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Where fitness and outdoors meet. In this space we chat all things hiking, exercise, wellness, adventure, motherhood, and metabolic health from a female perspective! Get ready to learn + be inspired to live your fullest, most adventurous life!
How to Train for a Big Hiking Trek: Your 6-Month Strength Training Plan
Hi, my name is Brady and I'm a long time fitness professional and Midwest girl turned mountain living
hiking addict. In combining my knowledge of fitness and passion for hiking, I've helped hundreds of
women get lean and strong for the trails. Think of this as your one stop shop for both education and
inspiration on all things female wellness, trail talk and adventure. Hiking, female metabolism,
motherhood, nutrition, travel and fitness are all topics you'll hear discussed here. If you are outdoorsy and
active, looking to level up your health, unlock your potential and become inspired to live your most
vibrant life. You're in the right place. You're listening to the fit for hiking podcast. What's up everybody?
Welcome back to the show. My name is Brady. I'm your host. Um, right now in real time here in
Colorado, the fall leaves are officially falling away and it is starting to feel quite chilly. So it kind of the
end of our beautiful yellow golden fall. And we're heading into winter, which always kind of bums me
out because obviously as a big hiker I am a summer and fall girly. I don't quite enjoy the winter sports as
much. Um, so yeah, summer and fall are my jam. However, as we get into this topic today, I feel like it's
important to mention that your hiking. Stamina and strength is built in the winter and in the spring. Okay,
so if you were wanting to feel really fabulous next year, if you're already starting to plan some big tracks
and bucket list adventures, whatever that looks like. Or you're just wanting to get in your best possible
shape, stronger, better physique, and you're not even sure if you're doing any big hike. But overall, you
just want to start next summer feeling confident. That starts now. Okay, we don't want to wait. All too
often. I have, um, you know, ladies that I talked to about entering the program and they're like, yeah, I
have a big hike, you know, in three weeks or next month, or I want to feel amazing for my wedding in six
weeks. And yes, some time is better than nothing. But we really need that winter arc. Okay, so now is the
time to lock in, buckle down and let's start getting strong. Let's focus on our training now. So that leads
me into our topic today, which is how to train for a big hiking track and kind of what a six month
snapshot would look like, just to really break it down and give you a tangible look at how do I actually
do this, how do I implement this in my own life if I want to start planning something big? And again, this
does not have to be like I'm planning to do, you know? A massive through hike or Machu Picchu or
anything like that. This could even just be. Hey, I want to feel stronger on just random day hikes that I go
on. I want to show up and feel confident that I can keep up with the group that I'm going with, that I can
go with my significant other, and I'm not going to be exhausted and cramping in the back the whole time,
because there's a massive difference between showing up for a hike and being able to kind of muscle
your way through it and white knuckle your way through the experience and kind of feel low key
miserable versus actually showing up and feeling good the whole time. Not having knee pain on the way
down, feeling good the next day, and having the energy to just say yes to a random like ten mile day. I
can not question your fitness level or where you're at. So that's what we're going to be talking about
today. How do you prepare for that? And what does this process look like of really getting in hiking
shape and feeling confident heading to big? Okay, so I want to kind of go over what this conversation is
going to look like today. Um, because a lot of times people will think, well, I can just walk. I'll just start
walking more. I'll just start hiking more. I'll just start doing the StairMaster. And yes, that is a great
aerobic foundation, but that is not going to prepare you at all for what is going to occur in your body
from a joint standpoint and the strength, the muscle, the muscular endurance you need and the, uh,
preparation for your joints being able to handle the load and the impact going downhill. Okay. So yes,
those things can be great to prepare you for the uphill, but we also need to think about the downhill. So
we're going to talk about a lot about why strength training is so important uh in this process. So let's get
into it. So you don't have to discover if your body is ready while you are mid. All right. So why is
strength training so important? It's really, truly a critical part of the preparation. And now that we work
with hundreds of women in mountain metabolic coaching, so many of them have come back to me and
said that exact thing. They're like, oh my gosh, I used to think I was like, okay, on hikes and now I know
the difference because I'm not in pain anymore. Like, I felt so much more prepared because of the
strength aspects I had. The muscle and my joints were prepared. So let's talk about what that looks like.
Why is strength training even important? One obviously stronger legs for high gain your quads glutes
have. They're going to be the thing that helps power you up steep inclines. Big massive. You know,
stepping over boulders, um, climbing, handling, sustained elevation gain, these types of things. So you
cannot do this if you have no muscle in your lower body. So that is going to be important. Better control
on the downhill. This is often overlooked. We always just think about uphill being very hard. But what
gives you a lot more wear and tear on your joints is actually also demanding. So going down the
descending demands a lot more eccentric strength. So being able to handle that lowering phase and not
just kind of falling into it where it's really jolting on your joints, and then you think about doing that, you
know, step after step, mile after mile. That's a lot of demand on. So the ability to control your body as the
muscles lengthen is something that you get through practice through training. Okay. So your quads and
glutes are going to work hard to manage each step. You want to make sure that the muscles around your
are strong enough to handle the downhill. Carrying a heavy pack. This is something that also often gets
overlooked because you do like random day hikes or things like that with your day pack, but that is quite
different than if you're doing a long trek and you're having to carry all your water, your food, your
clothes, your tent, your bed for the night. All of that stuff is going to really add up and can be anywhere
from 30 to £50, depending on how lightweight your gear is, how good you are at packing and eliminating
the heavier items. So you need strong hip legs, back and forward to help you manage that added load and
not training appropriately. What is going to leave you in a world of hurt if you just jump right into a
multi-day trek? Even if it's just two days and you have not really built up strong musculature, especially
around your posterior. So the backside of the body, which is often weaker anyways, because we're
always sitting in such a forward position and a lot of people neglect the backside with training and only
training or mirror muscles, meaning like quad chest biceps like that. Also stability and resilience. Single
leg strength, balance and controlled movements help you navigate and train and respond to unexpected
foot placements, which is always happening while we're okay. So you're really going to be focusing on a
couple different areas of strength. So you're hypertrophy. So that's like muscle building, brain strength
power. So that's a different like rep range than hypertrophy and then muscular endurance. So these are all
kind of different areas. And this is where it can feel a little daunting. If you're not super familiar with
how to put together a program like that. So this is where working with a qualified coach who knows their
stuff and knows how to prepare you for the trails, and how to put together a comprehensive program,
make a big difference. Fitness classes alone also are not going to really cut it because they're not
strategic. They don't have your hiking goals in mind, and they also can't really provide progressive
overload, which is necessary if you're wanting to really build muscle and actually build strength
necessary for that. There's just a random it's always a different person, right? It's not going to be strategic
enough to actually progress you forward from a body composition or strength training perspective. And I
love classes. I used to run a group studio for years and years and I loved it, loved the environment and
energy was so fun. But I also had like my worst physique when I worked there. And it wasn't until I
switched to a more personalized and progressive program that I shed the fat. I actually saw a result that
really strong and my. So just something to consider. And constantly doing cardio without the strength
side of things is going to leave really important gaps in your preparation. Like, you might feel really good
when you're going uphill from an aerobic standpoint, but your body feels that way, and especially as you
do start to get into your 30s and beyond, that's just the reality of it. We need to maintain our muscle mass,
because if we're not putting our muscles and joints under load progressively into our 30s and beyond,
you're losing muscle every year. You just are like swimming. Biking and walking is not going to be
enough. Um, okay. So remember, the goal is not to just finish the hike. You actually want to enjoy it and
feel good during and after from a pain management perspective. Um, so let's walk through what a six
month progression would kind of look like and what the timeline looked like in within this framework.
Beginners might need a little longer okay. So just keep that in mind if you like, never worked out in your
life, um, or it's been a decade or something like that since you've done any sort of consistent workout.
And I'm not talking about like one bike ride or one workout class every few months. I'm talking like, you
really haven't done anything consistent in the last few years. You might want to give yourself more time
for this. You're looking at next summer. I would start now. Okay, give yourself a good nine months
versus putting it off and putting it off. Um, but if you are already working out a couple days a week, you
can kind of switch your focus to really be more hiking. Centered and follow up protocols similar to what
we do in mountain metabolic coaching. Give yourself six months. And this is kind of the framework that
I would follow. So first two months you're going to be focusing on building your strength foundation.
You don't want to jump straight into the deep end. You want to really start with a solid foundation. So
focus on learning movement patterns, developing full body strength protocol and building a consistent
with that. So what this looks like is you're going to be training 2 to 3 days per week. And I'm talking
every week. Right okay. So I'm not saying one week a month I'm not saying one. You have nothing else
going on. I think we have lost the ability to be honest with ourselves about how consistent we're being.
So this is where, again, working with a coach will be very eye opening. How consistent? How client are
you actually to the program? Are you expecting A-plus results when you're giving like a D level
consistency? Okay, so little side tangent there. But you got to be with this stuff. So 2 to 3 times per week.
And then walking at least 3 to 4 times per week at a manageable pace. And really starting to kind of push
yourself on the pace, you know, especially after you get into like month two. And when I say walking 3
to 4 times a week a week, I would say, you know, 30 days, 30 to 60 minute walk and really getting that
as a part of your day to day. If you can do shorter walks on a daily basis seven days a week, that's great.
But making walking an integral part of your week and not getting those walks because they actually do
really go a long way. So some of the movements you're going to want to implement are things like.
What's up, bluegrass rose? Half phrases and then four exercises. Also, if you need to address any sort of
ankle, hip or thoracic mobility, that's something that you're going to want to look at as well. So the goal
here is to build a strong foundation without it feeling too overwhelming. If it feels overwhelming or not
realistic, then you're not going to do it. And so that's a big part of how we get people into the program is
we're not going to throw a million things at you, like we're actually going to start really slow, and
sometimes it almost feels like you're not doing enough. But the the goal is that you are actually able to do
that on a weekly basis. And that matters so much more than like a million things right out of the gate,
burning out and only being able to do it for you. So focus on the long game. In months 3 to 4, you're
going to be building a more hiking specific strength. Okay? You've got your foundation, you've got the
consistency down. Now you have this stuff just kind of like down. And you're not going to be struggling
to do those workouts, cardio workout. So we're going to increase your capacity and start challenging your
muscles and cardiovascular system in ways that better resemble hiking. So you're still going to be
strength training. I want you to now consistently do three times per week. Okay. No more with the two.
You're doing three now and you're gradually increasing your weight. The thing that you need to
remember here is, I think a lot of times we think we need to be changing up the exercises constantly. Um,
and that's actually counterproductive. And I know it's not as fun to do the same things all the time, but
you need to be doing the same things all the time. The foundational exercises are foundational for a
reason, because they actually work. Just throwing your body around and doing these random things that
you see online, I promise, is not the way. If you really want to get good results, see your body
composition change, right? So you've got to be reading the foundational list and increase your weight
over time. So things like again, way to step up. Step down. Flip flop. Uh, Romania. Deadlift. Single leg.
Deadlift um controlled lateral step down. Really focusing on that single leg centric for the downhill.
That's going to become a bigger emphasis here continuing to work on postural muscles. So your lab your
back and also for okay. And also we're going to be adding in a bit of cardio. And so main forms of cardio
that are going to be helpful. Here are things like outdoor hills um incline treadmill StairMaster things like
that okay. So things are mimicking the type of cardiovascular experience that you're going to have. Well,
so I would recommend adding that in one per week and making that a good 30 to 40 minute session. Um,
also, if you are doing some outdoor hiking, gradually increasing elevation gain or throwing on a pack
where you can weight it up a little bit, I would try to do that at least a couple times a month as well. So
the goal in this phase for the 3 to 4 month mark is to become stronger on your hikes. Actually, see if
you're noticing instead of this translating to what you're doing when you are going out on the trails,
you're more controlled on your descent and comfortable with that sustained effort. So maybe you're
building up doing longer hikes now and seeing how you're feeling both muscular and aerobically. Okay.
Month 526. This is where you're really starting to prep for your actual trek, so you're building specificity.
This is definitely something that if you're working with a coach, you're like, okay, this is crunch time.
This is where we're really getting serious about caring for the specific elevation gain and terrain that
you're going to be working on on your hike. So practice the demands of your actual hiking trip as closely
as your location, experience, and recovery will allow. Obviously, this is a little tough if you live at sea
level or somewhere quite flat, but you can get creative with different cardio tools. I promise. Um, okay,
so what does this look like? Complete progressively longer training. Okay, so keep building. Maybe
you're hiking is the weather permits and location allows once per week. Continue strength training about
3 to 4 times a week. You want to add in a bonus strength workout. Awesome. Otherwise, keep it free and
really focus on that progressive overload on legs back and forth. Gradually building your pathway. When
you're going for a walk. Practice fueling hydration, footwear, socks, hiking poles. Kind of really map out
what is going to look like and make sure you're broken in here. And then I would recommend if you can.
This doesn't you know where you out to much. Two sessions of aerobic cardio trainer. My favorite
modality for this is incline walking because it doesn't feel too exhausting or stressful, but it still gets the
job done and really affects you aerobically. So the goal here is to feel prepared for the distance, elevation,
and terrain and consecutive days of activity. Okay, because if you're doing a big multi-day trek, you have
to be okay with your body feeling a little worn out and really pushing yourself to limit. And in the final
two weeks, 1 to 2 weeks, I would say you're going to be kind of more tapering and trying to make sure
that you arrive fresh. So maybe scale back. Maybe you're just doing like 1 or 2 full body workouts that
week. Um, keep some light movement and familiar activity. Don't try to max out or push your weight to
crazy limits and prioritizing sleep. Hydration, adequate fueling starting to ramp up in a little bit. Um, you
really want to just make sure you're not exhausting yourself so that you can arrive Rested, confident and
ready to go. Okay, so let's dive in a little bit more about some of the top exercises that I kind of skimmed
through when we were going over that. And again, this is just a small snippet of some of the ones that
you're going to want to implement. Obviously, there's so many more that you can utilize in your training
program, but for simplicity's sake, I'm just going to go over all. Okay. So first and foremost, step up and
step down. Obviously this mimic what you are experiencing going up and down hill. And you want to be
using both. So the step ups are going to prepare you for the incline. The step downs are for the deep line.
Again rolling that descent making sure that you're not falling into it. This one's going to be probably the
most important for your knee health as you ready for downhill? Okay. Um, so definitely incorporating
different varieties of those. I love cable step downs. I love crossover step, lateral step, um, regular
dumbbell step up to do body weight and do super fast and more explosive. You can do side to side on a
box. There are so many different varieties that will help with like leg strength control. Also ankle
stability. Okay, so don't sleep on the. Also Bulgarian split squats or regular split squats. Bulgarians are a
bit more advanced, where your back leg is elevated and you're going to have a little bit more balance
necessary. However, regular spots are great too. If you're, you know, getting into this, um, and then so a
single leg will do a bit. So basically a single leg squat where you're tapping your ability to a bench and
you're lowering and standing up with one leg. The lower the bench the harder it is. Right. So start with a
higher up bench as you kind of build your ability to do this. This again. It's so good for the lowering
phase and strengthening those muscles around the knee. And if you really need strong glutes and hips, if
you're going to not put so much wear and tear on the knee, the glutes are going to need to be able to take
over for a lot of this. And that's not going to happen if you haven't put any work and time into building
strong people. A couple others. Single leg deadlift. I love these for the balance portion and also
strengthening hamstrings the hip. And then single like catchphrases or even just regular catchphrases. If
you're kind of getting into this goblet squat, single leg leg extension, wall sit marches, there are so many
great options. Um, so again, having a plan that is incorporating these, it's going to be crucial. Um, the
amount of like reps and sets, obviously you're going to want to follow a more specific plan with a coach
or something that you are following. Instead of me telling you this stuff over a podcast episode. Um,
common mistakes that are going to kind of sabotage your path. One is waiting until the last minute.
Trying to cram months of conditioning into a few weeks is just going to kind of like increase your fatigue
can definitely increase risk of injury and you cannot fake it. You have to start this stuff with giving your
body a little bit more time, especially if you are conditioned. You never followed a strength training
program and you don't have kind of that muscle memory built up. Um, the second common mistake is
only training on flat ground. Flat walks are useful, but they're not really going to replicate elevation user
sets. If you live somewhere flat. You're going to need to get a gym membership. Or nobody know
somebody with a treadmill or something like that and start working in the incline training. And the third
mistake is ignoring the down train. As I mentioned, a lot of people are prepping for the uphill and
underestimate how to manage their time. Number four is increasing mileage, pathway or strength training
all at once, whereas 1 or 2 variables at a time so that you can actually, you know, monitor recovery, make
sure you're not putting too much demand on your body and build up slowly. Um, the next one is under
fueling, trying to lose weight aggressively while increasing training demands or the volume of your
training can definitely be a recipe for disaster, and it's going to be really hard to adhere to any sort of
weight loss protocol. As far as a calorie deficit, if you are hungry all the time and training for
performance, and a lot of people do this incorrectly with like even marathon training for a big race where
they're trying to lose weight or use the the race to lose weight. And it is not an effective method because
you're going to be hungry and you're fighting your body. Because your training is so vigorous. Okay. So
make sure that you are more strategic with how you go about. If you do want to lose that. We'll talk about
here in a minute. Um, and also get some height. Like you want to start off summer feeling your absolute
best and body count. Maybe lose 10 to £30, whatever that looks like for you. But you also want to have
the performance side ready to go, and you're just going to want to be strategic with how you phase this
out, to make sure that you're not focusing on peak performance and training at the same time as you are.
Um, okay. So weekly training, a blueprint. If you need an example of how to get started, you can DM me
the word train. For example week. This will be like a foundation, very basic level. But we're going to get
you started. Um, another note here about body composition. If you have body comp goals as well, if
you're, you know, listening to this and you're like, oh, I want to get strong for like, honestly, my primary
goal is to look better and have a little bit less fat on my body, you know, lose the last bit of weight or just
improve body composition, even if weight is not a variable that you're wanting to look at closely. That is
totally fine. However, when you have more specific goals like that or scheduling barriers, lots of travel,
planned injuries, equipment limitations, or trouble actually following through, you're going to want to
hire a coach. Okay, because this is all going to be a lot to juggle multiple goals or not really following
through and doing the things that you say you're going to do. Like I give you this sample week, but if
you're not actually going to do it, then what is the point, right? So juggling these components solo tends
to lead to things like overwhelm, confusion, not actually prioritizing the right things at the right time for
certain goals, or just throwing in the towel. Do not see results. Okay, so don't wing it. If you really need
to have a plan that fits your life, and a qualified coach who won't let you slack or fall off the wagon every
single month. Okay. So be honest with yourself. You know that you have some pretty big goals. If you
know that you've been stuck with your weight loss or body composition for years trying to do it by
yourself, why are you still trying to do it by yourself? Just invest in a coach for a little bit and then you
don't have to worry about this. Um, if you know that you have a crazy schedule or some serious injuries
and limitations that you're working around, don't try to do this by yourself. So often we would view like
fitness help as completely optional when it's like, hey, but this is impacting your day to day life. It's
impacting your hobbies, your goals, your confidence. This is worth putting a little bit of time energy
money into. So don't wing it. Have an actual plan. You guys trying to just wing it or piece things together
and getting overwhelmed is not the way to go. And then it kind of tends to just keep pushing off how
serious you're taking this, how consistent you are. And then it's like, okay, now we're two months out
from summer, we're two months out from spring break, whatever that is for you. Okay, so if you are a
woman who wants to lose weight, build muscle, and actually feel strong enough to take on your next
hiking adventure, we have a few open spots here. Um, currently this fall, so you can apply the link in the
show notes. And bonus our Black Friday deal starts this week. This will give you two months of free
coaching when you sign up. This is our only sale that we ever do every single year, and we always end
up filling up quickly. So don't dilly dally with this. If you're serious about your goals here and you want
to feel amazing heading into next spring. Now is the time. Okay, if you start now, you're going to feel
prepared for spring summer hype and feel confident in summer clothes. Okay, so think about that like six
months from now. That already puts us at May. Not that far off, so make sure that you apply at the link in
the show notes if you want to get in on the Black Friday deal. We have limited spots for that and it goes
very quickly every single year since it's our only deal that we ever run. All right, you guys, I hope that
this has been a helpful, very practical breakdown of how to realistically prep for six months out from a
big hiking track. If you guys have questions, any feedback? We'd love to hear from you at the Fit
Underscore for Hiking Instagram page. Thanks for tuning in and I'll chat with you on the next episode.
Thanks for tuning into this episode of the For Hiking podcast. As always, I hope it leaves you feeling
inspired and informed on how to take your health and adventure into your own hands. For more content
like this, be sure to follow along with my daily posts at Pony Tail Underscore on a trail that's ponytail
underscore on a trail. You can also stay up to date on my new episodes being released at Fit Underscore
for hiking, and find more free resources at Pony Tail on Etrailer.com. Happy and healthy Trails.