Training for hiking requires more than gym fitness. Learn the real physical demands hiking places on your body and why most workout plans fail on trail.
Same. Up feels honest, down feels like a prank. Scree fields make it worse because you can’t trust the surface, so your stabilizers are working overtime. I’ve found that keeping steps short, staying tall through the torso, and slowing the cadence helps a lot more than trying to “power through.”
Do you use poles on scree, and if so, do you plant them slightly ahead or more to the sides for stability?
What a great article!! I’m a midlifer with ankle injuries and knee pain but I love hiking! I just posted about how I went about my Moab trip all wrong and I’m going to be posting about some hikes I attempted that would’ve been impossible for me but for proper training! Thanks for the great content.
I must just naturally have all those things I guess. The last time I took off to Everest Base Camp for a 3 week hike, with a pack, we don't use porters, I did precisely zero training and neither did the kids. I was 50 and not partaking of gyms or anything sporting. But what we do, all the time, is walk. If I can save a bus fare by using my legs, I do. My husband isn't a fan of downhill and he's ultra fit, an ultramarathoner and Iron Man. The kids and I hop and skip down, he's not keen. I think it's down to his lack of flexibility and tight hamstrings. But that said, with all of the Himalayan altitude treks, you don't actually need to walk very far in any given day. Just a few Kms. I did once walk a full marathon overnight for charity. That hurt!
This is a great breakdown. The line about “gym confidence evaporating on the first real descent” hit hard - downhill eccentric work, pack fatigue, and uneven terrain are exactly where most plans fall apart. Love how you frame hiking as a durability sport, not a vibes-based cardio test. Super grounding and honestly motivating.
I love this! You articulate so well the real, un-talked-about demands of hiking. I'm a professional ballet dancer (and avid hiker, of course) and it's fascinating how the training overlaps.
Love this comparison! I’m curious what overlaps stand out most to you from the ballet side, especially around foot strength, balance under fatigue, or eccentric control.
Definitely balance under fatigue and the use of the feet. A big part of ballet training is grit—surviving long, tiring days without complaining. I think that aspect lends itself well to long hikes.
Love this! Hiking, especially with a pack, is unlike any other form of exercise. I’m from Florida and my hiking experience was limited to a few times a year in North Carolina - easy trails and not much elevation gain. Last summer my husband and I took a road trip starting in Colorado and ending in British Columbia. I was very much not in shape, but I wanted to hike big hikes so I did. The beginning was painful (especially on my 34 yr old knees.) By the end of our trip we were hiking 13+ miles a day, getting anywhere from 1500-4000 foot elevation gain/descent and even overnight backpacked a few times. It’s the most incredible feeling in the world. Getting emotional thinking about doing it again this summer lol. Thanks for the article.
Angie, this is exactly how it sneaks up on people. Your body adapted to the demands because you kept showing up. That knee pain at the beginning is such a common early signal, especially when descents and longer days stack before your tissues are ready.
The cool part is that you proved to yourself it’s trainable. If you do go for it again this summer, a little downhill-specific prep and some uneven-terrain work ahead of time will make the early days way less punishing. Thanks for sharing this, stories like yours are why I wanted to write the series!
This was such a great read!! I hike with 50+ lbs sometimes because I have a 8 month old in their Poco and a 4 year old who gets fatigued. I’m planning on hiking the “Great Gallery” in Canyonlands this spring and have been training. I’ll be implementing your tips! Thank you!
Hey Katelyn! I dig it: hiking with 50+ lbs and kids in tow is no joke. You just reminded me of a woman I met on the first day of the CT in Grand Canyon, she was toting her 3-month-old in the opposite direction before she stopped and shared with me that she had aspirations to complete the Colorado trail one day with her little boy. I'm rooting for her, nothing like ruck training with a baby on the same trail you intend to thru-hike to get you in tip top shape!
There is a book you may enjoy (I did) called "Uphill Both Ways" by Andrea Lani, a mother who brought her husband and three children on a thru-hike - talk about resilience and grit. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Glad the breakdown was useful, and Canyonlands in the spring is a great goal 🙌 Have an amazing trip and strong miles out there. (:
I’ve struggled with the gap between gym time and trail time, especially since we live in coastal SC and are often hiking in much higher elevation areas on our road trips. Even with all of the incline on the treadmill and training with weights, that on-site acclimatization is a workout unto itself!
Coastal SC to high elevation is a sneaky jump scare. Incline treadmill and strength work help, but you’re right, on-site acclimatization is its own workout. Two things that usually make the biggest difference are pacing the first 24 to 48 hours and accepting a lower “normal” effort even if your legs feel fine.
Curious, what’s your typical elevation jump on road trips, and do you get a full day there before your first big hike?
We're usually on 6-8 week road trips, so we are able to ease into the higher elevations over multiple days (or weeks) before we really start hitting the trail. That helps SO MUCH. There's still a transition phase as we get used to the elevation, even doing it slowly.
We did fly into Wyoming for a hiking road trip 2 years ago with only a day on the ground to acclimate, and that was rough. Elevation at my home is less than 200 feet above sea level, so jumping to 6200 feet above sea level in Jackson wasn't fun!
Additional response - I’ve found two things beyond trail fitness make a huge difference to the pain of descent - conscious foot placement, shorter steps and leg elevation breaks on descent. The load through your knees is often double that of ascending and that eccentric muscle contraction gets real.
Yes. Knees. Also yes to everything you said about descent mechanics. Shorter steps and intentional foot placement are basically free joint insurance, and eccentric control is the bill that always comes due.
Do you hike with poles on steep descents, or are you raw-dogging gravity? If you’ve got a favorite eccentric drill that helped you most, drop it.
Great info! I MUCH prefer uphill climbs over downhill…especially steep scree fields… I look forward to reading more.
Same. Up feels honest, down feels like a prank. Scree fields make it worse because you can’t trust the surface, so your stabilizers are working overtime. I’ve found that keeping steps short, staying tall through the torso, and slowing the cadence helps a lot more than trying to “power through.”
Do you use poles on scree, and if so, do you plant them slightly ahead or more to the sides for stability?
What a great article!! I’m a midlifer with ankle injuries and knee pain but I love hiking! I just posted about how I went about my Moab trip all wrong and I’m going to be posting about some hikes I attempted that would’ve been impossible for me but for proper training! Thanks for the great content.
I must just naturally have all those things I guess. The last time I took off to Everest Base Camp for a 3 week hike, with a pack, we don't use porters, I did precisely zero training and neither did the kids. I was 50 and not partaking of gyms or anything sporting. But what we do, all the time, is walk. If I can save a bus fare by using my legs, I do. My husband isn't a fan of downhill and he's ultra fit, an ultramarathoner and Iron Man. The kids and I hop and skip down, he's not keen. I think it's down to his lack of flexibility and tight hamstrings. But that said, with all of the Himalayan altitude treks, you don't actually need to walk very far in any given day. Just a few Kms. I did once walk a full marathon overnight for charity. That hurt!
loved this. thanks for the reminder!! the knee pain on the descent is so real.
This is a great breakdown. The line about “gym confidence evaporating on the first real descent” hit hard - downhill eccentric work, pack fatigue, and uneven terrain are exactly where most plans fall apart. Love how you frame hiking as a durability sport, not a vibes-based cardio test. Super grounding and honestly motivating.
I love this! You articulate so well the real, un-talked-about demands of hiking. I'm a professional ballet dancer (and avid hiker, of course) and it's fascinating how the training overlaps.
Love this comparison! I’m curious what overlaps stand out most to you from the ballet side, especially around foot strength, balance under fatigue, or eccentric control.
Definitely balance under fatigue and the use of the feet. A big part of ballet training is grit—surviving long, tiring days without complaining. I think that aspect lends itself well to long hikes.
Love this! Hiking, especially with a pack, is unlike any other form of exercise. I’m from Florida and my hiking experience was limited to a few times a year in North Carolina - easy trails and not much elevation gain. Last summer my husband and I took a road trip starting in Colorado and ending in British Columbia. I was very much not in shape, but I wanted to hike big hikes so I did. The beginning was painful (especially on my 34 yr old knees.) By the end of our trip we were hiking 13+ miles a day, getting anywhere from 1500-4000 foot elevation gain/descent and even overnight backpacked a few times. It’s the most incredible feeling in the world. Getting emotional thinking about doing it again this summer lol. Thanks for the article.
Angie, this is exactly how it sneaks up on people. Your body adapted to the demands because you kept showing up. That knee pain at the beginning is such a common early signal, especially when descents and longer days stack before your tissues are ready.
The cool part is that you proved to yourself it’s trainable. If you do go for it again this summer, a little downhill-specific prep and some uneven-terrain work ahead of time will make the early days way less punishing. Thanks for sharing this, stories like yours are why I wanted to write the series!
Absolutely, I will definitely use your tips to try and prepare more before next time! Thank you 😊
This was such a great read!! I hike with 50+ lbs sometimes because I have a 8 month old in their Poco and a 4 year old who gets fatigued. I’m planning on hiking the “Great Gallery” in Canyonlands this spring and have been training. I’ll be implementing your tips! Thank you!
Hey Katelyn! I dig it: hiking with 50+ lbs and kids in tow is no joke. You just reminded me of a woman I met on the first day of the CT in Grand Canyon, she was toting her 3-month-old in the opposite direction before she stopped and shared with me that she had aspirations to complete the Colorado trail one day with her little boy. I'm rooting for her, nothing like ruck training with a baby on the same trail you intend to thru-hike to get you in tip top shape!
There is a book you may enjoy (I did) called "Uphill Both Ways" by Andrea Lani, a mother who brought her husband and three children on a thru-hike - talk about resilience and grit. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Glad the breakdown was useful, and Canyonlands in the spring is a great goal 🙌 Have an amazing trip and strong miles out there. (:
Ahh that’s incredible. Thank you so much for the book recommendation!
I’ve struggled with the gap between gym time and trail time, especially since we live in coastal SC and are often hiking in much higher elevation areas on our road trips. Even with all of the incline on the treadmill and training with weights, that on-site acclimatization is a workout unto itself!
Coastal SC to high elevation is a sneaky jump scare. Incline treadmill and strength work help, but you’re right, on-site acclimatization is its own workout. Two things that usually make the biggest difference are pacing the first 24 to 48 hours and accepting a lower “normal” effort even if your legs feel fine.
Curious, what’s your typical elevation jump on road trips, and do you get a full day there before your first big hike?
We're usually on 6-8 week road trips, so we are able to ease into the higher elevations over multiple days (or weeks) before we really start hitting the trail. That helps SO MUCH. There's still a transition phase as we get used to the elevation, even doing it slowly.
We did fly into Wyoming for a hiking road trip 2 years ago with only a day on the ground to acclimate, and that was rough. Elevation at my home is less than 200 feet above sea level, so jumping to 6200 feet above sea level in Jackson wasn't fun!
Very helpful and also proved a point to my gym rat bf, thanks 😎
One word response - Knees! 😂
Additional response - I’ve found two things beyond trail fitness make a huge difference to the pain of descent - conscious foot placement, shorter steps and leg elevation breaks on descent. The load through your knees is often double that of ascending and that eccentric muscle contraction gets real.
Yes. Knees. Also yes to everything you said about descent mechanics. Shorter steps and intentional foot placement are basically free joint insurance, and eccentric control is the bill that always comes due.
Do you hike with poles on steep descents, or are you raw-dogging gravity? If you’ve got a favorite eccentric drill that helped you most, drop it.
Oh, this is so true...
And I learned these lessons the hard way at during our three week hike in the French Pyrenees, about 30 years ago...
I'll never forget that last day...
Too heavy a backpack full of stuff we didn't use, a daylong steep descend... And my knees protesting loud and angry..
(And back then, hiking poles where something you never saw, or maybe only used by people over 70 years old.)
This is a fantastic article, thank you for writing.
I'm doing a thru-hike of the Benton MacKaye Trail in 11 weeks and the John Muir Trail this fall (hopefully).
Great to hear other perspectives as I am putting together training plans to prep for these trips!
You don't train for hiking. That's ridiculous. You hike. We've been training for it since before humans existed