How Cross-Training Will Make You a Stronger Hiker
In my last post, I went over the impact overtraining had on me as an athletic person. I broke down the three areas that I saw the biggest impact on my body from overtraining (knee and ankle injuries and overall detraining). In this post I’m going to talk about how I’ve modified my exercise to become a more well rounded athlete and what activities I integrated into my exercise routine while still working on the White Mountain Guide (WMG).
*I am not a medical professional and this post should not supersede professional advice or instruction. Please consult your doctor or medical professional if you believe you may have an underlying injury.
Discovering Yoga
In December of 2022, after completing seven months of the WMG, on a whim, I decided to give yoga a try. I’ve never considered myself to be a flexible person and yoga has always intimidated me because it involves a lot of bending into difficult positions. Furthermore, stretching in general is something that I’ve always balked at. My calves are perpetually tight and I suffer from chronic Plantar Fasciitis but despite knowing that stretching my calves can and does alleviate a lot of the pain in my feet I just plain don’t feel like doing it. For the entirety of my life, I’ve seen any sort of movement as a means to one end and that end is burning calories, and the more calories I could burn in the least amount of time the better. Stretching just didn’t offer enough of a benefit to me despite always feeling better after doing it.
Looking back now I don’t really remember why I decided I wanted to try yoga but I do remember sitting down for a 20 minute beginner yoga video and instantly feeling better after doing it. Yoga asks you to calm your breath while holding (at times) difficult poses. It is a Yin/Yang of the hard with the ease of breath and I was enthralled with it. Not only did I feel empowered because I could do some of the poses I always assumed were too hard (Warrior 2 for example) but there was a very real difference in my stress level after finishing the 20 minute session. I left the mat feeling powerful and at ease.
Yoga infiltrated my free time off trail for the remainder of my WMG attempt. On my days off, especially after more strenuous days on trail, I would seek out the mat and relish in the way my body felt after stretching it. Being more flexible also translated to on trail benefits as well. Simple tasks like putting on my shoes or bending my back became less painful. I felt more agile bounding over the rock-strewn trails of the northern presidentials, and was able to squeeze through smaller gaps between rocks without worrying about pulling something. Integrating yoga into my life has been something that I never would’ve imagined happening but the more time I spend on the mat the more benefits I discover about this practice.
Strength Training
Prior to discovering hiking I did weight lifting for several years along with at home cardio. While I never fully enjoyed either activity (and they were absolutely a means to an end and that end was losing weight) I noticed a significant difference in my uphill strength when I decided to reintegrate weight training back into my routine a few years back. Specifically, Romanian Deadlifts were a game changing exercise for me as a hiker. One of the biggest problems with only doing one activity for exercise is you miss out on the benefits of working other parts of your body which that activity doesn’t target. Although hiking in New Hampshire is a full body workout (because the trails require a lot of upper body strength too) you’re not going to be targeting all of your muscles at the same level. While your arms and core are still getting some exercise through hiking, they’re not receiving enough to build muscle. Furthermore, you may think that hiking is a great way to get stronger legs (and it can be) but in order to target every muscle in your legs you need to do some form of strength training. I can be in prime summer hiking shape, go to the gym and do a leg workout, and in two days be extremely sore because I’m not working out my muscles in the same way hiking as I would be lifting heavy weights.
Stabilizing core muscles and upper body strength require additional, targeted workouts if you want to build muscle and be in overall good shape. The benefit of doing upper body weight training, as a hiker, is you will be much stronger pulling yourself up the rocks and roots that cover the hiking trails of New England. Strengthening your core will give you more stability on uneven terrain and reduce your risk of injury because your core muscles (and back muscles) are keeping you upright and surer on your feet. While everyone is different and not all bodies respond the same way to different strength training exercises, I highly recommend lifting weights as part of your off trail training.
Running
The last cross-training activity that I have integrated into my off trail life is running. While this might not be an available exercise to everyone, for those that can run I want to encourage you to consider adding running to your exercise regimen, especially in slower hiking seasons. Maintaining my VO2 max and cardio levels when not hiking much for the last five months was one of my biggest concerns after finishing the WMG. I knew that I needed to give my body a rest from the relentless ups and downs, but I also knew that the climbs were what boosted my cardio and VO2 max. I had run cross country freshman year of high school (many years ago) but loathed the activity and didn’t continue running. I decided to give running a try again in the fall of 2023 and found that not only could I burn a lot more calories than I thought but that it was an amazing way to maintain a higher heart rate for longer and consequently my VO2 max regardless of whether or not I was hiking. My VO2 max is 38 and has remained that number even with much fewer days spent on trail. Furthermore when going on hikes I haven’t noticed a decline in my cardio strength at all despite taking five months essentially off of hiking.
My runs are short and not significantly difficult, I’m certainly not going to be breaking any records anytime soon, but I enjoy them and I love the benefit that they give me as a hiker. Cycling and swimming are two other wonderful ways to maintain cardio strength and are low impact.
Final Thoughts
Although this is by no means a complete list of all of the different activities you can engage in to cross-train for hiking, these are the three activities that I’ve seen a huge benefit from by integrating them into my exercise routine. Most importantly, the three things you want to target to be in overall good health are stretching, strength, and cardio. Find activities that you love and hit each of those areas and you’ll be golden!
What are some of your favorite ways to cross-train? Comment below.