Training for hiking: 7 ways to get in shape for your next hike
Hiking is not a leisurely walk in your local park — it’s a full-body workout. As such, you’ll need to make sure you’re in good shape before you hit the ground running on your next hiking trail.
While flat and easy hikes do exist, the truth is that most trails, especially the more interesting ones with better views, will involve uneven surfaces and considerable elevation gain/loss.
It is therefore important to build up strength, balance, and endurance to prevent any injuries. We’ll look at how exactly you can do that in seven easy ways.
The best part? You don’t have to go out of your way to make it happen. Use your local gym, park, or even your apartment as a place to exercise and you’ll be ready to set off on your first hike in no time.
With a bit of training, you can be enjoying trails like this one!
#1 Build up strength
Strong muscles can not only help you hike longer and harder, but are also crucial to preventing common hiking injuries, such as ankle sprains or knee pain. The trick is to strengthen your muscles through their full extension.
Hiking especially involves a lot of leg work. Leg exercises to incorporate into your workout routine include for example: squats, jump squats, step-ups, lunges, glute bridges, hamstring curls, and calf raises.
You also want to pay attention to hip, knee, and ankle stability. A balancing disk is a nice tool to use for working those stabiliser muscles.
While your legs do most of the heavy lifting when you’re hiking, upper body strength is something you shouldn’t overlook — especially when you’re planning to carry a heavier backpack.
Choose exercises that will work your shoulders, upper back, and lower back, including for example shoulder presses and push-ups.
Last but not least, you’ll want a lot of core strength. This one we’ll dive into in a bit.
#2 Increase endurance
While building muscle strength is crucial, you also need to think about endurance. After all, hikers often spend hours on the trail.
Muscle endurance basically refers to how long your muscles can perform repeated contractions before they get fatigued. In other words, it’s the ability of your muscles to work for a long time.
Endurance is all about reps. You wanna focus on one group of muscles and push that group to work more and harder than it normally does in your daily life.
Endurance is crucial for long distance hikes
Don’t forget about your upper body
Decide how many times you want to perform a certain move or exercise. Then, the next time you do this, increase the number of reps or add some weights or resistance bands. You want to challenge yourself but not to the point of injury, so always listen to your body.
You can use the same or similar exercises as you would for building up muscle strength. Just remember to warm up before you start exercising and stretch after you’re done to prevent injuries.
#3 Enhance balance
Having good balance as a hiker is not only important to safely walk on uneven surfaces but also to support you when carrying a heavy backpack.
A surefire way to improve your balance is to strengthen and condition your core muscles. Aside from being a necessity for a good and enjoyable hike, core strength can also improve your posture and reduce back pain — a win-win-win kinda situation.
Exercises to add to your routine include but are not limited to crunches, plank variations, Russian twists, or flutter kicks.
You can look up all of these online or ask at your gym if you need help. There are also plenty of workout apps and workout videos online that focus on specific muscle groups, from abs, to arms, and legs.
The trick is to try out a couple of different things and see what you enjoy the most so you can better structure your workout routine.
#4 Improve cardio
Aerobic exercise, or cardio, improves heart health and increases stamina — something you definitely need when you’re hiking all day long. At the same time, it can increase the maximum amount of oxygen your body can absorb during physical exertion.
Some activities to consider include running, cycling, and swimming. These are typically low-intensity steady state (LISS) activities that you can perform for longer periods, between 45 and 60 minutes.
You can do each of those on different days or — even better — switch them up in a single workout. For example, you can go for a run, take a little break, and then hop on your bike.
It’s also good to add some variation between LISS cardio and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). The nice thing about HIIT is that muscle strengthening exercises are often incorporated into the workout.
#5 Build it up gradually
When training for hiking, you obviously don’t want to go from zero to exercising two hours a day every day. If you’ve been leading a mostly sedentary lifestyle lately, just build things up slowly.
Start by building a little bit of muscle strength and going on strolls and walks a few times a week. As you get used to it, increase your walking speed to get your heart rate up, and try to keep it up for at least half an hour. Add a backpack so that your shoulders and back can get used to the weight.
Once you feel comfortable with brisk walks, start adding more intense muscle strengthening and building exercises to your routine, and incorporate other cardio activities.
#6 Make a plan and stick to it
It’s very easy to get this initial kick of motivation, get super excited, and pack your week with exercises. But oftentimes, life gets in the way. You skip a workout here and there only to later realise that you haven’t done anything in weeks.
Here are a couple of ways you can combat that:
Set a goal: this can be a particular hike with stunning views that you really want to complete. Having the goal in mind can help you keep motivated throughout the whole process.
Find an accountability partner(s). Someone who will go running with you or join your gym sessions. Better yet, join group classes that take place every week at the same time and commit to them.
Find activities you genuinely enjoy — and switch them up. You will hardly find a person who likes to do the exact same exercise every day of the week for weeks. Introduce variation to your routine.
If your goal is to tackle a long-distance hike, create a workout plan at least three to six months in advance. Are you a complete newbie? Take even longer!
For shorter and easier hikes, start training at least a month in advance.
Setting goals can help you stick to your training routine — and prep you for the best hikes
Now, how exactly should you structure your routine? You can for example decide that you’ll dedicate two days a week to muscle strengthening and endurance and three days to low-intensity cardio.
You can also have focus weeks or focus periods. For a hiking training plan of two months, use the first weeks to build strength. About a third in, add a low-intensity cardio once or twice a week. In the last weeks, increase the intensity of your workouts and add HIIT once a week.
The variation and options are endless, so experiment and figure out what works best for you and — just as importantly — gives you the most joy from keeping active.
#7 Keep it fun — and don’t stress too much about it
The most important thing with any fitness activity, including those you do to train for hiking, is that while it challenges your body, it should also be enjoyable to do.
Some people dread the idea of running and for others, the thought of being a sweaty gym crammed with tens of other people makes their stomach turn. That’s okay. The important thing is that you find something that works for you — and keep moving.
If you don’t like running or the gym, find other activities that build up muscle strength and endurance and improve your cardio. Some examples include dancing, pole dance, aerial hoop, or yoga and pilates.
If it’s just the people around you at a gym that make you feel self-conscious, try working out at home. There are hundreds and hundreds of videos on YouTube to take you through all kinds of exercises.
Hiking leads to some unforgettable moments —
and unforgettable views
For my first big hiking trips, the preparation I had was dancing salsa for about four to six hours a week, frequent walks, and occasional runs in the months leading up to the trip. You would not see me in the gym.
Struggling to find the motivation to exercise on your own? Get your friends and family involved! Try out new activities together such as Nordic walking, climbing, tennis, or team sports like volleyball.
Last but not least, know that while most of us certainly can improve our strength, cardio, and flexibility, the process and its length will be different for everyone.
Perhaps aerobic exercise comes easily to you but you struggle with weights. For your friend, it’s the exact opposite. Don’t stress too much about this. Simply use the information to get to know your body better and put extra effort into the things you’re finding more difficult.
Views like this one will be a well-deserved reward for your efforts
Training for a hiking trip boils down to four key things: strength, endurance, balance, and cardio. There are many ways to build up each and every one of them so get creative!
After all, the most important thing when getting in shape is to keep things varied and interesting. That way, your motivation will stay for months to come.
What activities have you tried to get in shape for hiking? Let me know in the comments!