How can I get in shape for hiking mountain trails?

I see that you lift, but do you do squats? If not, you should probably do some to strengthen your legs.

@Michael_Huntington I’ve been doing one set of 15 with 80 pounds. The heaviest weight I currently have is a set of 40 pound dumbbells. I could do a lot more weight, but I’m thinking that keeping the weight light and building up the number of sets of 15 reps I can do will be more productive for endurance. Same goes for double-leg calf raises. Right track / wrong track?

I would think a treadmill on a fairly steep incline and stairmaster would help your quads and other leg muscles.

@janbb I don’t want to join a fitness center. Too much money.

@ETpro Run up and down stairs in your house then?

Run stadium steps (or at least jog) at the Harvard Stadlium or any other college stadii in your area. There must be some.

Walk up and down stairs in any of the tall business bldgs, like John Hancock, in your ‘hood. That’ll put hair on your chest.

@janbb & @gailcalled Great idea. Doing stairs with a 40 pound pack and swinging two 15 pound dumbbells in the heavyhands motions will either make a real man out of me… or make a deadman out of me.

I can build up to it a bit at a time.

@ETpro: Jeez, it’s just the White Mountains, not K-2. I climbed Mt. Layafette as a fourteen-year old with no training and brown tied oxfords. Both ways.

@ETpro Yeah you’re on the right track. You might want to do 3 sets of 5 instead of doing 15 reps in a row so you can get a quick 30–90 sec break between sets. If you have access to a barbell, I’d recommend alternating between using dumbbells and the barbell.

@ETpro I love that hike. Lots of good memories there.

My vote would be stairs as well. You can even wear a pack while you do it. If there’s a good, long staircase in your region (possibly in a large park?), you’ll likely find that a lot of other people already do this on a daily basis, for various reasons and with all kinds of different gear. I’ve found this in a couple of cities I’ve lived in.

I was concerned about altitude differences. I looked up this Livestrong article that gives you some great suggestions re such things as interval training and breathing rhythm. I realize you will not be looking at great altitude differences but every little bit hurts.

@gailcalled But would you do it today with no training?

If I were fourteen, sure.

Exactly.

@gailcalled As @glacial notes, I could have easily climbed it when I was 14. now, 55 years later, it’s something that will take some getting used to.

@Michael_Huntington Thanks.

@rojo Much appreciated.

Steps. There must be some steep steps near you? Go and walk up them to start with then down and repeat as often as you can. Increase your repetitions and speed as your fitness increases.

It doesn’t have to cost you anything and you can do it any time.

Yup. Steps. Lots of them. Frequently. With weight on your back.

@ETpro: Which suburb?

In your training, watch out for you knees. If you feel a twinge, lay off for a time. It is much easier to catch up on you training than try to rehab injuries. And if you are doing steps and inclines, but more particularly the downhills these are tough on the old knees.

I would think just continue to hike till it hurts just a little,maybe at places you can get back to the head if you need to. Such as a loop. Thats what I do because I tend to be a minimalist. Not going to go to the gym or any of that. Gyms suck. The trail is the gym. It doesn’t need to be an Iron-man triathlon with all the intensity addicts. I don’t go anywhere my dog can’t go.

@Bellatrix & @Rarebear Thanks. Stairs I can definitely find.

@gailcalled Everett. I’m just off the Mystic River, which has miles of parks and trails in it, but not much in the way of steps. I’ll have to check on access to stadiums. There’s a 6 story parking garage with stairs over at the Wellington Station T Stop. And there are two bridges to walk up and down to get there. That might do.

@rojo Thanks. My son’s in the Army and trains with a 70 pound rucksack, but even he found the trail a bit much. He warned of the knee problems coming down, and still we both felt it a bit. BTW, the walking sticks were a present from him, because he’s going to be in Vermont over Father’s Day for training. I go such great kids. How could an unmitigated bastard like me get so lucky?

@woodcutter I’m of a like mind with it comes to gyms. I’ll find some real world approximation to do my training in. We’ve got a Boston Sports Club not far from here, but ho thanks. The one exception I might make. Just 2 blocks from home there’s a rock climbing facility. I’d kind of like to do that, and there I could stand some professional training.

Here, join these folks.

Depending on the state of the trail you also need fine motor skills. Gymnastics will help you develop them.

<pictures @ETpro cartwheeling down a mountain and finishing with a flourish>

@glacial Is a flourish some kind of full body laceration?

@ETpro: Chelsea High School has a new football stadium that Pope John XIII High School also uses. it isn’t six stories high, but a few brisk trots up and down might be both easy and fairly convenient.

The 6 story parking garage works also, but isn’t as pretty and doesn’t have cheerleaders.

For a hike up most of those mts. you mentioned, you hardly need a 40 lb. pack. My memory tells me I carried a sweater, rain coat, bug repellant, extra socks, band-aids, water, one bologna and one pb and jj sandwich, a chocolate bar and an orange. Add binoculars, phone and/or camera, handkerchief, and sun glasses and you’re all set. I also always picked up a natural walking stick en route and returned it to the woods on the descent.

At some point, when you and your legs are ready, you should try the three-day trip in the Presidential range, ending at the summit of Mt. Washington. That’ll show your knees who’s who.

I’m picturing this

@glacial Thanks. Harvard’s a bit of a long ride on the T, but there are other stadiums nearby. I can see if they have groups. If not, I can make one.

@mattbrowne I’m about to turn 70. Not sure I’m ready to take on gymnastics. Maybe yoga.

@glacial Ha. Just what I was picturing. He makes the final 30-foot vault into the waiting gurney, and it’s off the the level 1 trauma center.

@gailcalled I had way more in my pack last time than I needed. My “be prepared” wife thinks you need to carry along the kitchen skin in case you have to wash dishes up there.

@Bellatrix OK, I’ve got the upper body definition of that guy already but I’m nowhere near him on the leg definition, and therein lies the problem. But if it takes wearing that thong to get there, I might shoot for mountains with chair lifts.