Hiking Fitness
The classic answer to 'how fit do I need to be to go hiking?' is 'it depends'. Sorry.
It depends on many factors - what distance are you hiking, for how long do you think you will be hiking (btw, it always takes longer than you think), is it a multi-day hike, where is the hike, what is the terrain like, is it at altitude, what weight are you carrying, what food and drink will you have … blah, blah, blah.
Let's face it though, you don't need have the fitness of a professional triathlete to climb say the Great Sugar Loaf in Wicklow, but you do need some cardio fitness as the pull up to the top is not trivial.
In our day-to-day lives we have levels of cardiovascular endurance, strength, power, balance and stability, mobility & flexibility, muscular endurance, coordination & agility and anaerobic fitness. The way I think about is that I need to work on all of these, some more than others, to be 'hiking' fit and where my hiking shifts up through the gears - say from climbing Carrauntoohil in Kerry to Mount Toubkal in Morocco to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to something in the Himalayas, then my training and focus areas need also to have a significant uplift.
In an ordinary period where I am just trying to be fit so that if somebody suggests a long day-hike anywhere in Ireland I do the following:
2 - 3 HIIT classes per week
2 - 3 strength/power sessions in the gym per week
2 - 3 zone 2 running sessions per week
For strength and power in the gym I am monotonous in the exercises I do - back squats, deadlifts, overhead press, RDLs and chest press. For Zone 2 running, it is 30 minutes 2 - 3 times per week, which is usually somewhere between 5 to 6 kms.
If I am training for say some trip or expedition - like I am going to the Alps to climb 2 4000m peaks in July, I up the intensity, definitely 3 times per week each training type and in the gym I push the weights up - progressive overload.
I caveat this by saying that this works for me, at least it hasn't let me down yet. But you get the idea. Should you get a personal trainer - probably, a good idea to get a plan together and have accountability! I am a qualified PT, so can set my own plan, usually 12 weeks prior to any expedition is a sufficient timescale - as long as you are not starting from ground zero.
Last point, do you know where you are starting from? I climbed Island Peak in 2024 and before I began seriously training for that I needed to know where I was at and so got my VO2 max measured and then put a plan in place to improve it. This is a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen your body consumes at maximum effort - basically how efficient are your heart, lungs and muscles in delivering and utilising oxygen. The higher the value then the longer you can go without fatiguing. Important when you are operating near your limits. There are several businesses and fitness centres that offer this service and can work with you to help improve the measure - one of the best ways to improve VO2 max is the aforementioned Zone 2 runs. Anyway, worth thinking about.
Last last point .. at the end of the day nothing better prepares you than being out on the hills for many hours with a weighted pack on your back!
