Ultimate Mountain Hiking Training Plan (Plus Training Calendar)
Training for mountain hiking in particular is’t just a walk in the park – it’s a unique beast that requires full body preparation, mental grit, and developed endurance. Whether your goal is to summit high altitude peaks or conquer steep multi-day backcountry trails, targeted and specific mountain hiking training can mean all the difference between a miserable slog and a rewarding, confidence boosting adventure! In this ultimate training plan for mountain hiking, you’ll find a structured and sequential approach to developing strength, building endurance, incorporating proper mechanics and form, and implementing a full body approach that will help prevent injuries as well as build a solid foundation on which to continue building off of for all your future hiking endeavors! Get the confidence you need to take on the rugged terrain, big elevation gains, and unpredictable conditions you’ll find on those mountain trails!
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Table of Contents
The Ultimate Mountain Hiking Training Plan
Dreaming of tackling some big ascents and some lofty peaks? As someone who has summited my share of challenging mountains, including the 50 state high points of the U.S., there’s few things more rewarding than achieving a big goal hike. But the hike itself is a small part of the journey – the real journey is the training and preparation that go into serious mountain hiking, often for months and years before! And where this type of training start? It has humble beginnings – developing a baseline foundation.
What is Your Baseline Foundation?
As someone who consults and coaches long distance hikers and runners, the first question I always ask is “what is your current baseline foundation”? You can’t expect to summit California’s Mt. Whitney in 2 months if you haven’t hiked more than a mile in 10 years. That’s not mean to be cruel, it’s meant to prevent injuries, unsafe conditions, or worse.
Whether you’re looking at a one time, bucket-list type hike (Mt. Whitney, Half Dome, Angels Landing, Cactus to Cloud, the PCT, etc.), or wanting to develop a broader mountain hiking base to apply to many future hikes on a more regular basis, you need to take the time to develop an adequate baseline foundation.
Luckily, you can start by simply getting TIME ON YOUR FEET! A lot of people feel like they can’t train for mountain hiking because they don’t live by mountains, but that is not true! This is coming from a person who lives in north Texas, an area of the country notorious for lack of mountains and significant elevation gain. But that has not prevented me from successfully summiting 14’ers, Rim to Rim’s, and more.
Just about everyone has the ability to build a baseline foundation, because it just requires time on your feet to start with. Do you have neighborhoods roads, local parks, or nearby trails you can hike on? That’s where you start.
Of course, it’s ideal if you have local trails with natural elevation gain to practice on. If so, take advantage of that and just start hiking! If you don’t, no worries, there are plenty of ways to supplement the time on your feet to get your legs ready.
But back to the baseline foundation first…..
If you want a solid mountain hiking foundation to build on, start getting consistent with time on your feet. If you are starting from scratch, hike whatever you have available to you 2-3 times a week, for at least 60 minutes. As you do this for a couple of months, start to throw in some hill repeats to work on strengthening those legs. Start to track your pace. And finally, start to throw in a day or two of consistent strength training each week. More on what strength training looks like next.
So how do you know if you have a solid baseline foundation to build off of?
When you are able to hike for 60 minutes at a time, at least 2x a week consistently and comfortably. If you are finding that you still have to stop for a break every few minutes to catch your breath, then keep working at it. If you missed an entire month of hikes, then keep working at it. If you start working in some minor to moderate elevation gain and feel like you’re struggling, keep working at it. Once this type of baseline is comfortable and consistent for you, you have a foundation to build off of. Again, it won’t hurt to get some consistent strength training in at this point in your training anyways, because you’re going to need it as you progress into more targeted and specific mountain hiking training.
And why is this baseline foundation so important? It’ll help to keep you injury free, as well as give you a proper base to continue to build off of. Because hopefully, you want to be mountain hiking as long as possible, and not be a one and done hiker.
Strength Training for Mountain Hiking
Where mountain hiking is involved, the legs are going to be doing some hard labor! If you want to keep going stronger, longer, and injury free, it’s best to invest in some strength training early on.
Strength training is essential for endurance type challenges, from mountain hiking to trail running to other endurance events, because it STRENGTHENS! But just as importantly, it helps immensely in preventing common overuse injuries.
So what kind of strength training is beneficial for mountain hiking training?
Most obviously, core and leg strength training is key, but don’t forget some upper body strengthening as well, which can help with form and mechanics, and also if you’re a hiking pole user who is engaging their arms in that way.
Here’s a FREE “choose your own path” strength training workout you can use to do some simple, yet highly effective, strength training moves from home!
Strength training movements like squats, forward and reverse lunges, and deadlifts are great for building the strength and stamina for mountain hiking.
Strength training doesn’t have to be overly complicated or expensive, as you can see from the free sample above, which can be done from anywhere with very little monetary investment (you can throw in a workout mat or weights to up the challenge).
But be sure to ask yourself 2 questions when it comes to strength training?
- What do you have available to you?
- What will motivate you to stay consistent (if you hate it, you won’t do it!)?
- If you like going to the gym, then take advantage of strength training options there. Working with a trainer, doing interval workouts, using a Jacobs Ladder or elliptical machine, etc.
- If you want to take advantage of the natural elevation gain you have available but want to up the ante for strength training purposes, go on a rucking hike! This is one of my go to’s, and it has served me well. What do I use for my rucking hikes? A 30 pound toddler in an Osprey Poco carrier!
- Are you a home workout type person? Then do at home workouts like the free example above, or throw in at home workouts like step ups and step downs from a raised platform, for example.
- If you know you’ll stay motivated and consistent by getting out of the house, then find ways to do that. If you prefer to get your workouts in at night watching Netflix, then set up an at home workout routine.
What does my own strength training look like for mountain hiking? Weekly hikes, with lots of naturally occurring hill repeats. Lots of rucking hikes with about 40 lbs of weight. Simple at home strength training workouts targeting lunges, squats, deadlifts, etc. Lots of aggressive, uphill power cycling (with lots of standing up in the saddle and pedaling) on my indoor Wahoo Kickr bike.
Building Off Your Baseline
Once you have a well established baseline foundation, you can start to build off of it for targeted mountain hiking training. This is where GRADUAL INCREMENTS as well as FORM and MECHANICS come into play.
How much targeted mountain hiking training you plan to do depends largely on your particular future plans. Do you have a one time goal hike in mind? Maybe you want to tackle your 1st 14’er (I’ve got a great introductory recommendation here), or maybe you just want to get out and hike more consistently, or more challenging trails?
Whatever your goal may be, you’ll want to work up to that goal in GRADUAL INCREMENTS.
If your goal hike is a 9 mile roundtrip 14’er with 4,000 feet of elevation gain, then you’ll want to build up in gradual increments to comfortably be ready to tackle that distance and elevation gain. If you’re goal is to hike a monster like Mt. Whitney in California, then you’ll want to build up to being able to hike that 20 miles in distance. If you’re goal is to hike a multi-day backpacking trek with 7 daily miles of ups and downs, then you’ll want to work up to being able to hike back to back for several days with a loaded pack. Whatever your goal is, you’re going to want to take your baseline foundation and build on it in GRADUAL INCREMENTS.
Building Gradual Increments into Your Mountain Hiking Training Plan
One particular bucket list hike I regularly consult on is California’s Mt. Whitney, so I’m going to use it as an example here. (You can find a specific training plan for climbing Mt.Whitney here).
Mt. Whitney is 14,505 feet tall, 21.2 miles roundtrip, with 6,633 feet of elevation gain. It is the highest point in the lower 48 states (and obviously California’s state high point). Because of the quirks of the lottery system required to hike Mt. Whitney, many people are tackling this one in ONE day!
So how would I recommend building up to this type of day hike?
- Determine your hike date. How much time do you have? I recommend at least 4 months of targeted training to be ready for a hike like this. If you need time to establish a foundation before doing any type of targeted mountain hiking training, then back that timeline up another month or 2, allowing yourself 6 months of training time.
- Establish your baseline foundation. Get hiking time on your feet consistently and comfortably. Be able to hike for 60 minutes at least 2x a week. Have your preferred strength training routine established and in place, at least once or twice a week.
- Be committed. Targeted mountain hiking training does take time and consistent commitment. If you have a 3 week vacation coming up or something of the sort, you might want to work around that. You don’t want to have the last couple weeks worth of training before a monster hike fall around the time of your wedding!
- Get your calendar. Schedule your training IN ADVANCE. This is the #1 bit of advice I give – if you have your training days, especially your training hikes, scheduled out in advance, you’re much more likely to stick to a training plan, than if you just wing it and “train when I have time”. Something else will always come up, but if you have your training planned out in advance, it’s interesting how things often have a way of working themselves out around your training.
- Build in GRADUAL INCREMENTS. You know your goal, you know your timeline, you’ve scheduled your training days, you have a good foundation built. Now it’s time to build and target. For mountain hiking in particular, you’re going to want to work up to the DISTANCE and ELEVATION GAIN of your particular goals. In the case of this Mt. Whitney example, you would want to slowly and gradually work up to being able to cover Whitney’s 21 miles and 6,000 feet of elevation gain. So what does this look like?
Here’s a glimpse of an example mountain hiking training calendar (save this for later!):
Notice the gradual increments in weekly mileage, in particular, the long training hikes each week. There are gradual increments in DISTANCE. You’ll also want to build in gradual increments for ELEVATION GAIN as well, depending on your mountain hiking goals. If you are giving yourself 4 months to train for a 4,000 foot gain peak, for example, aim for 1,000 feet gain in your 1st month’s long training hikes, then 2,000 feet in your 2nd month’s long training hikes, and so on. For both distance and elevation gain, I do NOT find it necessary to hit the exact numbers on both prior to your intended hike, but you will want to get close to around 75% during training. This is a general rule borrowed from long distance running, where you do not need to hit the exact mileage and/or elevation gain as your goal event, but close to 75% in training, preferably in your last big training hikes. So if you are training for a 12 mile long hike, you could train up to a 9 or 10 mile training hike as your longest one prior.
Notice also the cross training and strength training days built into this calendar, as well as the necessary rest and recovery days! All of these are important parts of a mountain hiking training plan, so be sure not to skip them. There is also a taper period, which is very important especially for longer distance endurance hikes. For a goal hike of 20 miles, for example, you might want to taper 2-3 weeks out.
A taper period often resembles something like this:
- Taper Week 1: reduce mileage volume to 75% (compared to longest training hike/week)
- Taper Week 2: reduce mileage volume to 50% (compared to longest training hike/week)
The taper is most beneficial for those looking at a one time, long distance, specific mountain hiking goal.
How to Train for Elevation Gain (What If I’m a “Flatlander”)
From one flatlander to another, it can be done! Don’t let that be a reason to not chase your hiking goals.
IF you have natural elevation gain to train on – let’s say you live somewhere like Colorado – then by all means USE it! In my opinion, natural is always the best. You’ll still want to do some strength training to keep those legs strong, but you’re not going to need to worry with supplementing a lot with ellipticals or stair climbing and such. Just train on the uphills you’ve got.
Now, what if you DON’T have mountains, big uphills, or significant elevation gain? What if you are a flatlander like myself? Then you’ll need to get creative, but it absolutely can be done.
- First, don’t make assumptions or overlook your local trails. Often, people may see a humble 2 mile trail and automatically discount it because they assume there’s no way it could be beneficial for mountain hiking training. My own 2 mile local loop trail is the #1 way I train for mountain hiking – even though it’s just under 2 miles roundtrip, it contains almost 300 feet of elevation gain, mostly in 2 main spots. What does 5 loops look like? A 10 mile hike with 1,500 feet of gain. Or even more if I do hill repeats on the two big hills. Most people, even flatlanders, have some options like these.
- It may not even be a trail, but maybe your neighborhood roads have some hill repeats you can utilize. This is not a glamorous option, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover that with just a couple hills in my neighborhood, I could knock out about 350 feet of gain in 2 miles. It makes it pretty easy to get some decent gain. Not glamorous, but again, a lot more people than you may think have these options.
- Second, supplement what you have. So you’ve got a way to get 2,000 feet of gain on a 10 mile hike, but what if you’re needing more? Hill repeats have been mentioned. You can also supplement with time on gym equipment like Jacob’s Ladders and ellipticals, or workout from home doing an hour of step ups and step downs on a platform (weighted is even better). Some people prefer to do climb or run bleachers and stairwells to get extra practice in, though for me personally, this is my last resort choice.
The bottom line is – 99% of people have good options. Some are going to be more glamorous and exciting than others, but at the end of the day you CAN train to hike your mountain from just about anywhere. Get the time in on your feet. Supplement it where you can and need. And strengthen with your additional strength training time.
Form and Mechanics
Want to get even more efficient and injury free when you are training for mountain hiking? Make sure to implement the proper hiking form and mechanics. This focuses on 3 main areas:
- Shortening your stride/step on uphills and downhills
- Staying upright on uphills and downhills
- Using sidestepping for uphills and downhills
Shortening Your Step
Overstriding is a culprit not just in hiking, but in running as well. Many common overuse injuries can be caused by overstriding, and it can be particularly damaging when you are overstriding on an uphill or downhill. Shorten your steps!
Stay Upright
Our center of gravity tends to subconsciously make us over-correct on uphills and downhills. Without even realizing it, a lot of hikers will lean overly forward on steep uphill climbs, and lean overly backwards on steep downhills. This is a normal reaction to our body trying to maintain its center of gravity, but it is not ideal for joints, power, and safe mechanics. Pushing off on an uphill while bent over can cause back problems, plus it draws power from the wrong places. The same goes for leaning too far back. When you stay upright, you are able to engage the right muscles and body parts to source power (your legs), and avoid awkward angles, etc. You don’t want this to feel rigid – don’t hike like there’s a metal rod in your back – but make a conscious effort to hike upright on uphills and downhills.
Sidestepping
This took the longest for me personally to put into place without thinking, but it has probably been the most helpful with mountain hiking. I actually first experienced the benefits of sidestepping years ago on a guided hike on Oregon’s Mt. Hood. When you sidestep up an incline, you avoid putting unnecessary stress and an awkward, head on angle with your ankle, and instead get a broader base with which to push off with. Sidestepping allows you to keep your foot flat and use your entire foot to push off, not your ankle. It engages the right muscle groups, and helps make you a stronger and more efficient uphill hiker. And it works for downhill hiking as well. It does take some time to put into practice before it becomes second nature and muscle memory, but it has huge benefits.
Train for Pace
“Hike your own hike” is a common mantra of the hiking community. And while you should absolutely hike your own hike, I believe that there is a strong case for being mindful of your hiking pace, and training to improve it if necessary.
I work with a lot of Rim to Rim’ers, and while this iconic Grand Canyon hike is not “mountain hiking”, it has shared characteristics. But it does provide a perfect example of why training for pace is important sometimes.
A traditional Rim to Rim hike across the Grand Canyon spans 24 miles. One part of my Rim to Rim training plans is knowing your pace. While I’m not going to hold anyone to a particular pace, I do want them to know what their overall hiking pace is, for uphills, downhills, and flats, consistent over time. This is in order to develop a hiking day timeline for their Rim to Rim hike. If you hike 3mph, that’s going to help you know when you need to depart, when you’ll expect to hit your waypoints and landmarks, and when you should expect to finish. Because I want my hikers to finish before dark. It’s also necessary to help avoid finding themselves hiking through the most exposed and dangerous parts of the trail at the worst part of the day.
This concept applies to mountain hiking as well. If you are hiking an 8 mile roundtrip trail to a high altitude peak, and you know you hike 1.5 mph overall on average, and you know you need to be descending from the summit by noon at the latest, being very familiar with your tested and proven pace will help you know when you need to depart and what your hike should look like in terms of time. While hikes always have the potential for the unexpected, you can mitigate this by having an awareness of your pace, and training for a particular pace goal if needed in your situation.
The Importance of Recovery
As you take on more aggressive training hikes, you are going to want to recover properly! Why is recovery important?
When you tackle a really tough workout, hike, run, etc., you actually do small damages to muscle tissues and such, but the growth comes when you recover and come back stronger! For tough cross training, strength training, and long training hikes, make sure to recover by having a protein and carb rich snack within 30 minutes of completing your workout, to aid your body with immediate recovery. You can check out my “Runner’s Diet: Fueling and Nutrition for Beginners” for a simple intro to fueling and nutrition for endurance athletes, which covers recovery. It may say “runners”, but the concepts apply to anyone in a tough training block. You can also check out my other post on the most protein rich foods for athletes for easy snack, meal, and fueling ideas!
In addition to fueling and nutrition, recovery also involves getting plenty of rest, sleep, and methods such as massaging, stretching, and foam rolling. You can involve some forms of easy active recovery too, like going for an easy walk, or doing yoga.
Training for Environmental Factors
Depending on your hiking goals, you will also want to take into account what environmental factors will be in play. You can target distance and elevation gain all day long, but if you don’t know how to handle heat, exposure, or altitude, your training can still easily get thrown off.
Altitude
Every now and then I’ll get questions about machines or gear that you can wear to help simulate higher altitudes. While there are some gadgets like that out there, what they do is just restrict breathing to make it more challenging, they don’t really simulate a higher altitude. Bottom line is the best thing you can do is acclimate.
If you don’t live near higher elevation, you will probably want to give yourself a few extra days to acclimate ahead of time. These can be short, easy hikes at elevation, or simply spending time walking around, exploring, or having a picnic at higher altitude. For a 14’er hike, especially a longer one where I’ll be at altitude for an extended amount of time, I generally give myself at least 2 days, but often 3, to do some local acclimation hikes and spend a few hours each day at altitude. Even better if you can do a few higher altitude hikes in the weeks leading up.
Deciding to just wing it and hope you don’t get altitude sickness symptoms has the potential to not only be life-threatening, but completely derail a hike you’ve been training for. Much better to find a way to build in that acclimation time before. In addition, make sure to be well hydrated leading up to and during your hike, as well as protecting yourself from elements like sun exposure and heat. Stay well fueled, and listen to your body. Pace yourself well, and don’t rush too fast in a high altitude situation.
Heat and Exposure
Some situations are downright not recommended to hike in. You probably don’t need to hike all day in 120 degree temps with no shade. But if your goal hikes are going to involve some heat and exposure to some degree, you’ll need to acclimate and mitigate as much as you can.
Yes, you can acclimate to hiking in hotter temperatures. That doesn’t necessarily mean hiking in full exposure to the sun, but higher temperatures. Shade is always a good thing to seek out. To acclimate to hiking in hot temperatures, you can perform GRADUAL INCREMENTS. Hike for 15 minutes, then 20, then 30, and so on. You can also use a sauna to help acclimate to hiking in heat.
You can help your body get used to hiking in heat, but you should always pair that with some mitigation strategies for heat and exposure. First, minimize exposure whenever you can. Hike in the shade. Time your hike to be in shade as long as possible. Know how your pace might affect exposure (avoiding the most exposed sections during the hottest parts of the day). Wear the right lightweight, breathable, moisture wicking, light colored clothes! Utilize cooling towels, hats with visors, etc. Know if there are water sources on your trail, and use them if needed. And of course, have a solid hydration plan that involves electrolyte and sodium replacement! Even though it’s not a mountain hike, I have a lot of information on developing a solid fueling and hydration plan for hiking in the Grand Canyon. Because it’s brutally hot there!
Storms
There are places where afternoon storms are common. You’ll want to be off the summit by noon. Generally speaking, it’s a good rule of thumb to just be off any high altitude summit by noon, which means you need to make sure you have a realistic timeline in place. Check out mountain-forecast.com for specific summit forecasts. Because whether can be drastically different at a mountain peak than at the base. And always turn back if there are signs of a gathering storm.
Final Thoughts on Training for Mountain Hiking
Finally, don’t forget the right gear. All the right training can go out the window if you don’t pair it with the right hiking gear. Here’s two different hiking gear checklists to check out to make sure you have everything you need!
With the right training, even the most daunting mountain trails can become achievable, and dare I say – even downright enjoyable. By following this structured mountain hiking training plan, you’ll build the endurance, strength, and stamina needed to power through steep climbs, rocky descents, and long days on the trail. Remember to give yourself plenty of time, know what YOUR goals are, stay consistent, and gradually increase your base. Whether you’re gearing up for your first summit, taking on bigger peaks, or taking up a challenging backcountry trek, this plan will set you up for success – so you can hit the trail feeling strong, prepared, and ready for the adventure ahead.
*Want to get some real life, in person, coaching support for your mountain hiking goals? I now offer both one time consults and long term hiking coaching plans!
Whether you want to talk about what strength training is best for you, how to find good local training trails, or how to mitigate certain environmental elements, I can help walk you through the training process using my background as a 50 state high pointer, long distance endurance day hiker, ultra trail runner, repeat Rim to Rim’er, frequent 14’er, and just all around outdoor enthusiast and active traveler!
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