How Do You Physically Prepare for a Hike?

When planning an active vacation, it is useful to soberly assess your physical preparation and think about how to prepare physically for the hike. Such an assessment is especially important if you intend to climb, even on low mountains.

It is enough for a well-trained person to change and diversify the nature of the usual exercises, emphasizing the strengthening of the knees and back. A moderately lazy citizen who is not used to regular jogging, push-ups and sit-ups will have to start such exercises at least six months before the exciting event.

Hiking in pleasant company

To begin with, it is useful to decide whether it will be an ordinary cross-country trekking or the same, but with climbing up to 6000 meters. In the first case, you should increase the daily load in order to strengthen your legs and back and prepare yourself for carrying a heavy backpack.

Specialists offer different types of training in terms of intensity and fitness. In any case, running, preferably on very rough terrain, is the most useful. It is very good to have at least a medium weight backpack on your back. Not fast jogging with a load for at least three weeks is an excellent preparation for the upcoming trek. In this way, not only muscles are strengthened, prepared for extreme situations, but also create a habit of uneven ground, reduce the risk of injury, avoid abrasions and chafing from the backpack.

You can also improve your own physical condition by going to fitness centers. In consultation with a trainer, it is useful to spend part of your time on a treadmill, changing the speed of running, as well as on weight machines, strengthening the muscles of the back, hips and legs. It is also important to monitor your breathing, commensurate with the increasing load.

Of course, no matter how you prepare, its impossible to become a superman in just two to three months.

It is absolutely necessary to recharge the body every day in reasonable amounts:

• regular morning exercise;
• jogging in the fresh air;
• exercises with an expander;
• fitness a couple of times a week.
• As a result, hiking of any difficulty will bring pleasure and further improve health.

It is a different matter to prepare for a hike in the mountains, walks on high hills, overcoming steep slopes, conquering small and large peaks.

Preparing for a hike in the mountains

Hiking in the mountains requires good physical preparation, and not only muscular, you must be confident, enduring, ready for any surprises. The ascent even to a low peak on a fairly gentle slope may take 2 – 3 hours of continuous movement. You should take into account that already at the height of 1500m you feel the lack of oxygen, it becomes difficult to breathe. It will be difficult for an unprepared person, who does not exercise systematically, in the mountain hike.

Experts advise to start preparing for a serious mountain hike several months in advance. In ordinary sports you should shift accents, paying attention to strengthening certain muscle groups, developing endurance, the ability to balance breathing during overloads, correctly assess your capabilities and correctly distribute your power. With good preparation, even the six-thousand meters peaks, not to mention most of the peaks of the Greater Caucasus and Altai, are not terrible.

Proper preparation means moderate systematic training and deep rest for at least a week before the hike. The main goal of preparation is to provide endurance of the body, because stops in the mountain hike are not frequent. Classes only fitness for such a serious event is not enough, be sure to do jogging. It is desirable to run two or three times a week not quickly a couple of – three kilometers, gradually increasing the distance. Half an hour to an hour of quiet running in the fresh air will strengthen the body as a whole, accustom the ankle to the rough ground, learn to breathe properly.

You can improve your physical condition by using different kinds of running and walking. The so-called jerky running – alternating a short very fast and a longer slow one – is effective. It is good to periodically change the width of the step, step lunges forward, run up and down steps. It is not superfluous will also be bicycle training, classes in the pool, although the emphasis should be still on walking.

No matter how useful jogging is, you cant forget about exercises on the bar or training in the gym. The fact is that when preparing for a hike in the mountains, you need to remember about the road home, that is, the descent. Going down after a long and exhausting ascent is sometimes very difficult.

• tilts;
• squats;
• weighted squats;
• pistol squats;
• movement in a huddle.

You should start with one or two exercises, while listening to your body, breathing and heart rate. Dont exhaust yourself, just feel tired, make one more effort, do one more exercise and take a break.

The theory of one more effort is very popular with athletes; it helps them to overcome themselves, to strengthen the will, to believe in the ability to control their body.

General recommendations

Almost anyone can prepare themselves for a hike of varying difficulty, even if they do not exercise regularly. A few simple rules should be kept in mind.

• Get advice, or better the guidance of an experienced tourist.
• Start your workouts small, gradually increasing the load.
• Include in the compulsory complex exercises versatile, because in the campaign you need not only legs.
• Listen to your body, dont overwork it by giving it periodic rest.
• Remember that the payback for the unexpected physical activity comes on the second to third day in the form of muscle crepation.
• Dont forget to put on a backpack with your stuff from time to time during a run, getting your back used to the load.
• Remember that the main purpose of a hike in the mountains is to communicate with nature, to realize themselves as part of it.