2024-07-06 05:13:27
“I had a re-examination that showed high blood sugar levels during a health checkup. I was a doctor, but I wasn’t doing the most basic thing. When people get health checkups, they ask how many times a week they exercise to the point of sweating. I wasn’t doing that. So I started hiking right away.”
Professor Lee Beom-gu (70), an orthopedic surgeon at Gil Hospital, Gachon University, started hiking in 2019. The easiest exercise he could do while working at the hospital during the week was hiking. He climbed mountains every weekend. He also climbed the 100 most famous mountains in Korea in 2022. He still climbs mountains without fail on weekends.
“I used to go hiking occasionally, although not regularly. It was nice to be able to climb mountains with good air and beautiful scenery while exercising. I started hiking right away. At first, I climbed Gwanaksan, Bukaksan, and Bukhansan in the metropolitan area. Then, I learned how to hike from Gil Hospital Mountaineering Team Leader Lee Rae-seong, and we also climbed one of the 100 famous mountains. Last week, I went to Bangtaesan (Inje, Gangwon-do).”
There are many opportunities to climb famous mountains around the country. In the case of Jirisan, you can take a bus from Dong Seoul Terminal at midnight, start climbing the mountain a little after 4 am, and return by bus in the late afternoon after descending. Those who are confident in their physical strength can even climb Cheonwangbong. There are many mountaineering clubs that charter a bus after deciding on a mountain to climb and provide the remaining seats to non-members for a fee. If you put your mind to it, you can climb famous mountains around the country in a day without using your own car. Professor Lee said, “Local governments have well-maintained hiking trails, so you can easily climb up and down.”
“I sometimes take the bus or KTX, but I often use my own car. It’s a bit inconvenient to get to the location and then transfer to a bus or taxi. Of course, I take the bus when I get off the bus and go hiking right away.”
He has improved his physical strength through mountaineering and has gone trekking in the Himalayas, Kilimanjaro, and the Northern Alps. He can easily hike for 6 to 7 hours. Mountaineering has given him many benefits.
“My blood sugar level has returned to normal, and most importantly, my vascular age has been shown to be 5-6 years younger during my annual health checkup. And as my physical strength has improved, I can focus more on the surgery. It’s hard to climb a mountain, but when I reach the top and come back down, I feel a sense of accomplishment similar to when I successfully completed a patient’s surgery.”
Can you get healthy just by hiking on the weekend? According to a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), even ‘weekend warriors’ (people who do intense exercise on the weekends) can maintain their health and prevent various diseases if they follow the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO recommends 75 to 150 minutes of intense exercise or 150 to 300 minutes of moderate exercise per week. Vigorous exercise includes swimming, running, tennis singles, aerobic dancing, and cycling at a speed of 16 km/h or more. Moderate exercise includes walking at a speed of 4.8 km/h, cycling at a speed of 16 km/h or less, and tennis doubles.
According to the health rankings of the United States, a ‘sports paradise’, only 23% of people exercise according to the WHO standards. This means that it is not easy to maintain health through exercise. In Korea, there are many people who only go hiking on weekends. In particular, it is not easy for office workers to exercise every day, so they often use the weekends to climb mountains. Hiking does not end in 1 or 2 hours. It usually takes 4 to 6 hours. This is more than 240 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise with ups and downs. In Korea, there are many people who go hiking because they can stay healthy just by hiking on weekends.
Climbing a mountain while breathing in the fresh air and looking at the trees, forests, rocks, and streams is enjoyable in itself. Professor Lee said, “Honestly, it’s hard to climb a steep mountain. However, when you stand at the top, the view is completely different from what you see at the bottom of the mountain. The stress just goes away.” He said, “All the famous mountains in the country are great, but there are mountains that I’m drawn to depending on the season. In the summer, Daeyasan, Gariwangsan, and Bangtaesan, which have nice valleys, are good. In the winter, Hallasan and Seoraksan are fantastic snow-capped mountains. Namdeokyusan is also good.”
Professor Lee, who started hiking relatively late, prepared thoroughly for any eventuality. Hiking, which requires climbing for at least 4 hours and up to 7-8 hours, requires thorough preparation to prevent injuries and save lives. He said, “After preparing basic equipment such as hiking boots, a backpack, and sticks, I check in advance which mountain and which course I will go to, how long the hiking will take, and what to wear based on the weather on the day. I also use hiking apps that provide various information. The results of a surgery depend on how much the doctor prepares before the surgery. Hiking is the same.” He explained, “Hiking itself is an aerobic exercise that helps prevent dementia, but you have to use your brain a lot to prepare for hiking, which also helps prevent dementia.” Professor Lee emphasized, “Hiking is good for your body, but there are many things to be careful of.”
“When descending, you must be careful because the load is 5 to 6 times your body weight. It can strain your knees and ankles. Especially when you start climbing when you are older, you must be more careful because the muscles in your joints have decreased. You should start with low mountains and build up your lower body muscles before challenging high mountains.”
The professor said that the speed of going up and down the mountain is the most important. He said, “When you are climbing, if someone overtakes you from behind, you may feel competitive and go faster, but that is absolutely not necessary. Just climb slowly at your own pace and enjoy the scenery. If you get tired, you should take a break.” If you use hiking sticks well, you can reduce the load on your lower body by 20-30%. Also, using sticks helps build upper body muscles and maintain a harmonious body shape.
There is a sport called Nordic walking that uses sticks (poles). Nordic walking is a walking method inspired by Nordic skiing, and is also called ‘pole walking’. Nordic skiing, which developed in the Scandinavian countries of Northern Europe, which mostly have low hills and flatlands, is divided into distance races where you complete a long course across flatlands and hills, and Nordic walking is a development of walking on flatlands and hills. Since you walk using poles, your posture improves, and since you use the muscles of your entire body, the amount of exercise is doubled. When you walk, your thighs and calves move, but if you hold the poles and push while walking, not only your arms and shoulder muscles, but also the large muscles of your upper body such as the pectoralis major, scapulae, latissimus dorsi, and erector spinae are used. Professor Lee said, “After I started using the sticks properly, my upper body muscles improved during a health checkup.”
The professor recommends hiking unless you have severe arthritis. He said, “Hiking will greatly improve your thigh muscles. If your muscles are strong, you can prevent arthritis, and even if you do have arthritis, it will be less painful.”
This professor prefers to hike alone whenever possible.
“When we do it together, we often get flustered because we can’t keep up with each other’s pace. We can’t rest when we want to… One time, I was hiking with friends when one of my friends suddenly said that he had chest tightness and had to go down. We were both flustered. In the past, we were supposed to go together in groups of a few people in case of an accident, but now, mountain rescue teams are well-equipped, and especially, hiking apps take responsibility for safety, so there’s no great difficulty in hiking alone.”
This professor walks more than 15,000 steps every day. After work, he walks for 1~2 hours in the Hangang Park near his home in Seoul (Yongsan). He also uses the subway to commute to and from the hospital (Namdong-gu, Incheon). He said, “I can reduce the time wasted in traffic during rush hour, and I walk more if I take the subway.” It is a lifestyle habit that naturally developed as he became healthier through hiking.
Reporter Yang Jong-gu [email protected]
2024-07-06 05:13:27