Hiking
feature
Hiking: a leisurely stroll in stiff boots and anorak,
or a vigorous form of interval training? We sent
Caroline Sandry to Switzerland to find out….
e
quilibrium “condition of a
system in which competing
influences are balanced”
according to the dictionary. Or -
mountain health retreat in
Switzerland, not for the faint-hearted!
the experience
The only sounds to be heard were my heart
drumming in my chest, my breath amplified by
the quiet and a cuckoo calling from above as I
methodically placed one foot in front of the
other in a vain attempt to keep up with
‘Unbreakable’ Angus Morison on our 2000
metre vertical mountain hike! (Angus won
Channel 5’s ‘Unbreakable’ series, which
tested individual’s ability to endure hellish,
extreme ‘SAS style’ challenges).
Equilibrium retreat nestles against the
mountains above the beautiful resort of
Verbier in Switzerland. Their ‘mission
statement’ claims to rejuvenate and re-
38 ultra-fIt AUG/SEP 2010
energise with bespoke programmes to fit the
needs of individuals requiring weight loss,
endurance training, stress management,
toning or detoxing. The chalet can take 6 – 8
guests, there were 8 of us - and our
requirements ranged from weight loss to diet
overhauls and detoxing for a severe stomach
disorder. Me? I simply wanted to enjoy the
fabulous mountains, push my endurance and
de-stress my mind.
My daily diary:
✱ Wake up call 6am – feeling amazingly
fresh in-spite of the hour
✱ Cup of warm water or herb tea
✱ 6.30am – Yoga. Iyengar yoga which uses
props (blocks, straps and bolsters) to help
ease the body into stretches
✱ 7.30am - breakfast, a bowl of fruit
and porridge with water and honey.
By day 3 I hated porridge so much that
I wanted to fight with it!
✱ 8.15am – depart for mountain hike
✱ 12am – 1pm – return for lunch, or stop
for packed lunch up a mountain
✱ 2.30pm – one hour of physical activity
(Pilates, circuits, military style workout in
the woods etc)
✱ 4pm – 7pm – massage. Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!
Fantastic! (and time for a snooze too!)
✱ 7pm – second yoga class of the day. We
all looked forward to stretching out our
aching bodies.
✱ 8pm – dinner
✱ 9pm – we attempt to socialise and chat
after dinner, but the fear of being tired the
following day sends us all scuttling to our
beds before the sun has left the sky!
Having a life long love affair with mountains, I
was in seventh heaven surrounded by their
beauty, spending all day exercising and
enjoying the sun. Unfortunately I had injured my
quads on both legs the week before, so was
treading very carefully for the first few days,
however with icing, daily yoga and massage
they were feeling much better by day 3. I was
surprised that I was so physically challenged by
the hikes – at times my heart was literally
beating out of my chest and I was unable to
get it under control (day 3 was worst – see box
below). Knowing my body pretty well, I asked
for more food as exercising each morning for 3
- 5 hours on a bowl of porridge and an apple
meant I was all out of energy reserves very
quickly. After adding a mid-morning banana,
almonds and raisins, plus a portion of rice with
my evening meal (which was also a little larger
than those wishing to lose weight, but still uber-

feature
healthy) I felt more normal and my training
response was as I would have expected.
This was my first time walking with poles
and I was surprised by how much I liked it.
Over the first few days, suffering from my
quad injury, they really helped as they reduced
the effort and impact through my legs and on

the challenging
ascents are a great
form of interval
training and the
altitude enhances
this effect
some really steep, slippery terrain helped with
stability and grip. Also, as you are using your
upper body (I mostly felt lats and triceps) you
get an additional positive training effect.

results
In spite of asking for more food, I still lost a
couple of kilos and I definitely felt fitter by the
final day. Others in our team had great results
– one girl lost 9 kilos and the ‘weight-loss
shocker’, a young man who lost 17 kilos!
Everybody felt more toned, and relaxed and
we all had a good time. A previous client on
the retreat also shaved significant time off his softened by the massage and yoga. need any further cash. UF

marathon time following the training.
final verdict
Hiking is much more than a ramble: the
challenging ascents are a great form of interval
training and the altitude enhances this effect.
This combined with the circuit sessions really
torches calories, but the physical hardness is
If you are looking to enhance your training
(and not lose weight) be very clear about this
or you will be given the same diet as others,
which although healthy, is not enough to
support that amount of training.
The week is expensive £2500 inclusive. I
stayed in a shared room and the bathrooms
are also shared, but once there you do not
Lucky ultra-Fit readers can get a great
10% discount.
For more info on Equilibrium retreats
go to: www.equilibriumverbier.com
For more info on Nordic walking go to:
www.nordicwalking.co.uk

the physical effects of hiking

Day time Calories fitness zone fat burning zone average Hr Max Hr Steps taken
1 ‘assessment day’ 1 hr 32 750 37min 54min 134 180 12,988

2 the first big hike 3 hr 56 2016 2 hr 12 1hr 43 141 178 24,750

3 Hardest day for me – 3 hr 17 1918 2 hr 26 51 min 149 184 30,931

Hr too high
4 the ‘Biggy’ 5 hr 41 2857 3 hr 36 1 hr 33 144 179 25,102

5 mostly flat, 3 hr 26 1422 1 hr 02 2 hr 24 123 172 29,941

some running
6 final assessment. 1 hr 00 705 0 hr 59 0 hr 1 167 182 14,683
Same route as day 1
pushed hard & ran
I used Polar’s FT7 heart rate monitor, which gives you time spent in your fitness training zone and your fat burning zone. £99.50 www.polarelectro.co.uk
and a 'Fitbug' pedometer to count my steps & monitor my energy in versus energy out. www.fitbug.com/ukmembers

AUG/SEP 2010 ultra-fIt 39