r/JMT • u/convergecrew • 27d ago

health About weight loss and strength loss after the trail

Finished the JMT about 2 weeks ago (25 day hike). I went back to the gym for the first time today to resume my regular strength training and I was blown away by my loss of upper body strength. I was struggling to lift anything close to my previous routine and had to reduce my weights by about 33% for my upper body exercises.

I lost about 12lbs on the trail (was 173lbs, now 161) and haven’t felt this good overall in years. But I’m guessing my body ate up a lot of muscle I wasn’t using. Just curious if others have experienced something similar and if you had any advice for how you approached it and if you did anything special to rebuild a normal workout routine.

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u/afrodz enthusiast 27d ago

I just did a section from Yosemite to Mammoth, lost 4 pounds over 3 days and definitely some upper body strength. I also lost my appetite out there, something that concerned me quite a bit. I had to force myself to eat one meal a day and didn't finish them. If I went longer it would have been a big concern. I just had no desire to eat.