the showroom.

 

I have lost about 20 pounds (have to work on my diet) and my stamina is up a lot. I have a problem with my knees hurting on hilly terrain, but am fine on flat land. I am trying leg lifts to get my knees working better but age (I'm in my 40s) and weight have taken a toll on them. I think I used to have sleep apnea (felt like I was fighting for air upon waking) but don't have it now.

 

I am glad I have started geocaching and I believe it has improved my health. As others said , it beats being a couch potato.

Edited April 14, 2004 by Wacka

[+trippy1976]

...

Pretty thorough evaluation by BigRedMed. Through personal experience I have to say that caching is better than let's say... eating a box of hohos and watching wheel of fortune... but I wouldn't say it's "aerobic"

 

Any loss of weight from caching is probably due to the fact that you're eating less hohos.

[+Brianslost]

How about the blood? Some of the cache hiders around here love the thorns. I have to lose a little weight just in blood loss.

[+bigredmed]

How about the blood? Some of the cache hiders around here love the thorns. I have to lose a little weight just in blood loss.

Remind me to stay away from those caches.

[+buck09]

To walk around your house, an average person uses about 1% of their VO2 max.

Quite right - although I've been on a few caches with nice big hills to walk up - 15-20 minutes of good aerobic exercise.

 

You know, it might be cool to make an offset cache to get people to exercise... Like, give them the co-ordinates for a starting point, and tell them to run at 4.5 miles per hour for X minutes - using the speedometer built into most GPSr units - if they can keep at a constant pace, they will get to the cache. (Granted, the math nerds could figure out how to get there walking, but I think most people would take up the challenge...)

[Tahosa and Sons]

To those who say there is no exercise in Caching haven't gone for any of my 4x4's that are back in the hills.

 

Try these and see if you can even get out of bed on the following day.

1. UTM Up the Mountain and this one is a virtual.

2. Then take a walk on the Ghost Trail.

3. Then talk to Mr. Glidden.

 

The following day these should be done to get your necessary exercise.

1. Homestead Meadows a simple level 4 terrain virtual

2. Then you will need to talk to the Lion

 

And if they want some more exercise I have some more that are about 5 miles one way to the Cache. And am working on another one in the back country now.

 

And I will agree 1x1's will give you less exercise than I get in 1 day at work.

[+Planet]

My doctor said it's good!!!! I'm still waiting on the wieght loss though.

[+Red Clover]

Lets see.. 2.5 yrs ago I weighed 415 pounds. Now Im down to 220 lbs. Huge improvment w/ much further to go. When I started caching 3 months ago I was at 250. 30 lbs in 3 months. Im pleased. This past weekend on my caching-fest I walked a total of 12 miles. My preference is the park the car in the middle of a few caches and walk to them. Especially if they are 1/1. True if my son had been w/ me we'd have probably driven to them all but even then I park no closer than .1 mile away. My Dr. is pleased w/ my continued progress and my "dedication" to my new form of exercise.. I call it addiction but hey Now if only I could go on that amazing makeover show to have all my saggy skin removed I'd be a svelt 180 or so the doc says. Oh well maybe next year