Hiking | Trail Hiker Workout Plan Program Fitness Routine

Author

Rod Ferris B.A. CPT(YMCA, ACE), CFC, CPAFLA

Fitness Level

Advanced

Type of Workout Program

Sport Specific

Days in Plan

6 Day Workout Routine

Rest Between Sets:

N/A Sports Specific

Duration of Workout

60 Min per session

Hiking can be a great hobby, but when you need to take it to the next step and start timing your climbs you need to start training like you mean it. To do this you need to analyze what makes a great hiker/climber.

1. Hiking Endurance: A climber should have a great VO2 Max along with the ability to ward off lactic acid that approaches their muscles.
2. Flexbility
3. Strong legs with a focus on slow twitch muscle fibers.
4. Low body fat: No point carrying around an extra 20 pounds that isn't taking you upwards.
5. Great knees, ankles and other joints: If you are taking this seriously, you should have your gait analyzed to get the proper shoes and focus on your muscles that will cause you problems. This program is not individualized and you should seek advice from a physiotherapist to assess your knees, ankles, and weak points.
If you feel any pain or discomfort, discontinue exercising and seek professional advice.

Hiking Workout Outline

You should focus on training 4-5 days per week and resting for 2 days to recouperate your hard workouts. It is necessary to rest your joints since most of the workouts will focus on lots of impact on your knees.

Rubber Knee Brace

Recent research suggests that wearing a rubber knee brace will give support to your knee and should be used with proper hiking shoes.

A planned nutritional program or schedule is one of the most important aspects of any workout program plan/routine. Please see the nutrition section to learn about protein, carbohydrates and fats. The bottom line is to make sure to get 6 small meals during the day all having protein, veggies and fruit. Also, have carbs and protein during and after a workout for muscle recovery. This is needed for increasing musculature. For an easy to follow recipe book created by the godfather of nutrition, check out Gourmet Nutrition: A cookbook for healthy people. All of these workouts can be completed by men or women.

All workout routines benefit from changing the sets, weight and reps week to week. This will help prevent a plateau. An example is:

Week 1: 6-8 reps 4 sets- Muscle Mass
Week 2: 12-15 reps 3-4 sets - Definition
Week 3: 1-3 reps 5 sets - Power
Week 4: 8-10 reps

The Hiking | Trail Hiker Free Workout Plan Routine

Day

1 - Cardio Workout Plan

1. Rowing Ergometer

Duration:	10 Min	Intensity:	75%
Notes:	Rowing is a great all around cardio exercise that can increase your cross training abilities.

2. Stepper

Duration:	60 Min	Intensity:	65%
Notes:	Day one will be a hiking day. Focus on your form and try for a steady pace without stopping. Each day 1 focus on either going a little bit farther or a little bit more duration. We need to condition your muscles for hiking.

Day

1 - Lower Body Workout Plan

1. Cable Bent-Leg Deadlift

Sets:	6	Reps:	20
Notes:	Use a weight that you can complete 20 repeitions with. You need your body to fight through lactic acid so consider using advanced training principles such as pyramids or drop sets.

2. Jump Squat

Sets:	3	Reps:	12
Notes:	Jump squats will help recruit all the muscle fibers available and help burn fat after your workout.

3. One Legged Smith Split Squat

Sets:	3	Reps:	12
Notes:	Focus on form and go slowly while focusing on developing all stabilizer muscles in your ankles.

4. Step Ups

Sets:	3	Reps:	12
Notes:	Try this step up exercise.

5. Donkey Calf Raises

Sets:	5	Reps:	30
Notes:	Strong calves are also a necessity to climbers.

6. Calf Raises on Leg Press Machine

Sets:	3	Reps:	20
Notes:	Adjust the weight so you fail on your 15th rep and drop the weight to complete 5 more repetitions. A spotter is necessary.

Day

2 - Cardio Workout Plan

1. Stepper

Duration:	30 Min	Intensity:	65%
Notes:	After your hiit sessions try the stepper for 30 minutes at a light intensity. This will also help burn off excess fat.

2. Treadmill

Duration:	20 Min	Intensity:	90%
Notes:	perform 5 sets of HIIT

Day

2 - Upper Body Workout Plan

1. Bench Press

Sets:	3	Reps:	12
Notes:	Upper Body days are focused on maintaining strength and symmetry.

2. Bent-over Barbell Rows

Sets:	3	Reps:	12
Notes:	Focus on form

3. Arnold Press

Sets:	3	Reps:	12

4. Abdominal Barbell Rollouts

Sets:	3	Reps:	12

5. Dumbbell Curls

Sets:	3	Reps:	12

6. Tricep Pulldowns

Sets:	3	Reps:	12

7. Bench Dips

Sets:	3	Reps:	12
Notes:	Tire yourself out.

8. Lat Pulldown

Sets:	3	Reps:	12

Day

3 - Lower Body Workout Plan

1. Cable Squats

Sets:	3	Reps:	12
Notes:	Complete day 1 with increasing weight by 2-3% where you can

Day

4 - Cardio Workout Plan

1. Swimming

Duration:	60 Min	Intensity:	65%
Notes:	Cross training is an excellent way to recoup sore, fatigued muscles. Try doing 60 minutes of laps at a local swimming pool.

Day

4 - Upper Body Workout Plan

1. Arnold Press

Sets:	3	Reps:	12
Notes:	Complete Upper Body day 2 while increasing by 2-3 percent

Day

5 - Rest Day Workout Plan

Day

6 - Cardio Workout Plan

1. Stepper

Duration:	60 Min	Intensity:	80%
Notes:	This is test day. Push yourself to new limits!

Hiking | Trail Hiker Basics- Workout Routine Order

The Order of the Workout Routine 1. Warm Up 2. Weight Lifting / Resistance Training 3. Cardio (Consider HIIT) 4. Cooldown 5. Stretching/Flexibility Exercises Workout Routine Help Topics
Breathing	Timing	Nutrition	Warm-Up
Cooldown	Spotter	Training to Failure	Principle of Reversibility

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