Preparing For Uneven Terrain

In this episode, I recommend some physical and mental strategies to prepare for the challenge of hiking over uneven and rough terrain.

Whether it is mud, scree, traverses, rock hopping, river crossings, roots or just generally rough terrain, sometimes hiking definitely ain't a walk in the park!

For some, these challenges are just part of the fun. But for many others, these can cause a serious amount of stress, worry and anxiety.

So today, I share with you some simple and effective strategies to help prepare yourself for uneven terrain on the trail, whatever it may be.

You will learn:

• Two areas of physical preparation you NEED to work on if you struggle with uneven terrain
• Why I don't recommend unstable surface training (i.e. swiss or Bosu balls) for hikers
• A breathing technique to help you reduce stress when faced with a tricky bit of terrain
• A simple trick to keep you focused when tackling challenges sections of the trail (plus an embarrassing story of when I forgot to do this...)

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Training For Uneven Terrain While Hiking

Today, we are talking about how to prepare your body and mind for uneven terrain while hiking.

So many people have big adventures in their sights. They know the route will involve mud, traverses, rough tracks, sleet, and even snow. They know uneven terrain will add a huge challenge to the experience.

If you are lucky enough to have access to this type of terrain (whatever it may be), this tends to be not so much of an issue. You can hit the trails, get used to the conditions and let the body adapt.

But if you do not live near anything like this, it can feel stressful.

This is a story that I always think back to:

When I was 18, I was in Brazil doing a multi-day hike in a national park in Bahia.

We signed up for a hike with a local guide. It was just me and another Aussie girl I had never met before.

We walked for a few hours on the trail and then spent the next four or five hours rock hopping along a dry riverbed on the way to a waterfall.

For me, growing up near the beach and rock hopping every weekend as a surfer, this was nothing. I was perfectly comfortable. And I was having a great time!

But the other girl, Sarah, grew up inland in the country. She had never rock hopped. Never spent time on riverbeds. This terrain was completely foreign.

It wasn't that she was unfit. She was probably a more experienced hiker than me. But she was just not ready for the terrain. Physically, she struggled, and mentally, she was out of sorts. And she really had a miserable time for most of the day.

This type of situation is incredibly common.

Not just with rock hopping but with mud, sleet, traverses and rough tracks of all kinds.

So today I am covering the essentials. A few things you should train beforehand, and a couple of simple mental techniques that can help you on the trail when it counts.

Hiking

The first and most obvious preparation is to hike. Hiking on any trail is always more uneven than a treadmill or sidewalk.

If you can hit the trail once a week, great. If once every two weeks, still great. Do what you can. Just make sure this is somewhere in your preparations. This is common sense, so I will not go deeper here.

Strength Training

Strength training is good for almost everything on the trail, especially on uneven terrain.

There are two big reasons.

1) Stronger muscles create more stability.

If you are stepping on uneven rocks and wobbling around without control, it will be a nightmare.

But if you spend some consistent weeks and months strength training, the muscles are stronger, more coordinated and more efficient. They can stabilise better with every step. It makes a huge difference.

2) Stronger muscles are less likely to get injured.

On uneven terrain, you will slip or stumble at some point. Stronger muscles reduce the chances of straining a hamstring, pulling a calf, throwing out your back or taking a heavy fall.

For this situation, you can get a lot of value out of emphasising single-leg strength training.

Doing things like:

• Split squats
• Single-leg deadlifts
• Step downs

A note on 'unstable surface training':

Some people try to prepare by training in the gym on unstable surfaces like Swiss balls, BOSU balls or stability discs. The idea is that this will improve core activation and balance. In theory, it sounds great.
In practice, it is not amazing.

Strength improvements come from the amount of force you can produce.

You simply cannot produce anywhere near the same force on a Swiss ball as you can on solid ground. Instead of training strength, you spend all your energy trying to balance. It is not effective for building the kind of muscle strength you need.

This does not mean unstable surface work will not help balance. It might. But it will not be great for strength. And strength is the key. So, as a general rule, I recommend avoiding unstable equipment for strength work.

Propioception Training

Proprioception is your body’s awareness of where it is in space. If you step without looking, does your body know exactly where your foot is going?

If your proprioception is not so good, uneven terrain becomes much, much harder.

If it is good, your footing and confidence improve, and you significantly reduce your risk of things going wrong.

Training proprioception can be pretty simple.

A basic progression you could follow is:

1. Standing on one leg  (eyes open)
2. Standing on one leg (eyes closed)
3. Standing on one leg on a pillow (eyes open)
4. Standing on one leg on a pillow (eyes closed)

And once you have mastered those basics, you can lead into some 'reach drills'.

Stand on one leg and reach the other leg forward, behind, or to the side.
There are dozens of variations. None of it needs to be complicated.

The goal is to slowly challenge the body’s awareness and balance a little more every week.

Stress Management

Uneven terrain can be mentally exhausting. If every step feels dangerous and your mind is constantly worrying, you will drain your energy fast.

And if you feel like this ever starts to get out of hand, one simple technique here can be belly breathing.

This works anywhere and is especially powerful if you have a fear of heights or fear of slipping.

This is how you do it:

1. Take a big breath through the nose (feel the belly expand)
2. Hold at full capacity for as long as is comfortable
3. Slowly exhale
4. Repeat two or three times

This simple technique can calm you down, shift you out of 'panic' and reset your focus.  

Keeping Focus

Another mental consideration is 'zoning out'.

When you get tired, you can get mentally foggy. You stop paying attention. Your reaction speed goes down. And that can be dangerous.

This happened to me on the Kokoda Track. We had been walking for nine or ten hours. Pouring rain all day. I was exhausted.

We were fifty meters from camp. I saw the tents and mentally switched off. I slipped on a river stone and fell three or four meters down a small cliff.

I was fine (not even a scratch), but it could have been much, much worse. And it all came from losing focus.

If you zone out, the 'one-word focus' technique can help.

Think of a situation in your life where you were completely in the zone.

Crystal clear. Fully focused.

It might be a sport moment, a business meeting, a conversation, anything at all.

Walk through the memory in detail. Then pick the first word that comes to mind to describe how you felt. Could be 'focus', 'clear', 'free', 'zone', or really anything, whatever springs to mind.

Write this down,

Then practice repeating it whenever you need to lock in.

Some people write it on their hands. Some make a bracelet. I have had clients tape a note to the handle of their trekking pole.

And practice this as much as you can. Because the more you practice this, the more powerful this technique can become.

So when you need it on the trail, it can do its job effectively.

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Hiking on uneven terrain can be tough. Physically and mentally.

But if you put these simple tips into action, they can make a genuine difference to your performance, confidence and enjoyment on these trails.

So if you struggle with this, give these a go!

Yours in trekking,

Rowan

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