Get Packrafting-Ready with These Functional Moves for a Strong Summer

Are you ready for an exciting season of packrafting? Whether you’re just getting into the sport or a seasoned veteran, building strength before your first trip is a great way to make the most of packrafting season. Practicing functional movements at home can build muscle memory in the pre-season, jump-starting your packrafting season for strong technique all summer long.

I’ve been packrafting Alaska rivers for years, and I’m also a fitness trainer. I’m excited to share these exercises that I know from personal experience will help you when you’re out on the water this summer.

Strength-Building Moves for Packrafting

First, a story: in the summer of 2018, my husband Luc & I were in the habit of doing a set of pushups every day. Then we left for a 10-day packrafting trip that started with 60 miles (97km) on the Yukon River. We knew that the Yukon moves at about six miles per hour...

The Source of Your Sore Hips During Backpacking

Hip soreness during and after a long day backpacking can be a real bummer! But it’s actually very common for backpackers to get sore hips. When we’re carrying our camping gear & food weight around for mile after mile in our backpacks, it puts a ton of stress on our hips.

With a heavy pack, the weight's got to go somewhere. In the process of trying to save our shoulders, we might be passing on the problem to our hips. Our hips, more than our shoulders, are designed to carry weight. But sometimes after long days, even our hips get tired, achy, and sore.

I've been personally having problems with sore hips after long backpacking days, so I mentioned the issue to my friend & Physical Therapist Shasta Hood. He suggested thinking about it as an IT band issue. When we tighten our backpack's hip belt, we're also pressing at the area that the IT band moves through. This can effectively shorten the IT band, which causes that...

Prevent Sore Hips from Backpacking 

After a challenging day of backpacking, many people experience soreness around their hips. While sore hips are an extremely common problem for hikers and backpackers, the pain can put a damper on the rest of the trip. Thankfully, there are solutions! Let’s talk about what causes sore hips, then we’ll break down what you can do about it.

Why do my hips hurt while backpacking?

Our hips are key for powering the action of walking. They propel our legs forward and keep us stable and balanced. When you spend a long day out walking in the mountains, that adds up to a lot of hip exertion.

But it’s not just the long days. Backpacking adds another key ingredient: weight. Most of us don’t carry around 20-30 extra lbs for hours (or days!) at a time, but that’s exactly how we’re spending our days out on the trails. Our hips have to work much harder to power us with that much extra weight.

 The position...

Are you able to use your outer glutes to stabilize your hips? 

Take this quick test to find out. 

The Tutu Test came together after one of this year's Ski Babes asked for some help identifying if she was using her outer glutes or not.

I had just taught a Halloween Ski Babes workout in costume (sweaty ballerina) and realized how helpful it was to be wearing a tutu when demonstrating proper hip alignment! 

And so the Tutu Test was born. :) 

The goal of the Tutu Test is to help you identify if your outer glutes are doing their part in stabilizing your hips.

And if they're not, I've got techniques in this video to help them pick up the slack. 

When you're able to activate your outer glutes, you take some of the load off your IT Bands (if you have a chronically tight IT band this might be part of what's happening). 

You'll also have better luck keeping your knees in alignment over your ankles, which is a huge part of helping prevent knee...

Pregnant folks, this one's for you~ 

Finding the right kinds of movement for your body as it adjust throughout pregnancy can be a moving target. That's why I recommend that all of my pregnant clients develop a daily mobility routine that feels good in their body and can act as a bit of a barometer to check-in with yourself. How are my hips today? Can I connect to my pelvic floor? Any new aches or pains? What's feeling good?

Notes about pelvic floor work: pregnancy is a beautiful opportunity to learn to contract & relax your pelvic floor muscles, though I'm a firm believer that there are huge benefits for everyone, especially women, in connecting with their pelvic floor. Pelvic floor work can help with anxiety (when we relax it, we send a relaxation signals through the whole nervous system), trauma recovery, insomnia, and digestive health, among other things.

Now that you're building a baby, though, it's extra important that you start solidifying your...

If you have tight hips, sore knees, stiff ankles, or an aching back, especially in the mornings, this video is for you! This is an easy sequence you can do to get the blood flowing, increase mobility, and let go of some of that morning stiffness that we so often start the day with. 

Best part? You don't even have to get out of bed to do it. Start your day by taking care of your knees, ankles, hips, and back... before you've even gotten out of bed. It's the gentlest, coziest self-care around. 

Enjoy!