Top 8 Posterior Chain Strength Exercises for Hiking
Are you ready to get back into hiking and mountaineering training after a break, interruption, or off season?
Whether you’re just getting into hiking or an avid hiker these are 8 great exercises that will help to strengthen your muscles and joints as you go for distance, uphill and downhill. If you suffer from knee pain on the downhill or simply don’t have the strength as you climb upwards they are great for your posterior chain to help.
Traditionally lifting weights has been overlooked by hikers around the world. This is typical as there is a misconception that you put on weight, get bulky or ‘weights are bad for your joints.’ And there are a lot of myths around strength training that do not seem to go away. But the simple fact is; a well thought out and applied strength training program can be one of the most beneficial things a trekker can do. When you are strength training as a trekker, you are not training for bigger muscles. Instead, you are training to improve our 'neuromuscular coordination' - which is essentially the connection between your brain and your muscles.
Trekking involves ascents, descents, unstable ground, scrambling and steep inclines. By developing your strength, you can allow your body to engage more of the available muscle fibres for any given task. And this leads to the benefits of:
Improved muscle strength and power
Reduced risk of injury
Improved movement economy In the following program, the given strength sessions are designed to:
Improve single leg strength
Develop foot, knee and back stability
Increase coordination and balance
By improving these you can greatly increase your trekking strength and ensure you have a safe, comfortable and successful trek.
Here are the 8 exercises I recommend to get you started:
1.Step Ups
Step ups are a great exercise that helps you build body resistance whether it’s body weight or using weights. Primarily working your glutes, quads and hamstrings. The key here is focusing on stepping down nice and controlled. We’re not looking for how quickly you can do the movement but instead control in lowering down and not bouncing off the trail leg from the ground. The key is to start with a small box and build up the height over time.
Step ups are great for hikers as they mimic what you’ll be doing on the trails and in the mountains. That strength comes in handy when you have relentless inclines on the way up. Step-ups can increase leg strength, activate muscle groups throughout your lower body as well as strengthen imbalances.
2. Poliquin Step Ups
These are one of my favourite exercises to prescribe hikers, runners and anyone who has struggled with knee pain or weakness in their knees. The Poliquin Step Up primarily works the VMO muscle on the inner quad. It’s also great as it activates the tibialis anterior, core and the other muscles in the quad. The glutes, hamstrings and calves will also be engaged as you go through the movement pattern here.
Deep squats also increase muscular strength and adaptations of passive knee tissue, which has a protective effect when you are running, jumping, or walking up stairs.
The aim here is to begin from a very small step off the floor or a slant board to get started. Keep the focus on the tempo (the speed of the movement) as you drive your knee forwards to remain balanced aiming to progress your knee over toe.
3. Calf Raises
Whether you have a history of ankle sprains or not, it's important to have strong ankles and calves to prevent injury. When you head off for a hike, you’ll likely travel over varying terrain, which means you need good ankle flexibility but also stability.
Calf raises not only help you to build strength in 3 Benefits of Doing Calf Raises
Calf raises can help you build larger calf muscles. ...
Calf raises can promote ankle stability and mobility. ...
Calf raises can increase explosive power.
Your calf muscles propel you forward with every single step, especially at speeds. If you decide to run on the trails, they absorb load with each impact and they support the rest of your lower limbs and body. By increasing your calf strength you will become faster and stronger, whilst reducing your muscle soreness.
Mix your calf raises up between double leg and single leg raises to add weights. Focus on not rushing through the movement and keeping your toes on the box. The moment your toes come off you haven’t got the range to go further. This can be progressed over the next 8 weeks to build up to.
4. Glute Bridge
There are different levels with the glute bridge depending on whether you’re a beginner to advanced with your movement patterns and a reminder there is no problem going back to basics - I encourage it. With your glute bridges you can do bodyweight, single leg, dumbbells, to barbells to name a few to get you started.
Never miss a glute day - I’m not talking about booty goals here for aesthetics (whilst it’s a great goal). We want strong glutes for hiking and enduring distances, stepping up over rocks, if you trip, prevent injuries and the ability to withstand fatigue - you have more in the tank to keep going.
5. Deadlifts
The deadlift is a movement in which your hips hinge backward to lower down and pick up a weighted barbell or kettlebell from the floor. Your back is flat throughout the movement. A number of the benefits included when performing deadlifts include strengthening and gaining more definition in your upper and lower back, glutes, and hamstrings.
Whether you’re using a dumbbell, kettlebell or you’re more advanced with a trap bar or barbell these are amazing and a necessity to have in your program. Why? They are a compound exercise that not only primarily targets your posterior chain. They help you focus on building strength across your full body from your core, upper body to your lats. Start at the level that works for you and as always form comes first.
6. Lateral Step Down
This is a super important exercise alongside your Poliquin Step Ups as it really helps you build your strength in your quads which is super important for when you’re going downhill. Most people just focus on getting to the top of the mountain and thinking it's all done. In fact you’re just halfway and now your legs are pretty tired. The downhill now taps into lower energy and focuses on form as you go down. Knee pain is one of the most common injuries or pain people typically get when hiking so let’s make sure we bulletproof it.
Focus on going slowly as you lower down to the ground with your heel touching the ground. It’s an exceptional lower-body exercise that helps increase leg stability and improve balance whilst working your quadriceps and glutes. This move is more therapeutic than muscle-building and can help stabilize the knee. And also because the hips, hamstrings, and quads work together to help the kneecap bend properly. So combining all the strength you’re building in your other exercises I have listed, it's important to strengthen and work all these muscles. This keeps them strong and flexible when you’re out on the trails and are quick to adapt if you lose your footing. Which is exactly what this move does!
7. Reverse Lunges
Reverse lunges activate your core, glutes, and hamstrings. They put less stress on your joints and give you a bit more stability in your front leg. This is ideal for people who have knee concerns, or less hip mobility, and difficulty balancing. If you do however have knee pain whilst performing the exercise please ensure you speak with your coach and prioritise seeing a physiotherapist to solve the problem.
If you struggle with stability here use a chair, stick or in the gym use a rig to help support you and lower down until that strength builds to the next level.
Knowing the difference between forward and reverse lunges (both are great for hiking). While forward and reverse lunges both work the glutes, legs and abs, each emphasises different leg muscles. Reverse lunges hone in on the hamstrings (back of thighs) and glute max (your meatiest glute muscle), whereas forward lunges focus more on the quads (front of thighs).
With lunges you can focus on bodyweight to then add in weights depending on your level of fitness and strength. Become great at focusing on your form first over your ego that just wants to lift. The basics matter and no matter what level of experience you always come back to them.
8. Goblet Squats
Whether you opt for bodyweight, goblet to back squats (and the many other squat variations there are) they are great for hikers as they target your bigger leg muscles including your quads, calves, glutes, hamstrings and core.
Bottomline: to enjoy your hiking for longer and feel stronger being mountain fit requires bullet proofing those knees and hips from pain. Make sure if you struggle with knee pain, or you feel sharp pain in your knees as you do any of these exercises, to consult with your physio. If you’re wanting to become good at hiking, mountain fit, reduce risk of injury, bulletproof your knee strength and just be able to enjoy the mountains then I strongly suggest that you build on your base level strength as well as your endurance and fitness levels too. Begin with applying these exercises into your programme to get started and progress overtime.
Mountain Fit 8 Week Programme
This 12-week fitness kick starter will help you return to training in a way that's healthy for your mind and body. Ramp up at the right rate so that you get results without stress, fatigue, or injury.
The workouts focus on building your aerobic base and full-body strength including my favourite go-to exercises as mentioned above. It’s a progressive programme to build up over the time period ahead of the hikes you have planned. At the end of the program, you'll have a great fitness foundation so that you can take on harder workouts.
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