How to Train for a Backpacking Trip

The best preparation for carrying a pack uphill is carrying a pack uphill. General fitness helps and it is not the same adaptation — your feet, shoulders, and the connective tissue in your knees need specific loading that a treadmill does not provide.

1. 1

   Start with loaded walking, not the gym

   Walk with the pack you will carry, loaded to roughly the weight you will carry. Start at half your target trip distance and build. This conditions the exact tissues and reveals hot spots, strap problems, and fit issues while you can still fix them.

2. 2

   Build weekly volume gradually

   Increase total weekly distance by no more than about 10% a week. Most overuse injuries come from adding distance faster than tissue adapts, and an injury four weeks out costs far more than a slower build would have.

3. 3

   Train downhill deliberately

   Descending loads your quads eccentrically and is what leaves people unable to walk on day three. Uphill fitness comes relatively quickly; downhill tolerance does not. Include real descents in training rather than only climbs, even if it means walking down a hill you drove up.

   Poles for knee supportReducing descent load on the joints

   Read Guide →
4. 4

   Wear the exact boots and socks you will use

   Blisters are the most common trip-ruining problem and they are almost entirely preventable by finding the hot spots in training. New boots on day one of a trip is the single worst footwear decision available.

   Breaking in bootsDoing it before the trip, not on it

   Read Guide →
5. 5

   Add strength work for the specific weak points

   Step-ups, lunges, calf raises, and core work address what hiking loads hardest. Two short sessions a week is enough alongside the walking. This is a supplement to loaded hiking rather than a replacement for it.

6. 6

   Taper the last week

   Reduce volume in the final week so you arrive rested rather than accumulating fatigue. Training gains come from recovery, and a hard week before a trip leaves you starting tired.

Eight-Week Progression