When you are planning a backpacking trip, there are a few steps you must take. First of all, you should call Kirk’s Mountain Adventure to schedule your guided Rocky Mountain hiking trip! After that, you will want to prepare yourself physically for your trip. At Kirk’s Mountain Adventure, we tailor our guided backpacking trips to your experience level. However, backpacking at a high altitude is going to be a cardiovascular challenge for anyone, so it is a good idea to do some training before your trip. Here are some exercises you can do in the weeks up to your trip that will improve your backpacking performance:

Cardio Training

The most important way you can train for any type of hiking is to improve your cardiovascular performance. We recommend that you put biking into your routine, whether on a stationary bike or a real one. Additionally, stairs are excellent for training to climb mountains when there are no mountains around to climb! Opt to take the stairs instead of the elevator, and hop on the Stairmaster several times a week for long and moderately intense workouts.

Strength Training

Cardio training is crucial to hiking in general, but when you are participating in one of our guided backpacking tours, you will also be carrying extra weight. Therefore, it is important that you have the strength and endurance to handle it. We recommend that you add a backpack with 15 to 20 pound weights to your cardio training once a week, then progressively add it more frequently. Additionally, you should perform certain strength training exercises on top of that. Consider doing the following exercise routine three times a week:
10 push-ups
10 squats
10 mountain climbers
60-second plank
10 crunches
10 step ups
Repeat each set three times.
Now that you have your training prepared, you are ready for your Rocky Mountain hiking trip with Kirk’s Mountain Adventure! Call us today to schedule a guided backpacking tour of Estes Park.