KOKODA FIT, LOOSING A KILO PER DAY

By Imago Group - Jenny Muir
Wednesday 14 June, 2006

Sport Knowledge Australia completes first physical fitness study of Kokoda track walkers, ahead of more than 4,000 walkers booked for next year.

SYDNEY – "On the Kokoda track, where days stretch to between 7 – 11 hours of walking, the energy required for exercise averaged 4,200 kcal per day," reports Sport Knowledge Australia’s Director of Research – Professor Kevin Norton upon return from an 8-day walk of the infamous track.

To date there are more than 4,000 Australians expected to walk the Kokoda track in 2007, with more than 3,000 Australian walkers having attempted the extremely difficult 96 km trek this year.

Norton, one of Australia’s pre-eminent sport scientists set out with a team of South Australian ex-footballers to monitor the physical work required to walk the track. A trek which includes endurance of dense rainforest, boggy swamps, tall grassland, and rises to over 7,000 ft at its highest point.

"The harsh physical demands of the track were written about during times of war but have never been fully understood or quantified. As the popularity of Kokoda grows, it is important to understand the physical requirements and to take the opportunity to compare our individual physical fitness to those of our forefathers sixty years ago,: says Norton. In the weeks leading up to the ANZAC day walk the group participated in endurance training and underwent laboratory health and fitness tests. Each team member was given a heart rate monitor which they wore continuously on the expedition and with a full measurement calibrated on the final day.

"Extreme sport events conducted today are worthy comparisons. You require almost the same energy to walk Kokoda per day as riding the Tour-de France"

"The physical effort required on the Kokoda track results in burning off about a kg of fat every 2 days. Coupled with a loss of appetite, it is easy to see how each person could lose 5 kg over the 8 days of walking," says Norton.

Although the average energy use per day was 4,200 kcal on the Kokoda track, where days stretch to between 7 – 11 hours of walking, the energy required for exercise averaged 4,200 kcal per day. On the first day the energy used on the first day was almost 6,000 kcal per person! This is a massive rate of energy use and not much below the energy required by the Tour de France cyclists [about 6,000 kcal per day for 21 days]. To lose 1 kg of fat requires 9,000 kcal of energy use. For comparison, an intense 1-hr gym session would take between 400-600 kcal and about 150 kcal per day in physical activity is recommended for health benefits.

The preparation required by those considering the trek should not be underestimated. Very high levels of conditioning are required. In a group the week before our trek, 8 of 11 were evacuated out by helicopter as a consequence of poor preparation, low fitness and the resultant dehydration and extreme fatigue.

The x-factor that is immeasurable when walking Kokoda is the knowledge that previous generations of Australians had covered the same paths and many diggers had fought and died there that kept us going.

"Completing the Kokoda track was very satisfying. It was an extremely demanding walk both mentally and physically. The beautifully manicured and maintained Bomana cemetery in Port Moresby is the place where they now rest in peace and it was a moving experience to be there for the ANZAC day service," says Norton.