Tips to Keep You Injury Free While Supporting Carpenter Hospice!

It is that time of year again! Time to support the Carpenter Hospice in Burlington with an enjoyable hike around the neighborhood.  They could use all of our support to continue doing their wonderful work in the Burlington community. This year our goal is to raise $100,000 in support of our programs and services that are offered free of charge to our community.

This year’s hike will be on Sat June 3. You can find all of the information you need here https://hike-for-carpenter-hospice.raisely.com/about

Cornerstone Physiotherapy is a proud sponsor of this year’s event and we want to make sure we do our part to keep all of the hikers healthy. Below are some top tips from our physiotherapists to make sure your hike is fun, enjoyable and injury free!

 

1. Build Up Hiking Tolerance!

While most of us walk a fair distance over the course of a day, far fewer of us walk for over 3km continuously. If you are not used to taking longer walks make sure you build up to it. A great way to start would be by taking an evening walk a few nights a week leading up to September 24th. Start with one km and add a km each week in September. By the 24th you will have no trouble at all tolerating the hike. This can help you avoid tendinitis or other foot and ankle pains that come from ramping activity up quickly.

 

2. Footwear Matters!

Any time you are going to be hiking, your choice of footwear is essential to avoid injury. Your choice of footwear should be supportive and comfortable. But most importantly it should fit properly. Many people wear shoes that are actually too small. This can lead to blisters and forefoot pain including morton’s neuroma! Make sure your foot has lots of room in the shoe, but not so much that your heel lifts out of the back of the shoe when walking.

 

3. Watch That Weather

You will be outside for over 30 min. We all know that the end of September can go either way – it could be warm or chilly. Dress in layers so that you can adjust your clothing to the temperature and pull a layer off as you get warmed up on your walk. 

 

4. Always Hydrate!

Wherever you are exercising for more than 10 min you should hydrate to avoid dehydration. Bring a small water bottle to ensure that you feel great at the end of your hike.

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Follow those tips and you will be sure to have a great time. Most importantly get out there and get sponsors. The wonderful people at Carpenter’s Hospice need our help to continue the amazing work they do. See you out there!