Setting off on a multi-week trek without prior physical preparation is like hoping to improvise a marathon having never run before. The human body adapts to effort, but that adaptation takes time — generally two to four months for a trek demanding in cumulative elevation gain, longer if starting from a sedentary baseline.
Building an Endurance Base
Cardiovascular endurance remains the absolute priority: brisk walking, cycling or running, practised three to four times a week, progressively build the body's capacity to sustain prolonged effort over several consecutive hours. The goal isn't speed but duration — being able to walk six to eight hours with a loaded pack without excessive exhaustion.
Targeted strength training completes this base: squats, lunges and step-ups strengthen the quadriceps and calves, the muscles most heavily used both uphill and downhill. Neglecting ankle strengthening, often overlooked, directly exposes you to a higher risk of sprains on unstable terrain.
"You don't prepare your body the night before departure. You prepare it in the months beforehand, one outing at a time."
Simulation, the Best Preparation There Is
Nothing replaces training outings done with a pack actually loaded to the weight expected on the trek — the body needs to get used to carrying that extra load well before the real first day. Ideally, schedule several hikes of increasing elevation gain in the weeks before departure, including at least one two-consecutive-day outing to test endurance over duration, not just a single isolated day.
Finally, never neglect the mental preparation that accompanies this physical training: accepting discomfort, learning to manage fatigue accumulated day after day, and cultivating the patience needed to progressively adjust your pace are skills that are also built well before the trek's first step.
Nutrition, an Ally of Preparation
Physical training loses much of its effectiveness if it isn't backed by suitable nutrition. The weeks before departure are the time to get your digestive system used to the food you'll actually eat on the trek — test energy bars, freeze-dried meals or dried fruit mixes during training outings, never for the first time on departure day.
Hydration deserves the same methodical attention: learn to recognise your own signs of mild dehydration (headaches, unexplained fatigue) before they worsen, and calibrate your water intake during training outings according to actual effort intensity and ambient temperature.
Listening to Your Body's Signals During Training
Progression needs to stay gradual: increasing distance or elevation gain by more than 10% from one week to the next risks overuse injury — tendinitis, shin splints — that can undo months of preparation in a few days of excess.
"A body that protests during training is asking to be listened to, not overridden through willpower."
Pain that persists at rest, unlike simple muscle fatigue that fades after a good night's sleep, is always a signal worth taking seriously. Build at least one full rest day per week into your programme: recovery is an integral part of progression, not a pause that delays it.
The Special Case of Training for Descents
Descending works muscles eccentrically — they lengthen under load rather than contracting — which explains the intense soreness felt the day after a trek with substantial descent, even in hikers well trained for climbing. Specifically include outings with extended descents in your preparation, not just climbs, to get your muscles used to this particular type of effort.
Slow eccentric squats, where the descent phase lasts two to three times longer than the rise, specifically build this capacity and significantly reduce the soreness felt during the trek's first long descents.
This consistency, more than the occasional intensity of a single session, remains the single most decisive factor in successfully completing a physically demanding long trek.