Hiking training: hills, a pack, strong legs, and a longer walk every week or two

A hike is a long walk made harder by three things: how long it is, how steep it is, and what's on your back. Training for it is practising those three in steps, and having legs strong enough to do them. This page covers what the lab studies measured for slope, load and trekking poles, what the Compendium of Physical Activities rates hiking at, a sample week, and a build-up for the long day.

It's a page about training for the walk, not about the hike itself: altitude, heat, weather, navigation, water and gear aren't covered, and none of the studies here tested them. It's also not a promise about how you'll feel on the day; the studies measured small groups of young people, and your own start depends on things a page can't see.

1. Practise the hill, not just the distance

In one study a hill outweighed a pack. In 11 participants aged 19 to 27 walking on a treadmill at 4 km/h on 0% and 10% gradients, with and without an 18.2 kg backpack, the gradient had a greater effect on oxygen use and heart rate than the pack did.¹ In another lab study, 12 healthy volunteers aged 22 to 49 walked for 10 minutes at a preferred speed on a level treadmill, on a 15% uphill and on a 15% downhill, with a 15% body-mass load among the conditions. Energy cost and ventilation increased significantly with the grade (downhill less than level, level less than uphill) and with the load.² Both were treadmill studies, so the hills on a real trail will vary, but they point the same way: if the hike has climbing in it, the training needs some. No hills nearby? A treadmill incline, a stair climber or steps all work: the 12-3-30 workout is a long incline walk, the stair climber workout has three beginner sessions, and step-ups need only a bench.

2. How hard hiking rates

The Compendium of Physical Activities lists hiking and backpacking in METs, a measure of energy cost; one MET is about 1.0 kcal per kilogram of body weight per hour.³ It rates hiking slowly or ambling through fields and hillsides with no load at 3.8, hiking or walking at a normal pace there at 5.3, cross-country hiking at 6.0, backpacking at 7.0, and hiking with a daypack at 7.8, against 4.8 for a brisk level walk at 3.5 to 3.9 mph.⁴ These are group averages from the Compendium's sources, not a measurement of you, but they show the range: a day on a trail with a pack sits well above an ordinary walk, so the long walk in training should work up toward it.

3. Add the pack after the minutes

Walking with weight is covered on rucking, which has the studies. The short version for hiking: in 15 experienced female recreational hikers walking 8 km at their own pace, a pack of 20% of body weight was rated "fairly light" on average and 40% "hard".⁵ Practise (a practical rule) with the pack you'll carry, packed the way you'll pack it, on the hills, and add weight last.

4. Downhill, and the poles question

Downhill walking cost the least energy of the three grades in the treadmill study.² On poles, the same study found that using hiking poles raised oxygen use and energy cost only on the downhill trials, and had no significant effect on heart rate, perceived exertion or preferred walking speed; the authors say field studies are needed to confirm it.² That's 12 volunteers on a treadmill at 15%, so it's not a verdict on poles. Choose them for the reasons you have, not for this one result.

5. Strengthen the legs twice a week

The World Health Organization asks adults for muscle-strengthening on 2 or more days a week.⁶ For hiking, that's mostly legs: step-ups, lunges, goblet squats and calf raises, in a leg day. The nearest evidence for combining the work comes from load carriage rather than from hiking: a 2012 systematic review framed around soldiers carrying heavy loads reviewed 10 studies of the time to carry an external load, mostly in a backpack, over a set distance, and its meta-analysis found large training effects when progressive resistance training was combined with aerobic training, at least 3 times a week for at least 4 weeks, and larger ones still when progressive load-carriage exercise was part of the program.⁷ That's a review framed around soldiers, not hiking, but the parts are the same: walk with a load, and be stronger.

A sample week

A practical layout, not a protocol from a trial. Walk at a pace where you could say a sentence: the talk test is a rule of thumb for intensity.⁸

Building the long walk (practical). The WHO advises starting with small amounts and gradually increasing frequency, intensity and duration.⁶ Start the Saturday walk at a length you can finish comfortably now, add about 15 minutes every week or two, and change one thing at a time: minutes, hills or pack weight. When a week feels like too much, repeat the one before. How the sessions share a week with cardio and lifting: cardio and lifting.

Common questions

How long should I train for a hike?

No page can promise a timeline. The studies on this page are single sessions or short programs, and the training effects in the meta-analysis came after at least 4 weeks.⁷ It depends on the hike and where you're starting: the plan is to be doing a walk close to its length, on its kind of terrain, before the day.

Should I train with a pack?

Yes, once the walk itself is easy, and with the pack you'll carry. Programs that included progressive load-carriage exercise showed much larger training effects on carrying performance in the review.⁷ Start light (rucking has how).

How do I train for hills if I live somewhere flat?

Use an incline or steps. The lab studies used a treadmill for slope,^1,2 and a treadmill incline, a stair climber or a flight of steps gives the legs a similar job (a practical reading, not a finding). The treadmill workout covers the setup.

Do hiking poles help?

In one treadmill study they raised energy cost on the downhill trials and made no significant difference to heart rate or perceived exertion.² It's a small study, not an answer.

Is hiking good cardio?

By the Compendium's ratings, a hike at a normal pace is 5.3 METs and with a pack 7.0 to 7.8, above a brisk walk's 4.8.⁴ The weekly minutes to aim for are on how much cardio per week.

I'm a fitness coach, not a doctor: if you have pain, an injury or a medical condition, or you're heading somewhere high, remote or hot, ask a doctor before the hike, and plan it with someone who knows the route.

If you'd rather have the week planned

Legs twice, a hill session and a long walk on the one day the trail is open is a scheduling problem as much as a training one. Coaching is the version where your workouts are built around the days you actually have, and a weekly call looks at the week you just had and rebuilds the next one around what's coming. Coaching for a week that doesn't hold still explains how that works, and apply is the first step. Otherwise: do one leg session and one long walk this week.