Online Hiking Training & Coaching for Your Next Adventure
Get stronger, build endurance, and feel prepared for your next hike, backpacking trip, or trek. Your online training program is built around where you’re starting, where you’re going, and how much time you have to prepare. Whether you’re training for your first backpacking trip or a major trek, you’ll have a clear plan to help you arrive stronger and better prepared.
Training for a Hike Takes More Than Just Walking
Walking and hiking are important parts of preparing for a big hike, but they’re only part of the equation. Long days on the trail require strength, endurance, balance, and the ability to keep moving when you’re tired—especially when you’re dealing with elevation, uneven terrain, or carrying a pack.
What the Trail Demands
- Climbing and descending strength
- Cardiovascular endurance
- Leg and core strength
- Balance and stability on uneven terrain
- Carrying a backpack comfortably
- Maintaining strength and energy over long days
- Recovering for another day of hiking
What Your Training Builds
Your training is built around the hike or trip you’re preparing for and where you’re starting now. Depending on your goal, your program may include strength training, cardiovascular conditioning, hills or stairs, loaded carries, balance and stability work, and progressively longer walks or hikes.
The goal isn’t just to finish your hike. It’s to arrive feeling strong enough and prepared enough to enjoy it.
Train for Your Adventure
Every hiking goal is different, and your training should be too. You might be preparing for a challenging day hike, your first backpacking trip, several days on the trail, or a trek you’ve been planning for years. Your program is built around where you’re going, where you’re starting, and how much time you have to prepare.
Challenging Day Hikes
Build the strength and endurance for longer distances, sustained climbs, steep descents, and more demanding days on the trail.
Backpacking Trips
Prepare to carry a loaded pack, handle uneven terrain, and maintain your strength and endurance over consecutive days.
Multi-Day Treks
Train for long days, repeated elevation gain, and the cumulative demands of trekking day after day.
Adventure Travel
Prepare for the hiking and physical demands of a specific trip or destination so you can spend more time enjoying the experience and less time worrying about whether you’re ready for it.
How Online Hiking Training Works
Your training is built around you and the adventure you’re preparing for. Instead of following a generic hiking training plan, you’ll have a personalized program that progresses as you get stronger and your trip gets closer.
1. Tell Me About Your Adventure
We’ll start with your hiking or backpacking goal, trip date, current fitness, training experience, schedule, available equipment, and any specific challenges you’re preparing for.
2. Get Your Personalized Training Plan
I’ll build your program around the hike or trip you’re preparing for. Depending on your goal, that may include strength training, cardiovascular conditioning, hiking-specific workouts, balance and stability work, hills or stairs, and training with a pack.
3. Train With Ongoing Coaching
Your workouts are delivered through Trainerize, where you can follow your program, track your workouts and progress, and stay in contact with me. I’ll adjust your training as you progress so your program continues to match your needs and your goals.
Your plan changes as you progress, because your training six months before a trek shouldn’t look the same as your training six weeks before it.
Train for Where You’re Going
Where you’re going matters. Training for the Tour du Mont Blanc is different from preparing for a long day hike or carrying a pack on a backpacking trip. Distance, elevation, terrain, and consecutive days on the trail all affect how you should prepare.
Tour du Mont Blanc
Prepare for long days of hiking, significant elevation gain and loss, and multiple consecutive days on the trail.
Trekking in Nepal
Build the strength and endurance needed for extended trekking, sustained climbing, and demanding days in the mountains.
Camino de Santiago
Prepare your body for repeated days of walking and the cumulative demands of covering long distances day after day.
Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim
Train for the unique challenge of major elevation loss and gain, long mileage, and sustained hiking in demanding conditions.
Patagonia
Build the fitness, strength, and durability for long hiking days, varied terrain, and multi-day trekking adventures.
Kilimanjaro
Prepare for consecutive days of trekking and the strength and endurance demands of a major mountain objective.
Going somewhere else? Your training can be built around virtually any hiking, backpacking, or trekking goal.
What Your Hiking Training May Include
No two hiking training programs look the same. What you do will depend on where you’re starting, what you’re preparing for, and how much time you have before your trip.
Strength Training
Build stronger legs, hips, core, and upper body to handle climbing, descending, uneven terrain, and carrying a pack.
Cardiovascular Conditioning
Develop the aerobic fitness and endurance needed to keep moving comfortably during longer days on the trail.
Hiking-Specific Conditioning
Use workouts designed to prepare you for the distance, elevation gain, terrain, and duration of your planned hike or trek.
Pack & Load Preparation
Gradually prepare for carrying the weight you’ll actually need on your adventure, whether that’s a daypack or a backpacking pack.
Balance, Stability & Mobility
Improve your ability to move confidently over uneven terrain while maintaining the mobility and stability needed for long days of hiking.
Progressive Training
Your training becomes more specific as your adventure gets closer, helping you build fitness gradually rather than trying to cram your preparation into the final few weeks.
The goal is to build the fitness your adventure actually requires, not just to make you better at working out.
Why Train With Cary?
Hiking training sits at the intersection of several things I’ve spent much of my life doing: fitness and strength training, endurance sports, rehabilitation, coaching, and outdoor adventure.
I’m a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and licensed Physical Therapist Assistant with more than 20 years of experience in fitness and coaching. My athletic background includes collegiate swimming, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials, Ironman triathlons, running, hiking, and backpacking.
I’ve also spent years exploring and leading adventures outdoors. I’ve worked as a wilderness trip leader in the United States and Canada, trekked in Nepal, backpacked through New Zealand, and completed endurance events in Southeast Asia and Australia.
All of those experiences influence how I train people for hiking. I know that preparing for a big hike or trek isn’t just about getting in better shape. You need to be ready for the distance, elevation, terrain, pack weight, and long days you’ll actually encounter.
NASM Certified Personal Trainer • Licensed Physical Therapist Assistant • Former Collegiate Swimmer & U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier • Ironman Finisher • Wilderness Trip Leader
Is Online Hiking Training Right for You?
You don’t need to be an experienced hiker or elite athlete to train for an adventure. Online hiking training can be a good fit if you have a goal on the calendar and want a structured plan to help you prepare for it.
Online hiking training may be a good fit if you:
- Have a big hike, trek, or backpacking trip coming up
- Want to get in better shape for hiking
- Are preparing for longer distances or more elevation
- Want to feel stronger and more confident on climbs and descents
- Need to prepare for carrying a backpack
- Aren’t sure how to combine strength training, cardio, and hiking
- Want ongoing coaching instead of following a generic hiking training plan
Whether your goal is your first challenging hike or a major trekking adventure, your training starts with where you are now and builds toward where you want to go.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far in advance should I start training for a hiking trip?
For a bigger hiking, backpacking, or trekking goal, starting several months in advance gives you more time to build strength and endurance gradually. How much time you need depends on your current fitness, the difficulty of your trip, and how much training you’re already doing. Your program will be built around both your starting point and your trip date.
How do I get in shape for a big hike?
A good hiking training program usually involves more than just walking or hiking. Strength training, cardiovascular conditioning, hiking-specific workouts, balance and stability work, and gradually increasing your training demands can all play a role. Your program will focus on the areas that matter most for your particular hike or trip.
Do I need access to a gym?
No. Your training can be designed around the equipment and space you have available. If you have access to a gym, we can use it. If you prefer to train at home, your program can be built around that instead.
Can you train me for a specific hike or trek?
Yes. Your program can be designed around a specific hiking, backpacking, or trekking goal. Distance, elevation gain and loss, terrain, pack weight, number of hiking days, and the time you have to prepare can all help shape your training.
What if I'm a beginner?
That’s completely fine. You don’t need to already be an experienced hiker or highly fit to start. Your training begins at an appropriate level for your current fitness and progresses from there.
How does online hiking coaching work?
After learning about your goals, current fitness, schedule, available equipment, and upcoming adventure, I’ll create your personalized training program. Your workouts are delivered through Trainerize, where you can follow your plan, track your training, communicate with me, and see your progress. I’ll continue to adjust your program as you progress and your adventure gets closer.
Can training prepare me for hiking at high altitude?
Training can help you improve the strength and cardiovascular fitness needed for a demanding trek, but physical fitness does not prevent altitude illness or replace proper acclimatization. If your trip involves significant altitude, your training can prepare you for the physical demands, but you should also follow appropriate acclimatization and medical guidance for your destination.
Ready to Start Training for Your Adventure?
Whether you’re preparing for a challenging hike, a backpacking trip, or a once-in-a-lifetime trek, I’ll build a personalized training plan to help you arrive stronger, fitter, and better prepared for the adventure ahead.