WORKLOAD COMPARISON BETWEEN HIKING AND INDOOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.

Walking is a physical activity able to maintain and improve aerobic fitness. This activity can easily be performed in every season both outdoors and indoors but when it is performed in its natural environment the use of specific equipment is required. In particular, it has been demonstrated that the use of trekking boots induces a larger workload than those used indoors. Since an adequate fitness level is needed to practice hiking in safety, it is useful to know the energy demand of such an activity. This research aims at defining the metabolic engagement of hiking on natural paths with specific equipment at several speeds and comparing this with indoor ones (on treadmill). This can thence be used to define the load that better reflects the one required to walk on natural paths. The walking energy cost (J·kg·m) at several speeds (0.28, 0.56, 0.84, 1.11 and 1.39 m·s) - on level natural terrain wearing suitable footwear (Trekking Boots) and on a treadmill at various raising slopes (0, 1, 2, 3, 4%) wearing running shoes - was measured in fourteen healthy young males (age 23.9 (±2.9) years, stature 1.75 (±0.04) m and body mass 72.9 (±6.3) kg). A physiological evaluation of all subjects was performed prior to energy cost measurements. The results showed that outdoors, the oxygen uptake was consistently less than the ventilatory threshold at all speeds tested and that a 3% slope on the treadmill best reflects the outdoor walking energy expenditure. These findings will prove useful to plan proper training for hiking activity or mixed (outdoors and indoors) training program.