How To Prepare For A Hike Physically

While hiking may be a great way to explore nature with friends and family, there is no denying that a leisurely hike can quickly become an arduous journey should you not be physically prepared for the challenges of hiking. I know I've had my fair share of hikes where I end up huffing and puffing. So how does one best physically prepare themselves for a hike?

Although the type of physical preparation needs to correlate with the type of hike you intend to embark on, hiking fitness typically involves the following:

1. Cardiovascular exercises,
2. Strength training,
3. Improving one’s balance and core muscles,
4. Improving one’s diet.

In order to build up holistic strength, fitness, flexibility, and balance, one needs to undertake exercise routines well in advance of the date of hiking, preferably in conditions that mirror the hiking area to help you acclimatize. Let’s explore these exercise regimes below:

Which Cardiovascular Exercises Are Good For Hiking?

Because hiking involves walking for long stretches of time over consecutive days through woods, plains, mountains, rivers, deserts, you name it..., it’s important that your body gets used to walking for long periods of time at regular intervals.

Consequently, any cardiovascular exercise is essential when preparing for a hike, as lung capacity, oxygen flow, heart health, and overall endurance are essential for enjoying a hike while minimizing the risk of injury and lactic acid buildup.

To improve cardiovascular health, aerobic exercises that simulate varying conditions and intensities are needed to help your body acclimatize to any conditions you may experience while hiking, including reduced oxygen for high altitude hikes.

Therefore, short high, intensity aerobic exercises should be coupled with longer walks, multiple times a week and preferably multiple times a day to simulate the act of resting and walking over the course of a few days while hiking.

The goal while training is to always keep your heart rate up while not over-exerting yourself. This means that training is dynamic, and the intensity must be adjusted as your fitness levels improve.

An effort should be made to also simulate different hiking conditions, meaning that training in areas with soft sand, loose gravel, inclines, declines, and different weather patterns are all encouraged.

It is important to know what equipment you will be taking on your hike, including your bag’s weight, weight distribution, and any equipment you are wearing, such as hiking boots.

This is because, while training without equipment is acceptable when building up fitness, it is advisable to train with equipment closer to the hike so that you become adjusted to exercise with a bag and become accustomed to the equipment you will be wearing.

This is particularly true with hiking boots, as newer boots may need to be “broken in” or replaced with boots that fit you better, should you find your boots uncomfortable while training.

Which Strength Training Exercises Are Good For Hiking?

Although hiking may appear at face value to only require aerobic fitness and cardiovascular exercises for preparation, basic strength training is also very important.

This is because when hiking, your terrain isn't flat. You will encounter rocks, hills, elevation. Your muscles need to be prepared for everything.

Also strong, lean muscles are needed to help you carry your equipment while you partake in lengthy hikes. Furthermore, strength training helps your back, shoulders, and legs propel your body forward to the benefit of your bone structure and minimize the risk of injury occurring due to tired muscles being over-exerted and unduly strained.

Although larger compound movements along with basic weight training such as shoulder presses, deadlifts, and leg presses are encouraged, most training programs for hiking focus more on callisthenic home exercise to promote overall flexibility.

Some simple strength training exercises you can perform at home include:

1. Jump squats (with sets between 15 and 20 repetitions each),

The importance of these exercises is that not only do they strengthen the legs, hips, and shoulders, but they all simulate specific movements one would typically perform on a hike (such as stepping over objects and going down steep ridges).

Furthermore, they are exercises designed to build up strength in areas of the body that may be prone to injury; this means that you can mitigate the risk of harm to sensitive areas such as your knees or shoulders.

Which Core Exercises Are Good For Hiking?

Core strength and balance are essential to improve before going on hiking, as heavy bags and uneven trails (especially in poor weather conditions) can all create balancing issues underfoot that can lead to injury if your balance is not adequate.

Furthermore, poor core muscles result in other parts of the body taking undue strain while carrying a heavy gab, meaning that other areas of the body may be at risk of injury or poor posture as a result of one’s weak balance.

Therefore, some simple core and balance exercises you can perform at home include:

1. Bridge with hamstring curl exercises,

What Food Should I Eat Before I Hike?

Can't hike on an empty stomach of course! So it's important to get lots of energy beforehand. But certain foods are better than others.

Like many other forms of exercise, it is essential while both training for a hike and before embarking on a hike that you avoid foods with high-fat content, sugar, or simple carbohydrates, as this contributes to excess weight and sluggishness.

This includes alcohol, as along with poor nutritional value, the dehydrating effects of alcohol can have long-standing negative effects on the body that are not conducive to hiking preparation.

As a result of this, you should change your diet accordingly and look to include food such as the following:

• Vegetables,
• Fruit,
• Eggs,
• Whole grain pasta,
• Lean meat,
• Oatmeal,
• Nut butter, and
• Nutrient bars (just make sure to look at the nutritional values of each brand).

Summary

Hiking is a fantastic way to experience nature and spend time with friends, provided that you prepare yourself physically before partaking on a long journey.

Subsequently, holistic lifestyle changes and exercise routines need to complement one another so your body is prepared for all potential forms of physical challenges that you may encounter while out in the wilderness.