This is a reasonably easy hike, with lots of level trail, starting from Linden VA, where the Appalachian Trail crosses Route 55. Just enough uphill and downhill to make it interesting.
There’s nothing in the way of views. Just a lot of close-in woodland scenery. Perhaps the outstanding characteristic of this hike is the pervasive scent of honeysuckle.
Above, that used to be an overlook. The trees have grown up, blocking what used to be the view. So now it’s just a nice place to eat lunch.
(Edit: Seasonal Tick Danger. Some time after this photo, I flicked a dog tick off my clothing, picked up what was left of my lunch, and split. Until that time, though, this was an idyllic, off-the-trail spot for lunch.) The Tradition I was Taught holds that Ticks and Mosquitoes appear in June. We get ’em two weeks early now, thanks to climate change. Plan accordingly.
Some sections of trail were more-or-less running streams, despite the last rain having been days ago. Glad my boots were waterproof.
But mostly, this was just a pleasant walk in the woods.
There was one hard stream crossing. Big creek, many fallen trees. It took a while. But not a stopper.
Collagen peptides for post-exercise recovery: A winner.
I did this hike in two days, Sunday and Monday. Roughly 2.5 hours of hiking Sunday, and 5 hours Monday. I hiked part of the route round-trip, went home, and hiked the rest of it round-trip, the next day.
Two weeks ago, that would have been unthinkable, for the simple reason that my hips and knees would have been too sore after the first day of hiking. They were too sore for walking around the house, for the next several days after a hike. I could not imagine going back on the trail.
Two weeks ago, I began eating an ounce a day of hydrolyzed collagen peptides. That, after briefly reviewing the research literature on joint supplements.
Joint tissues (ligaments, tendons, cartilage) are primarily made of collagen. The idea was that by eating collagen protein in bulk, I’d provide myself with the right amino-acid building blocks for collagen, in abundance. And that, eventually, that should help my joints.
This is not a huge dose of this protein-derived material. This is about as much collagen as you’d find in a pound of steak (figuring that beef muscle tissue is about 6% collagen). Or maybe a half-gallon of Jell-O. So, chemically, this is providing collagen amino acids at about the same rate as eating a pound of beef a day.
But this dose underscores how small the typical recommended dose for joint supplements is. This ounce-a-day of protein powder is maybe 10 times the total protein found in a large chondroitin joint supplement pill.
I had no idea that a collagen-based supplement of this sort would help right away. That is, help with acute post-exercise recovery. There seems to be nothing in either the medical literature or the popular literature to suggest that this should occur.
But I swear it’s true. FWIW. I went from three days’ recovery for my last hike, prior to starting collagen supplements. To now being able to hike on two successive days.
In any case, I went from a diet that was deficient in some of the key amino acids needed for collagen (e.g., glycine), to one that has an abundant supply of the right amino acids. At that time, I went from taking three days to recover from a hike, to recovering overnight. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
I have no idea whether this ounce of protein powder will produce some long-run improvement in my joints. But it hardly matters. The short-run improvement has been so marked that I’m already sold on the concept. I may reduce the dose, over time, but this is now part of my daily routine.
Conclusion: A theory on why this has been so outstandingly effective.
Old people tend to lose muscle mass as they age. As a result, ways to build muscle mass in the elderly have been studied extensively. That body of research shows that protein supplements do not build muscle mass unless you also lift weights (or otherwise do “resistance training”). If you take protein supplements, and don’t do weight training, the effect on your muscle mass is nil (or close enough to it).
I bet the same thing applies to protein supplements for your joints. I’ll bet that this combination of protein supplement and intense, prolonged exercise is exactly what my joints need. And that, as with protein supplements for muscle mass, it’s the combination of the physical stress and the dietary supplement that gives results.
Merely popping a handful of chondroitin pills, daily, would not result in anything like the improvement in recovery time that I’ve seen so far. It’s the protein supplement, plus the stress, that is generating these results.
Addendum, early the next morning, my feet are sore, but my leg joints are essentially back to baseline. The exercise-induces soreness in hips and knees is gone, for want of a better word. In addition, maybe some long-standing knee tendon soreness has been resolved. But, for sure, this won’t cure everything. A long-standing hip problem seems completely unphased by the amino-acid onslaught.
So it’s not a miracle-in-a-bottle. I’ll settle for half-a-miracle.
Long term, I never would have guessed that the amino-acid-mix of your proteins could affect joint repair this much. There’s no question that this now becomes part of my diet. But an ounce a day of this stuff is too much. What’s the right maintenance dose? I’m guessing one-third of that, or about as much protein as you’d get in a couple of those chondroitin-supplement horse-pills.
