Common Strength Training Mistakes From Hikers (And What To Do Instead)

Today, we are talking all about some common strength training mistakes hikers often make.

Over the last month or so, I've received quite a few emails, quite a few comments, and had quite a few conversations with different hikers who've been telling me about their strength training.

And in those conversations, I've heard a few common themes coming up. These things are usually mentioned very innocently, just as part of the whole process. But as a professional looking at this from the outside, I know that these mistakes may be quietly getting in the way of long-term progress.

So today I just want to talk through a few of these things I've seen many, many times over the years.

Hopefully, this helps you spot something that may be holding you back.
Now I'm not saying any of these are going to absolutely ruin your workouts.

But if you're looking to improve your training, these are definitely areas worth looking at:

​Common Strength Training Mistakes For Hikers

Mistake #1: Doing Cardio Immediately Before Strength Training

I'll often hear hikers say something like:

"I'm doing loads of training during the week. Pack walking. Running. Intervals. And before I do my strength training, I'll go out and do an hour of running or 45 minutes of pack walking. Then I'll hit the gym and do my strength session."

Now this can work. And it will likely see some improvements. But in all honesty, it's not super effective.

If you're doing genuinely fatiguing work before your strength training, you're burning through your energy stores and starting your strength session already tired.

And when that happens, you can't put in your best effort.

For strength training, you want to be relatively fresh.

You want to be able to concentrate.

You want to be able to exert a reasonable amount of force.

If you're tired before the first rep, you're not going to get the best results.

I highly recommend doing your strength training when you're fresh.

If possible, break up your strength and cardio.

Different days. Morning and evening. Or if you absolutely have to combine them, do your strength work first and cardio after.​

It's a simple change. But over the long term, it can make a significant difference.

Mistake #2: Working The Wrong Muscles

I often hear hikers talking about doing an exercise and feeling in a particular muscle. The problem here is that this particular muscle should not be doing much work in the exercise! Which is obviously a mistake...

Identifying this one can be tough because most people genuinely don't know where they should be feeling after an exercise.

And honestly, that's not your fault.

The information out there is terrible.

Online descriptions about exercises are often flat-out wrong. Charts in gyms describing 'muscles worked' are often wrong. Even well-intentioned trainers sometimes give bad information.

So it can be really hard to know what's correct.

But there are two areas you generally should not be feeling your strength exercises. And if you are feeling a major workout there, you're probably doing something wrong.

The first is the lower back.

Now the lower back is a trouble spot for many people.

And when we talk about strengthening the lower back, we're almost never talking about directly working it.

We're talking about strengthening the supporting muscles above and below it.

If you're doing a strength exercise and your lower back feels like it's doing all the work, that's usually a sign that something is wrong.

*It isn't the end of the world if you feel the lower back doing something (as long as it is not genuinely painful), but this should rarely be the main muscle you feel working.

A lot of people will just train through this, thinking they're helping their back.

But if the majority of the work is in your lower back, you're probably doing it wrong.

In this situation, I strongly recommend getting advice. Talk to a trainer.
Talk to someone experienced. Do some self-study/research.

For example:

If you're doing bent-over rows and feel everything in your lower back and nothing in your upper back, something needs to change.

If you're deadlifting and feel it all in your lower back and nothing in your hamstrings or glutes, then the same story.

If your lower back is dominating any exercise, get some assistance.

The second area to look out for is the upper traps and neck.

The traps run from the top of your neck into your shoulders and down your back.

For most exercises, we do not want them to get a massive workout.
If they are, it usually means something is off.

I had an email from a hiker recently who told me he loved bicep curls because he felt them in his biceps and his traps.

Problem is, you shouldn't be feeling bicep calls in your traps...

The same goes for rows, pull-ups, and pressing movements.

If everything is felt in the upper neck and traps, something needs fixing.

The only times you should really feel your upper traps are:

• Shrugs
• Upright rows
• Very heavy deadlifts (a little)

Anything else, and you should seek out some help.

Mistake #3: Rushed Repetitions

It is very common for people to absolutely fly through their squats, lunges, deadlifts, and everything else.

This became popular with CrossFit and high-intensity interval training.

In these formats, quick movements are encouraged. We want to chase the muscle burn. We want to chase speed. We want to get really out of breath during our sets.

For hikers, this style of strength training is not very relevant.

You should not be rushing your repetitions. You should not be bouncing through movements. Most exercises should be slow and controlled.

A really simple rule of thumb is for each repetition you do:

• Aim for three to four seconds in the 'easy' portion of the movement (e.g. on the way down on squats).
• Aim for one second on the 'hard' portion (e.g. the way up on squats).
  
  

And you can even add a short pause here and there (e.g. at a second pause at the bottom of the squat).

This is a simple way of getting the most out of every repetition, ensuring you are challenging the 'eccentric' contractions of your muscles (which is very beneficial for hikers) and is an easy way of training any 'weak spots' which can often get neglected during fast repetitions.​

It takes a lot more concentration, but it can pay off massively over the long term for hikers.

​Mistake #4: Not Resting Enough

People often bounce from exercise to exercise with very little rest.

For strength development, you generally want around two minutes of rest between sets for the working muscles. If you are shorter than this (even if you feel like you can go again much sooner) you are often compromising how much you can effectively push the exercise (and therefore, how much you can improve.

Yes, sitting around for two minutes in between every set of exercises feels like a waste of time. And I do not recommend that approach (unless you particularly enjoy that!).

Instead, I recommend filling up these 'rest' periods with other exercises that work different areas of the body, but are still productive.

For example, I commonly have my hikers filling their rest periods with things like:

• Core training
• Mobility/stretching 
• Balance training
• Upper body strength

An example of what this might look like in a workout is:

1. Step ups (lower body)
2. Push-ups (upper body)
3. Deadbugs (core)
4. Hamstring stretch (mobility)
   ​

You would flow through each exercise, with minimal rest in between (the stretch is your 'rest).

This allows there to be plenty of rest in between sets on each of your muscle groups, but is still a very efficient use of your time.

If you are only resting 30 or 60 seconds in between your sets, you are not giving your muscles enough time to recover.

You might feel like you are getting a good workout, you might be getting a good burn. But you are compromising your strength development (and, if you are doing strength training to improve your strength, we don't want that!)​

If you find yourself rushing between exercises, it's probably time to rethink how you structure your workouts.

Strength training can be an amazing addition to any hiker's week, and it comes with a ton of benefits for both on and off the trail.

And if you can avoid these mistakes in your training, it can go a LONG way to helping you reap the amazing benefits it can provide (for both on and off the trail).

If you were a hiker who needed help with their training, and wanted to ensure they were doing the right things to best improve their strength, fitness and resilience for the trail, you can check out the Online Summit Program here:

Online Personal Training For Hikers

Yours in trekking,

Rowan 

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