HIIT for HIKING
The first year I hiked Mt. Whitney, I hiked nearly every weekend for the 3 months leading up to the big day. I had read in many places that the best way to prepare for a big hike is to hike. Over the last several years and having some runners and cyclists run circles around me on the trail, I’ve come to the conclusion that this is not necessarily the truth … especially if you limited time to train. I’ve found that most people that use hiking as their primary form of cardio aren’t necessarily in great shape, but those that run or bike regularly are in great shape and are strong hikers. I think it’s because they are used to working at a much higher intensity than those that just hike. For those that hike as their primary form of cardio, I highly recommend supplementing your hiking with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
After adding HIIT as part of our training regimen, my hiking partners and I noticed physical and psychological benefits. While the physical benefits were obvious, we found that HIIT training seemed to give us a psychological boost. While this is hard/impossible to measure, several of us felt that HIIT training prepared us mentally for particularly difficult hikes and found ourselves essentially breaking the hike up into intervals to keep ourselves motivated and moving.
I first familiarized myself with HIIT through The Ultimate 8-Week HIIT-For-Fat-Burning Program. If you have not worked out for a while or are out of shape, you may consider completing this progression over a 12 week period. For those with a moderate level of fitness, I recommend trying the 8 week progression below. High-Intensity is 100% effort – i.e. sprinting, jumping rope as quickly as possible, pedaling a stationary bike as hard as you can. During the low-intensity period, you can either rest or work at an extremely low intensity. For example, the resistance on my recumbent bike goes from 1-20. During the low intensity periods, I usually put it on ‘2’ and pedal at around 90 rpms. During high intensity, I put it on ‘18’ and pedal as hard and fast as I can. I recommend completing three workouts at each level before moving up. To complete the program over 8 weeks, you need to workout 3 times per week. If the workouts progress too quickly, you can spend an extra workout or week at a particular level. If the workouts are easy to complete, you can also skip ahead to the next level.
Below, please find my modified versions of the HIIT program above. I simplified the intervals (making the total exercise time 15 mins for all levels) and it has worked really well for myself and other hikers. I recommend completing a minimum of 2 HIIT training sessions per week and 3 or more sessions for weeks that you’re unable to hike.
8 Week HIIT Program
LEVEL 1 – Week 1
Each set consists of:
• 15 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
• 45 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets
Total time: 15 minutes
LEVEL 2 – Week 2
Each set consists of:
• 20 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
• 40 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets
Total time: 15 minutes
LEVEL 3 – Week 3
Each set consists of:
• 25 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
• 35 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets
Total time: 15 minutes
LEVEL 4 – Week 4
Each set consists of:
• 30 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
• 30 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets
Total time: 15 minutes
LEVEL 5 – Weeks 5 & 6
Each set consists of:
35 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
25 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets
Total time: 15 minutes
LEVEL 6 – Weeks 7 & 8
Each set consists of:
40 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
20 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets
Total time: 15 minutes
You can view a printer friendly version of this program here: 8 Week HIIT Program
12 Week HIIT Program
LEVEL 1 – Weeks 1 & 2
Each set consists of:
15 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
45 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets
Total time: 15 minutes
LEVEL 2 – Weeks 3 & 4
Each set consists of:
20 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
40 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets
Total time: 15 minutes
LEVEL 3 – Weeks 5 & 6
Each set consists of:
25 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
35 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets
Total time: 15 minutes
LEVEL 4 – Weeks 7 & 8
Each set consists of:
30 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
30 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets Total time: 15 minutes
LEVEL 5 – Weeks 9 & 10
Each set consists of:
35 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
25 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets
Total time: 15 minutes
LEVEL 6 – Weeks 11 & 12
Each set consists of:
40 seconds: High‐Intensity Exercise
20 seconds: Rest or Low‐Intensity Exercise
Complete 15 Sets
Total time: 15 minutes
You can view a printer friendly version of this program here: 12 Week HIIT Program
