Which Exercise Helps Prepare For Uphill Hiking? Full Routine Workout For Hikers & Trekker

You don’t have to go to the gym or buy a bunch of exercise equipment to get fit for hiking. In this article, I’ll be showing you some hiking specific workout that will help you prepare for uphill hiking. You can do these workouts at home within a limited space.

This is a fun and hard full routine workout for trekkers and hikers where we are mixing a bit of strength, a bit of cardio, and all the other things that are relevant to you guys as trekkers (hiking specific).

All the exercises that I’m about to show you are basic and require almost no equipment at all. This means you have no excuses to get out there and get prepared for your mountain goal and make it the trip of your lifetime. 

In a Nutshell:

This workout is a blend of – 

• Strength 
• Cardio 
• Hiking Specific Movements 

Difficulty Level – 

• [Fairly] Basic
• No Heavy Equipment Needed
• No Excuses 

Exercises That Will Help You Prepare For Uphill Hiking

This workout session is called Namche, which is taken from Base Camp Training .com. This hiking specific training is from one of their trekking programs that doesn’t require much equipment at all. All you really need is a yoga mat, a step or a box, a little bit of space to run.

If you love to train outside, try to find the objects that can be used as markers. If you want to do this in the gym, you absolutely can. All right, so let’s have a look at our warmup routine. 

In A Nutshell:

Things you will need – 

• A Yoga Mat
• A Step or Box
• A Bit Of Space To Run
• Objects To Use As Markers

Warmup

So much of our time is spent sitting, so the first opening drill is all about improving your squat and undoing some of the damage that happens from just sitting all day at a desk. 

Hip Opening x 10/10

Take your hands and push your knee out against the inner knee to improve the depth of your squat and also to get some hip mobility. 

Leg Swings x 15/15

Alright, after that, we are going to go into leg swings. So, do 15 reps on each side. Get nice and dynamic and some blood flow running through the hips. 

Heels To Butt x 20/20

After that, we are going into hills to butt. Kick your butt with your heels before heading into high knees. It is the same deal, but it is up the front and not the back. 

High Knees x 20/20

You want to get those knees up nice and high to hip height.  

Air Deadlift [SL] x 10

Up next, we are going to do ten air deadlifts. Keep the knees perfectly straight and keep the back nice and flat. After a while, you are going to feel a good hamstring stretch warming up the hamstrings.

Reverse Lunge Twist x 5/5

Then, we are going to get into a reverse luge twist. 

Instep Twist x 5/5

So, we are going to step back with the right leg twisting to the left, and then we are going to take that one step further by coming down into the lunge and then reaching for the sky. Do five reps on each side for both of those.

Dynamic HF Stretch

Now, we are finishing up our warmup with dynamic hip flexor stretch by pushing in into the frontal range of the hip, keeping it nice and dynamic and under control. 

Main Workout For Trekkers & Hikers

Okay, so now that we are done with our warmup, let’s get into the main workout. So, we have got two groups to get through. Here is a short version of what we are about to do.

Main Work Group A

1. Pushups x 5
2. Bulgarian SS x 5/5

You will need to complete two to four rounds with 2 minutes of rest in between. 

Main Work Group B

1. Carb Dancer x 4
2. Dead Bug x 5/5
3. Bear Hold Complex x 4

You will need to complete two to four rounds with minimal rest in between.

Exercise A

In this group, you will have to do pushups and Bulgarian split squats. We want to go nice and slow for both of these exercises and work on strength. So, your aim is to find a push up that is difficult for you to do five reps. 

Don’t do your pushups superfast because you won’t be getting time under tension. Also, you won’t be building strength like this. You want to slow it down and find progression. This is going to be challenging for you to do five reps. 

After that, we are going to get into the Bulgarian split squat. Elevate the backfoot and drop the hips and the back knee to come down into the lower position. You can do it with weights, or you can slow it down for five to ten seconds for each rep and keep it a complete bodyweight exercise. 

You have completed round 1. Take a two-minute rest and then get back into the pushups. You will need to complete two to four rounds of these exercises before moving onto group B. 

Exercise B

In this group, we have three exercises. The first is called crab dancer. So, basically, we are going to do a full squat and then hold the squat position. After that, extend the leg out to the left or to the right before coming back to the squat and then perform two more squats. This will equal one rep. 

So, we are going to do four reps of this exercise before moving onto the next exercise, which is a dead bug.

For a dead bug, keep the lower back on the floor and hand above the shoulders and knees above the hips, and then we’re going to extend out asymmetrically those limbs away from the body. 

You will need to keep the lower back flat on the mat, keeping the core engaged, and go nice and slow. The next one is the bear hold complex. 

So, we are going to hold in our bear position with our knees off the ground and toes and hands supporting our body weight. After that, we are going to tap the shoulders, the knees, and the hips.

Once we have done that, that’s one rep, and we are going to do four before having a minimal rest. The rest should be ideally nothing.

Now, start again from the top. Start the curb dancer again and perform two to four rounds of that before having a quick rest for three to four minutes. Take a drink before we get into the finisher. 

The Finisher

So, for our finisher, we are going to perform the following exercises. 

• Big M Agility Drill x 1
• Mountain Climbers x 20/20
• Step-Ups x 50

You will need to perform three to four rounds without taking any rest. This is the finisher, guys, and this is where we are going to get really sweaty. It is going to get the heart rate up, and this is also where most of the hard work gets done.

So, starting off, we have got the big M agility drill. You will need five markers to make a big M on the ground, and we are going to run between tapping the ground between that big M. 

Once you have done the big M agility drill, we are going to do mountain climbers for 20 reps on each side, which is 40 in total. If that is too hard, you can do half the reps if you like. 

Then we are going to go into step-ups for 50, which means 25 for each leg. Just find a strongbox with a height that suits you and get up on top of that box 50 times before starting again with the agility drill and going through three to four rounds with minimal rest. 

Key Points

The key thing to keep in mind is that you want to do all these exercises in good form. You want to go nice and slow and under control except for the finisher. 

You also want to use progressions and regressions that enable you to get stronger and challenge you. My number one tip for you would be to record your results in a training journal. This tip will make all the difference. 

Final Words

Okay, for a lot of you, that might seem like a lot, but I really encourage you to at least have a go at this workout. Keep these workouts in mind, get out into your local park or the gym, and have a crack at this workout. As for me, these are the exercises that will help you prepare for uphill hiking.

If you want to slowly buildup to this and you are not really sure you want to go directly into something as intense as this workout, start slowly and cut down the reps.

Besides workout choosing, proper boots and clothing are also important for hassle-free enjoyable hiking. During hiking sliding feet forward is a common problem. Do you know how to prevent your feet from sliding forward in hiking boots? Before starting your trip spend some time gathering knowledge about some basic hiking tips.