Get Fit For Hiking With These Helpful Workouts

A mixture of strength training and cardio can help you maximize your fitness for hiking.

Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK

When it comes to hiking trips, a certain level of physical fitness can help you achieve your goals. Whether it's the nearby walking trail or grand mountain peaks, training for your trip is one of the best ways to ensure it's a success.

Where to Train For Trips

Where you decide to train for your trip can impact how well you train. If your plan is to climb Mt. Everest, but you only walk on flat ground, you likely won't have the fitness you need to succeed.

Knowing your route ahead of time (including the elevation gain/loss and distance) is imperative to choosing your training location.

Based on how busy most people are, most training is done in gyms. And the most successful hikers practice weightlifting, cardio, and yoga.

Strength Training For Hiking

Strength training is a great way to build muscle and power for hiking. Many successful athletes strengthen their entire body through a variety of exercises.

Some of the best leg strengthening exercises for hiking include squats, lunges, step-ups, and box jumps.

Core is also an important part of hiking, keeping you upright and balanced on treacherous trails. To train your core, try crunches, sit-ups, planks, and Russian twists.

Training your shoulders and back can help provide extra padding and comfort when carrying a heavy backpack. Try rows, lateral raises, shoulder presses, and pull-ups to strengthen your back and shoulders.

For all strength training exercises, try them without weight, first. Once you've mastered your form, add weight to continue building muscle.

Cardio Training For Hiking

Training your cardiovascular system is also key for a successful hike. There are lots of ways to do cardio, from the Stairmaster to the treadmill to a rowing machine.

The most beneficial way to do cardio for a hike is to ... well, hike!

But if you can't hit the trails, then the Stairmaster or treadmill are your best way to simulate a rigorous hike.

Cardiovascular training is a great way to prepare yourself for a strenuous hike / John Blackie/Pensacola News Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Walking (or better yet, running) at an incline is one of the best ways to prime your legs for uphill hiking. The Stairmaster is a great way to prep for rugged mountains and tough trails like the ones in the northeast.

If you're feeling really hardcore, you can try rucking, which is walking or hiking with weight on your back. The military practices rucking to strengthen soldiers, and many serious mountaineers incorporate it into their training for expeditions.

If running or walking on the treadmill causes knee pain, you can hop on a stationary bike to strengthen your joints while also training your cardiovascular system.

Another great way to prime your joints is yoga.

Yoga For Hiking

If you've ever been for a tough hike, you know that the cramping and soreness the next day can be next-level. One of the best ways to prevent those aches and pains is stretching.

Even better than regular stretching is yoga for hiking. You can take a class at your local studio, pull up a video to follow along with at home, or even just roll out your mat and have your own practice.

Yoga is a great way to prepare and strengthen your body for hiking / JIM RASSOL/THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

When picking yoga poses, concentrate on hip openers such as pigeon pose, warrior pose, and lizard pose. You can also incorporate back stretches to loosen up all those muscles that tighten while you hike.

Yoga can help reduce hip and knee pain while hiking, as well as strengthen your joints overall. It's a great way to prime yourself to hit the trail on your next big adventure!