In less than a year, I’m going to be trekking up to the summit of Springer Mountain and hiking north through the Appalachian mountain range for over 2,000 miles. If that sounds like a big undertaking, it’s because it is! Many people have different ways of training to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail—and some don’t train at all. However, I know that for my success, I want to be as prepared as I can be.
Working a full-time job plus a side-gig or two doesn’t leave a lot of time left over for training. But with some research and creativity, I’ve created a system that’s building my muscles for the AT without taking too much time.
Hiking
What better way to train for backpacking than by getting on my feet and walking? Hiking nearby parks allows me to build stamina, strengthen the muscles I’ll be using while I’m backpacking, and mentally prepare for days spent walking.
I have a schedule: Tuesday and Thursday I do a short hike (4.5 miles round trip) at the park near my house, and Saturday or Sunday I do a long hike (8+ miles).
These hikes are not gentle meanders through the woods: instead, I use each hike as an opportunity to push myself harder and harder. If I haven’t lost my breath or come back without any tired muscles, it’s defeating the purpose. I use my short hikes as an opportunity to walk fast and hard. Each morning, I try to come back with a quicker speed. For my longer hikes, I focus on endurance and adding more distance to my hikes. I know on the AT, I’ll want to be traveling around 12-15 miles a day, and so I’m building towards being comfortable hiking that mileage.
With these hikes is also the opportunity to carry pack weight. I started hiking without any pack weight, but since then, as I get up-to-speed or comfortable with a certain pack weight, it gets bumped up by five pounds. This helps my body build the muscles it needs to carry a pack, but also allows my body to get used to carrying a pack and the associated weight. By the time I get to the AT, I want my pack to feel like an extension of myself, that I’m so comfortable with I can take anywhere!
Krav Maga
Krav Maga is a self-defense fighting system that comes from Israel. Translated as “contact combat,” it is about being fierce, strong, and in control. Not only do I recommend some form of self-defense for any woman, it’s a great way to get moving and strength your body. At the school where I’m take it twice a week, we start off with strength training and aerobic exercise before we get into the specific Krav Maga techniques of our belts. After working on perfecting the techniques, we put them to use at the end of each session in a highly active, sometimes chaotic way.
Backpacking trips
While I can’t go on many long backpacking trips, taking a couple weekends (like when I tested the UL Granite 2P) to go to hiking are perfect ways to test out my gear, build some tougher trail legs, and get comfortable with my set up for the AT. Plus, it gives me additional experience with backpacking, which in turn only makes me better prepared for my hike.
These small backpacking trips are perfect opportunities to “shakedown” gear and make sure that what I’m taking on my thru-hike is actually gear that works well for my hiking style and needs. By the time I get to the Appalachian Trail, my pack should already have gone through a couple of “shedding pounds” stages, making it as light as it can be while thru-hiking.
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Zero days and resting
This is not often talked about. After hard exercise, your body needs a chance to rest and recuperate. It’s during your sleep and your downtime that your body rebuilds muscles, replenishes, and protects against injury. Experts suggest a rest day every 7-10 days. To keep it easy for myself, I take one day a week as a “zero day.” Use this day to spend time with friends or family, read a book, catch up on a TV show, or do something else to relax both your mind and your body.
Other ideas for training to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail
- Stairs
- Kickboxing
- Running (or trail running)
- Strength training at a gym
- Biking or stationary biking
- Swimming
How are you training for your long hikes?
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6 comments
Hello. I am on trail at the moment. My trail name is Flat Pick. I am doing a flip flop out of Harpers Ferry. I am currently in Southern Vermont. It is a zero day waiting out a rain storm. Your training is all valid. Keep it up. The one thing I did not train enough on last summer was different trail surfaces. I am 60 years old and have been backpacking, skiing, running, etc all my life. The big muscles were ready for the trail in May but the little “control and balance” muscles were not. If I prepped again for the AT I would have spent much more time in wet gnarled root surfaces. I would have trained on wet slippery rock steps, down more importantly than up. I would have trained more on loose gravelly spree. I also would have figured out my pack load shift adjustments better. The small slip due to difficult trail surface can be followed by a 30 lb 1/2 inch impact a split second after your body absorbs the slipping shock of the release of your foot wear sole on the surface you are traveling. These constant impacts really work the small muscles you never think about until they are screaming at you after an eight hour hike. The other thing I would do is hike for no less than 8 hours many days in a row. Of course taking breaks along the way. It is incredible the difference in multiple 8 hour hikes in a row versus a day of training and a day of different training. Anyway. Enjoy the journey. These are things that would have probably made my first 500 miles a little more enjoyable
Hi Flat Pick! Thanks for commenting.
Those are great training suggestions! I will definitely keep in mind training those “little muscles.” I think my martial arts training is helping with that a good deal: It’s important to keep your feet under you as you make minor shifts in your stance and poses while punching or kicking. Working on difficult terrain is also something I’ve been trying to do–and it’s good to know it will be helpful when I get to the trail!
Corrected my name
Looks like a good plan. I’m hoping to get more packing in. I did GSMNP from each end to Newfound Gap when I was young but mostly packing into a Scout camp since then. I should have made time to through hike when I was younger.
I would be sure to take bear boxes to hang my food and snacks as well as keeping my carry weight to a minimum.
Ongoing support plans are critical to make the hike work.
You should have a segment on diet. I think the standard calorie dense diet is a bad idea, (high sugar/fat/heavily processed). It’s inflammatory. When I eat that way and hike I’ve gotten more and more sore the older I’ve got. 61 now but when I was much younger I still got sore. Cleaner the diet the less sore I am after hiking. I think sugar is the biggest culprit. Here is a link to a study done at Colorado university a few years ago you may have seen. Short read. Fascinating findings.
https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2021/03/30/junk-food-and-big-miles-may-not-add-how-thru-hikers-hope
Processed sugar is a huge culprit in food. This study is fascinating and is a good note for all thru-hikers or long-distance hikers to take note of!