Muir and the Outdoors |Nature| Wildlife| Outdoor Professor

Hello, I'm the OUTDOOR PROFESSOR from DiscoveringTheOutdoors.com/ 

Here's your outdoor tip on who is John Muir.  And what does he have to do with the outdoors?

John Muir was one of the first advocates of the national park system.  He moved from Scotland to a Wisconsin farm in 1849.  His father forced him to memorize the Old and New Testament by age 11.  He studied botany and biology at the University of Wisconsin.  After being nearly blinded in a factory accident in 1867, he walked from Indiana to Florida making botanical sketches and then sailed to California followed by a walk from San Francisco to the Sierra Nevada’s.  During this time he made what he called an unconditional surrender to nature with a spiritual connection.  After working as a sheepherder, John took a job in the Yosemite Valley and roamed the area deciding that the valley had been carved by glaciers.

Muir wrote articles for magazines such as Overland Monthly, Scribner’s and Harper’s making him well-known in the United States.  After being in the orchard business in California, he traveled to Alaska’s Glacier Bay and Washington’s Mont Rainier bringing national attention to these places with his writing.  He championed protection of the Petrified Forest and the Grand Canyon in Arizona.  John became the advocate for setting aside the high country around Yosemite Valley as a national park in 1890 as well as for General Grant and Sequoia national parks.

John Muir felt he was a student of the University of the Wilderness and that Yosemite was his graduate course.  His one-room cabin made from pine and cedar was by Yosemite Creek with its water running under its floor.  Muir loved the sound of water and plants grew through the cabin’s floorboards.  He wove together two ferns forming an ornamental arch over his writing desk and he slept on sheepskin blankets over cedar branches.  He thought it was like living in a greenhouse with frogs chirping under the floor.

John Muir’s camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 is thought to have persuaded Roosevelt to provide federal protection for Yosemite National Park.  In his final crusade, he worked to prevent the city of San Francisco from building a dam and creating a reservoir in Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley.  Muir died a year later on Christmas Eve at age 76.  He was one of the founders and the first president of the Sierra Club. The club grew slowly, but steadily, with many tracing its success to Muir’s advice, “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.” Many see him as the father of the conservation movement.

So John Muir and the outdoors go hand in hand.

This is the OUTDOOR PROFESSOR from DiscoveringTheOutdoors.com/

Additional outdoor tips can be received by subscribing to the Outdoor Professor Tips on iTunes or Stitcher.  If you enjoy outdoor tips, you’ll also find an ebook at Amazon.com with a collection of the Outdoor Professor Tips.

 

References-Additional Reading

Biography
http://ecotopia.org/ecology-hall-of-fame/john-muir/biography/

The National Parks
http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/people/historical/muir/

John Muirs Yosemite
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/john-muirs-yosemite-10737/?no-ist

 

 

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Kayaking and Calories

Kayaking and Calories

Hello, I'm the OUTDOOR PROFESSOR from DiscoveringTheOutdoors.com/ 

Here's your outdoor tip on kayaking and calories.

Kayaking is great for connecting with nature.  You’ll see things you will never see hiking, biking, or riding in a car or train.  You can relax mentally on the water and at the same time physically challenge yourself.  And kayaking is a great way to lose weight.

If the call of the wild does not draw you to the nearest body of water, kayaking should with its unique upper body strength and aerobic workout that cannot be compared to any workout you can get at home or in the gym.  You stimulate your lower back and abdominal muscles as you work your upper back, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and forearms.

Just as biking and running are popular sports to burn calories, kayaking will burn calories and provides a unique way to have fun.  The American College of Sports Medicine says that enjoying an activity promotes exercise and the resulting weight loss.

According to the American Council on Exercise, a 125 lb person uses about 283 calories per hour while kayaking. A 200 lb. person burns about 454 calories since the heavier you are the more energy you expend when you exercise.  When you compare 1 hour of walking to 1 hour of kayaking, you’ll find the difference can be up to 50 calories or more.  So in regard to calories, an hour of paddling is about the equivalent of an hour and 20 minutes of walking. For example kayaking burns more calories per hour than cycling or running at 5.5 mph or less.  Playing softball only uses 283 calories per hour.  Kayaking at a moderate pace burns about the same calories per hour as easy swimming or slow jogging.  Hiking on varied terrain for an hour will push you nearly 150 calories higher than paddling for that hour invested, but you can also increase the intensity of your paddling to increase the calories burned.  Kayaking does not burn as many calories as cross-country skiing, but your heart gets a great workout and it's probably something you will really enjoy doing.

The numbers go on and on with the calculations and variables.  You can search the Internet for Web sites that provide you will calorie calculators for kayaking.  Many of them will provide you with a good estimate for your calorie burning based on your size and age.  I’ve listed several at the end of the transcript for this show.  For example, Fit Today (http://www.fitday.com/webfit/burned/calories_burned_Kayaking.html) asks you to put in your height, weight, sex, and age and you get an immediate number for calories burned.

Once you get on the water, you need to remember that it is not exercise burning calories if you stop every few minutes to watch the birds.  Paddling for pleasure and paddling for exercise can be different things.  Maintaining speed over a set duration of time is what rewards you by burning calories.  You need to also remember staying fit is not just about burning calories, but kayaking also will build muscles and improve your flexibility.

You can get great strength benefits and build your anaerobic capacity by doing interval training in a kayak—pushing hard for one minute, then relaxing for two to three minutes, then hitting it aggressively again. Athletes training for kayaking competition do a lot of intervals.

Richard Cotton, an executive wellness coach, says "Kayaking is an excellent cross-training modality, especially for runners, who often have great legs and wimpy arms." Oliver Fix, the 1996 Olympic men's kayak champion agrees saying that kayaking is a great alternative to conventional fitness training, which focuses mainly on the lower body. "For people with knee problems, kayaking takes an unhealthy stress off and allows them to challenge themselves and increase their fitness levels."

So what are the health benefits of kayaking?

·        Improve your flexibility

·        Develop your core strength

·        Strengthen your upper back, chest, shoulders and arms

·        Increase you endurance

·        And most important of all—enjoy your interactions with nature.

Before you purchase a kayak, it’s a good idea to check with an outfitter and rent the gear you need.  Personal preferences and the local water you will be paddling, can make a difference on the kayak and paddle you choose.  After you have some experience on the water, you’ll be able to buy the equipment that is right for you. And most important of all, have a good life vest that you can wear for safety while you are paddling.

Explore nature with a kayak and you will never want to stop exploring the outdoors with this close and personal form of exercise and adventure.

This is the OUTDOOR PROFESSOR from DiscoveringTheOutdoors.com/

Additional outdoor tips can be received by subscribing to the Outdoor Professor Tips on iTunes or Stitcher.  If you enjoy outdoor tips, you’ll also find an ebook at Amazon.com with a collection of the Outdoor Professor Tips.

 

References-Additional Reading

 

Calories Burned Per Hour of Kayaking
http://www.livestrong.com/article/306460-calories-burned-per-hour-of-kayaking/
Calories Burned from Kayaking-Calorie Calculator
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/exercise/calories-burned/kayaking-87
How many calories do you burn during kayaking? – Calculator
http://www.fitday.com/webfit/burned/calories_burned_Kayaking.html
Is kayaking a good way to lose weight?
http://www.kayakquixotica.com/2011/07/28/is-kayaking-a-good-way-to-lose-weight/
Give your legs a break…try kayaking
http://www.med.nyu.edu/content?ChunkIID=13804

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