I've been fighting some neck/shoulder issues after 20 years of working at a desk. All was good until this summer. Well, before then I had the odd tightness or discomfort, sometimes on the bike, but nothing that ever kept my attention.
I've made a lot of changes (desk, posture, stretching, icing, etc.) and have visited the physiotherapist and now a chiropractor. Despite a lot of 'work', the past few weeks I'm at a point where it's better than the worst it's been, but no where close to where I was a year or two ago. I now have really range of motion, so I'm not impeded in any way, but I find that any activities where I'm sitting, or using my arms a lot (or both -- cycling
) , leaves me with enough discomfort to take away from enjoying things. One hour rides have been fine. Much longer and I feel it. Trouble is when I'm more sore than normal the day or two after...can't be certain if it was the ride, or posture issues in the office.
Anyway...sorry for the rant, reason I'm posting here is I've never had any issues when walking/hiking. So as I continue to work through the neck issues, I have hiking and walking on the back of my mind as alternatives...hopefully not permanently. But that said, it's possible that my cycling might be limited going forward. Since having this neck problem, I've been doing some hikes, and a few walks. I like hiking. Walking around my neighbourhood isn't exciting. But if I could do no other exercise I would do it with a more positive attitude.
There are some great things about
hiking - still enough equipment needed that if you like buying things (I do...a bit), there is the equipment aspect to enjoy; I like photography and this fits well on many hikes; I like planning/maps and again this works with hiking trails; I love nature. There isn't much about hiking I don't like, but I like cycling about 5x better (the workout, the feel of being on the bike...you probably all know what I'm talking about). And you can plan the big hikes.
There are fewer things I like about
walking (I'm referring to tramping around paved paths, sidewalks around where I live) - so simple to get ready and start walking from your front door, little equipment needed, I feel great after. My main issue is that I crave fitness, and after a 1.5hr bike ride I feel like I've had a great workout, less so with a 1.5hr walk. In a similar vein, I have to spend more time walking to get an equal workout, and this becomes difficult on walks before work, or on evenings. I have a young family so time is precious.
I'm an easily motivated person when I read something...like people's blogs, books, or watch movies on the subject. There is a lot out there on hiking. But I haven't found much that interests me on walking...I would welcome your references!
Thanks for reading!