To be the best hiker you can be demands that the majority of your "training" involves hiking. This is known as the Specificity Principle. The Specificity Principle, a universal training law, states that the body adapts to EXACTLY how you train it, all the way down to a cellular level.
Similar is not the same. A treadmill or stair climber might appear to mimic hiking movements, but they just aren't the same. And your body knows it, too!
Spend most of your time training on a trail. Even better, spend time training on trails you plan on hiking. It doesn't get any more specific than that! The rest of your available training time should be spent training at home, at a park, or in a fitness center, specifically targeting the muscles and joints important to a hiker through a properly design cardiorespiratory, resistance, and flexibility program.
Let me give you an example from my own training. Climbing all 58 of Colorado's mountains over 14,000 feet has been my goal for seven years now. I have five mountains to go. Five extremely challenging, potentially dangerous peaks. Any knowledgeable hiker will tell you that the descent is the most dangerous part of a hike. To prepare for the rigors of descending steep trails, I specifically find steep, challenging sections of trail (or off trail) to prepare me physically and mentally for descending other trails and mountains. Check out my "Specificity of Training" video below. It's worth it just to see what happened to my Nalgene bottle : )
To learn more about the Garden of the Gods, click HERE.
Happy Hiking!
Heath
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