Hiking · Endurance
How to hike further
How to walk hills without wrecking your knees on the way down, the ladder from five kilometres to a full day out, and how to build the distance.
The movement
How to do one properly.
Every rep the same shape, so the numbers mean the same thing on day thirty as on day one.
- 1
Set off slower than feels right and let the legs warm up on the first climb.
- 2
Short, steady steps uphill, the whole foot on the ground, breathing in rhythm.
- 3
Downhill, bend the knees and keep the steps short; poles take a surprising amount off the knees.
- 4
Eat before you are hungry and drink before you are thirsty on anything over two hours.
- 5
Pack light. Every kilogram on your back is one you carry up every metre of climb.
The way up
How to hike further
Rung 1
5 km
An hour and a half on easy trails. Learn your pace.
Rung 2
10 km, some climb
Half a day with a few hundred metres of ascent.
Rung 3
20 km
A full day. Food, water and a second pair of socks.
Rung 4
Multi-day
Twenty kilometres a day with a pack, day after day.
Hike every weekend and walk during the week. The weekday steps are what let the weekend distance grow without the legs falling apart on Monday.
Add a few kilometres or a couple of hundred metres of climb each time out, not both at once. Climbing is the thing that limits most people, so give the uphill its own progression.
How it is counted
On the board, however it got there.
Hiking is logged by hand or by voice: say the kilometres in the app when you are back. A watch sends a hike as walking or running distance instead, and that counts under its own name.
Questions
Asked about hiking
Why does my Garmin hike show up as a run?
Garmin files hikes under the running types, so they arrive as running distance. Fitbit and Health Connect send them as walking. Log a hike yourself if you want it counted as hiking.
How is hiking scored?
By the kilometre, and a hiking kilometre is worth less than a running one and more than a walking step, because that is roughly what it costs you.
Does it count from my watch?
Hiking is logged by hand or by voice: say the kilometres in the app when you are back. A watch sends a hike as walking or running distance instead, and that counts under its own name.
Is it free?
Yes. The athlete app is free: logging, challenges and every guide on this site. Coaches pay for their workspace; the people they coach do not.
Other exercises
Everything else we count.
Push up
How to do more push ups
Pull up
How to do more pull ups
Squat
How to do more squats
Plank
How to hold a plank longer
Sit up
How to do more sit ups
Dip
How to do more dips
Burpees
How to do more burpees
Lunges
How to do more lunges
Jumping jacks
How to do more jumping jacks
Skipping
How to skip rope longer
Extensions
How to do more back extensions
Battle ropes
How to last longer on battle ropes
Running
How to run further
Cycling
How to ride further
Swimming
How to swim further
Rowing
How to row further
Steps
How to walk more steps every day
Football
How to get fitter for football
Basketball
How to get fitter for basketball
Tennis
How to get fitter for tennis
Dancing
How to build stamina for dancing
Yoga
How to make yoga a daily habit
Do more hiking.
Let someone see it.
Get the app, log what you did or let your watch send it, and hand your friends the code.