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My ideal holiday involves hills and hikes. Whether I am trekking above the clouds in Madeira, taking a day off skiing to snow-shoe through the forest in Canada, scrambling up fells in The Lakes or taking in the sea air on the Jurassic Coast, I love the sense of freedom and peace trails bring.
I have an active life as a personal trainer and Pilates instructor, as well as our four horses and two dogs at home. This means that I really can’t afford to return with injuries, aches or pains! In order to be fit enough to take on whatever adventure awaits, I incorporate strength training as well as walking, to give me the baselines to say yes to adventure!
Let’s dive into how strength training can help you unlock your potential.
The Benefits of Strength Training for Female Hikers
Injury Prevention
Hiking, especially on rugged trails, puts considerable strain on your knees, hips, and lower back. By incorporating strength training, you can strengthen the muscles that support these joints, reducing the risk of common injuries. Building resilience in key muscle groups means you'll be able to hike longer and recover faster, allowing you to safely enjoy more challenging adventures.
Increased Endurance and Power
Strength training is vital for maintaining endurance, particularly as women generally have a higher percentage of endurance-focused muscle fibers than men. However, building and preserving our strength becomes even more important as we age. By participating in weight training, you can develop power and muscular force, which translates to more efficient and energy-saving strides on the trail. With improved endurance, you’ll be able to tackle those longer, more challenging hikes without fatigue holding you back.
Enhanced Muscle Mass and Long-Term Health
Muscle loss can start as early as age 40 and accelerates with hormonal changes during menopause. Without action, you could lose up to 50% of your lean muscle mass by age 80. Starting strength training now helps you build a strong foundation, allowing you to stay active and agile well into your later years. Additionally, studies show that resistance training can significantly reduce the risk of chronic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular issues, and overall disabilities, making it as crucial as aerobic exercise for long-term health.
Improved Stability and Balance
Hiking often requires navigating uneven terrain, balancing on rocks, and managing slopes, all of which call for stability. Strength training, especially exercises focused on your core and lower body, enhances your stability and helps prevent falls, giving you more confidence as you explore new trails.
My Personal Journey
If you’re pretty new to walking, you might think that someone like me has always been this active but at 29yo my body put the brakes on after I caught a virus. I went from being what I thought was a fit and healthy twenty something to someone who couldn’t walk down my street or get up the stairs alone, virtually overnight.
Getting a diagnosis at that stage was one of the toughest things I have ever done. In hindsight, I suspect that I was set for a perfect storm and my body decided it was no longer safe so it went into low power mode. (You can read more about the brain and safety in our blog on the brain-body connection). With a shocking lack of support from the medical community, I turned to a holistic approach to healing and this has hugely influenced my approach to self care and my clients even now.
I treated myself like an athlete, just with an absurdly low starting point. My priorities became: a progressive programme (can I walk to the bottom of the garden once, then twice and so on), rest and recovery (you don’t really know the importance of pacing until your body has a sensitive off switch), nutrition (healing myself from the inside out, also as it turned out I had celiac disease as well) and I got a dog.
If you know me, you’ll know I LOVE setting huge challenges so I got a high energy, high endurance, high intelligence working breed (GSP). Through Isla I made social connections, I had motivation to get out every day and I had someone to snuggle and rest with.
I have never ditched this approach and now I can zip off to Chamonix with Lil for a long weekend of hiking without extra training or recovery!
Getting Started with Strength Training for Hiking
If you’re new to strength training, here are a few tips to help you integrate it into your hiking routine:
Focus on Compound Movements: Exercises like squats, lunges, and step-ups engage multiple muscle groups, building overall strength for the trail.
Incorporate Core Work: Core exercises, such as planks, bridges, and rotations, enhance your stability, which is essential for balance on uneven terrain.
Start Slow: If strength training is new to you, consider working with a personal trainer to develop a program tailored to your needs and hiking goals.
Be Consistent: Aim for at least two strength-training sessions per week to see the best results and stay trail-ready.
Join Our Holistic Online Coaching Program for Female Hikers
Looking for a structured approach to elevate your hiking experience? Consider joining our 6-week holistic online coaching program designed specifically for female hikers. This program includes:
A progressive, hiking-focused training plan tailored to enhance your strength, stability, and endurance.
Nutritional advice to help you fuel your body effectively, optimizing your energy for long hikes.
Mindset work to develop resilience and confidence, empowering you on each new adventure.
Final Thoughts
Strength training is an essential component of a successful hiking routine, especially for female hikers. By prioritising your strength, you’ll not only enhance your performance but also reduce the risk of injuries, improve your stability on the trail, and boost your overall enjoyment of hiking.
Women often respond exceptionally well to strength training, experiencing even greater relative improvements than men. Engaging in strength training can elevate your growth hormone levels and maintain muscle strength as you age. Embrace the journey, invest in your strength and watch as your hiking transforms. Every trail becomes an opportunity to become a stronger, more confident hiker!
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