what's your preferred method for getting in better shape for hiking?

I've been doing quite a bit more cardio this year than last, but i feel my hiking condition has not improved much as a result. I've been running 5k and doing 100floors on the stair masters at gym couple times a week but still experiencing sore and burning quads after a while causing me to stop and wait for the lactic acid to go away.

Last year i didn't do ANY cardio at all and i felt the same way doing more or less the same hikes .... and worst of all, my condition didn't improve much as the hiking season went on. I guess I did about 2 hikes a month last year and about the same this year in addition to the cardio training

What do you guys do to get in better shape? Do you just hike more than me?

Weighted lunges and squats. Sounds like cardio isn't your issue, it's muscle exhaustion, so you need to build up your muscle stamina.
Beyond that, make sure that you are stretching plenty before, during and after each hike or workout.
You also might want to try taking a magnesium supplement before your next hike to see if that makes a difference.

I do a hike once a week; and lately since out of work, I go twice a week hiking. I find If I load my pack with extra weight, I push myself to just below the limit for periods of 5 to 10 minutes, then go relax normal pace, then push a bit again.

Week to week I notice improvement; and when I first started... lost a lot of weight.

K

i can squat 220lbs max. I can squat 135lbs for about 12 reps. Bodyweight squats i can do probably 30 or maybe even more. never really tried past 20.

What kind of rep range do you recommend? I thought the stair climber at the gym would improve the leg stamina as i tend to do about 100 floors at a time, but i hate to admit it really hasn't.

you're from abbotsford .... the abby grind is a great example. I had to take a 15 min break at the mid point first time i did it. Probably 1 hr total. Second time i went the whole way in 45 mins. Third time was in the evening at 40 mins and fourth time was back to around 45 min.

On the other hand my girlfriend's time has steadily been decreasing each time as you would expect.

So i'm trying to figure out what i need to change.

Have you looked into your diet? I can always tell the quality of my breakfast while hiking/biking. If it's my regular smoothie breakfast (berries, bananas, spinach, oats, flax, protein powder, peanut butter, fresh ginger and turmeric), or sometimes just a fruit smoothie and a bowl of peanut butter oats and grains, I can work those hills like a champ. If we decide to spend the night at the trail head and instead go for a store-bought protein bar and a piece of fruit, my boyfriend and I can always feel it. Same as with biking, if we stop for breakfast on route, (eggs, toast, hash, maybe some grilled veggies) it's always more difficult. It's crazy because we even noticed that it doesn't matter what you do the night before, or how bad you sleep, as cliche as it is, it's all about the breakfast.

Just a thought

I did notice that oatmeal for breakfast was making it worse! I figured that out just recently and have swithced to more simple carbs breakfast of fruit, juice etc

Oh, sorry to hear that! Oatmeal is life for me...maybe more protein? From my understanding, when your body doesn't have enough protein, it starts breaking down your muscles to extract the missing amino acids. For reference, I'm a 125lb female, and I try and get 20-25 grams of protein in my breakfast.

If it is diet; add a little protein to your breakfast. I do an egg or two together with oatmeal. Or sometimes I cook up a pair of weiners. The protein helps keep up the energy and stamina..... assuming 1 - 1.5 hours delay between breakfast and starting a hike.

K

Weights! Big weights. Low reps. I do 5x5 leg press at 400-500lbs, depending on where I'm at in my training cycle. Obviously proper form and a warmup is important. Leg extensions, hamstring curls, calf raises. Big numbers, I don't worry about multijoint exercises or stabilizer muscles in the gym, the hiking takes care of that. The gym is to develop power.

On the stair master, hands off the bars, you want to be pushing your body weight, not just your legs with your arms supporting your body. Also try intervals.

Hike steep trails with a weighted pack. I've carried a water cooler jug up the Abby and dewdney grind many times. Pack weight on the way up with water hits 60 pounds. Dump out the water on top to save your knees for the descent.

You may want to look into the book Training for the new Alpinism by Steve House and Scott Johnson. Or their website uphillathlete.

Just curious, what's your approximate age range? endurance depends on age, even if in good shape.

early 30s. male. 6'4" 210lb.

i can lift that no problem. but it's the low rep gym training that made me think my legs were not accustomed to the high rep that hiking demands.

So i started things like the stair master .... However, i do hold on to the bars while i climb. That's probably a good point. I'll try and keep the arms off.

I'll bite. I'm an endurance coach for runners and skiers so this falls close to my wheelhouse. Without knowing a whole lot of background info, it seems likely that the simplest/obvious answer might be what you are looking for - more time on trails. I respectfully disagree with the suggestion that high weight/low rep exercises are what you need. Consider what you are training for: LOTs of body weight reps, over many hours.

Spend more time hiking (or better yet running) on trails. If you are doing two, 5k runs per week, get that up to four per week. Then get build the distance to 10k and so on. You don't have to run fast, in fact, it should be at a conversational pace (power-hike the hills). It should be on rolling trails as much as possible.

Uphill hiking with a weighted pack is a good suggestion but should be a component of the training program, not the entire program. One 1hr uphill session per week would be a good start. If it's not obvious, dumping the water/rocks/whatever at the top is ideal because it saves your form and more importantly your joints for the hike (or run) down.

The stair master is great doesn't replace time on trails. As you are building up running volume, keep at the long hikes on your weekend. Keep the strength routine in there as it doesn't hurt but I'd advise to keep reps high and weight low to build endurance.

Training for the New Alpinism is definitely a good suggestion.

Good luck!

Are your quads sore on the way up or two days later?