Quick Workouts For Hikers

Today I share five quick workouts a hiker can use when they are strapped for time or demotivated to train longer sessions.

Today, we are talking all about quick workouts for hikers.


In the perfect world, we would all have plenty of time to dedicate to our training.


We would be able to consistently do sessions lasting 30, 40 or 60 minutes. And slowly build these up each week.


But life isn't always perfect. All too often, things come up that get in the way of our routine.


Maybe family visiting, or a busy work period, or school holidays or a dozen other things.


And the common trap people fall into here is to do nothing, which is a mistake.


Because even managing to do a small amount of training during busy times can be incredibly beneficial for maintaining your routine and consistency, not to mention aiding your energy, stress and mood.


So that is what today is all about. Sharing 5 super quick workouts a hiker can use when life gets busy.


To be clear, this definitely isn't the best long-term approach to training...


But they can be great when needed.

Time Efficient Workouts For HIkers

Workout #1: The Single Hill Climb

Often, I talk about repeated hill intervals with a pack for 30, 40, or 60 minutes.

This can be an amazing workout, but not super practical if you are short on time.

For this workout, you will find one long hill or set of stairs nearby.

You will load up a pack. Walk up the hill once. Walk down once. Then you are done.

On the way up, try to push the speed a bit and give yourself a challenge. On the way down, just take it easy.

If you can find a hill or stairs that will take 5-15 minutes to climb (if you are lucky enough to have something convenient), this can be a great option.

Workout #2: The 'Failure' Circuit

If you're doing strength training at home or in a gym and you don't have much time, this can be a great option.

First, warm up properly. Take 5 minutes to get the body moving.

Then choose 4-6 strength exercises you want to do.

For each exercise, do one set, but go to 'technical failure' (e.g., the point at which your form begins to break down).

So, for example, you might do something like this:

1. Reverse lunges x as many as you can
2. Rest 1 mn
3. Push-ups x as many as you can
4. Rest 1 min
5. Hip thrust x as many as you can
6. Rest 1 min
7. Bent over row x as many as you can
8. Rest 1 min
9. Squats x as many as you can

Do this one time. Load up each exercise with a weight that feels like a moderate challenge (if you can do 20+ reps of an exercise, you probably want to go a bit heavier).

This isn't traditional strength training. But if you push hard enough and mentally commit, it can be surprisingly effective.

You can get a lot done in about 15 minutes.

Workout #3: The 1x 20 Workout

This one is only really recommended for a hiker who has solid strength training experience (and is confident and comfortable using more challenging weights).

Choose one big, compound exercise (such as a squat, deadlift or leg press).

Warm up normally.

Load up a weight that you could normally lift for 10 reps.

Now you are going to do 20 reps with that weight.

You won't be able to do this nonstop (because you are loading it up with a weight where you can normally only do 10 in a row).

But whenever you need a rest, you will stay in position, take a couple of breaths and keep on going.

You may need to take quite a few 'micro breaks' until you hit the 20, but do what you need to do.

This is a real physical and mental challenge. But if you only have 10-15 minutes to train hard (including a solid warm-up), this is an interesting option!

Workout #4: 15 Minute Time Trial

This can be done as:

• A treadmill incline walk
• Rowing
• Stairmaster
• Ellptical
• Run (if you are a confident runner)

Warm up. Then set a timer fr 15 minutes. And push the speed until the timer is done, and see how far you can get.

This is meant to be higher intensity. This is meant to feel like a race. It should be a challenge.

It is simple, but it can get a lot of work done in a short amount of time.

Workout #5: The 15 Minute Heavy Pack Walk

This can be a great option if you need something convenient to do in the local area.

Load up a pack quite heavy (aiming to be substantially heavier than what you usually carry on the trail).

When you get a spare moment, put the pack on and do laps around your local area for 15 minutes.

This is not a race (so you don't have to powerwalk), but it is just about loading the muscles up with the pack weight.

Once the 15 minutes is done, go back home, leave the pack at your door for easy access, and get back into your day.

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When life gets busy, keeping up a small amount of training can have some incredible benefits.

Hopefully, these quick workouts give you a bit of inspiration on what you can get done, even with a short amount of time.

So next time life gets busy, pull one of these out and give it a go!

And if you are a hiker who always seems to be tight on time, and struggle to find a consistent (and effective) training routine to help your hiking, you can check out the Online Summit Program here:

Online Training For Hikers 

Yours in trekking,

Rowan ​