Login | October 03, 2025
Adding some umph to your hiking
PETE GLADDEN
Pete’s World
Published: September 29, 2025
I have a client who I’ve been working with for a couple of years now.
And she’s been consistently working her tail off on her cardio and her weight training workouts, thereby getting in amazing physical shape compared to her former self.
Problem is that there’s still one fly in the ointment as far as she’s concerned - her fitness fanatic friend who’s been kicking her butt when they go hiking together.
And make no mistake here, we’re not talking about Chatty Kathy walks through the neighborhood.
We’re talking about lung busting, flat out fast hiking at a 15-minute/mile pace on up and down hiking trails.
So it’s fallen on me to to get her in good enough shape to start battling back on those friendly but competitive hiking excursions.
Now I offer that little fitness vignette as a lead into today’s topic - how might one gain the stamina and strength to become a faster hiker? Because my answers entail the very programming that I’m currently using to enable my client to up her game in hiking.
Okay, so our first step in improving her hiking involves…drum roll…cycling.
Yes indeed, and it’s not because I’m a cycling snob.
Fact is that harder, stamina building interval workouts on the bike, be it stationary or outdoor bike, are far easier on the joints than hard hiking intervals.
Thus, I can get a little bit more volume and intensity into her cardio program without aggravating her knees, which are arthritic and tend to get sore with too much pounding.
So know that cycling intervals will absolutely have carry-over to your hiking.
Next up is hiking specific strength training.
And topping the list for the muscle groups to strengthen for hiking is back and core muscles, not the legs.
Another surprise?
So think about it, no matter how strong those legs are, if your back and core muscles are weak and they fatigue during a hike then your legs aren’t going to be able to respond accordingly.
Thus, by working back and core muscles consistently each and every week you can avoid the upper body fatigue and low back pain that can be associated with hard, fast hiking.
Now some of my favorite exercises for strengthening the back for hiking don’t require any weights whatsoever.
I’m talking about static and active bridge exercises, lateral leg raises (with or without bands) and prone press-ups - all exercises that are on my client’s twice/week list.
With respect to core, we’re talking about those postural muscles, because good posture is essential when hiking, especially when hiking fast.
And once again you can accomplish some great hiking specific core work without the use of equipment.
Three great core exercises to include in your routine include the dead bug, plank and side plank.
Okay, and now we come to hiking specific leg strengthening exercises.
And by far my two favorites in this department include the lunge - both forward and reverse - and the weighted step-up.
Now for the step-up you can always begin with your body weight and a step height of 12-16 inches.
For more advanced hikers you can increase the height of the step and hold dumbbells in your hands.
I typically use an 18-inch-high step and hold 30-pound dumbbells in each hand for three to five minutes of stepping/set.
Finally there’s that stretching component, which is pretty darned important for hiking.
And that’s because the longer and harder you hike the more those muscles tend to tighten up during and post-hike.
Now I typically stretch after my hiking excursions, but you can also stretch pre-hike (if you do, make sure to do five or so minutes of light warming up to get blood in the muscle tissues prior to the stretching).
Post hike stretching is much more important and requires no warm-up because everything has been warmed.
Key muscle groups to stretch post hike include hip flexors, glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, shoulders and neck.
I typically do these stretches at home on my massage table.
So there you go.
If your hiking BFF always seems to be kicking your butt in those “friendly” hikes, then you definitely might want to consider adding some hiking specific programming to your workout regime.
It could very well be just the game-changer you’ve been searching for.