Backpacking the entire Appalachian Trail is hard. So I trained hard. Through-out elementary school I was the person who was usually picked second to last when team captains chose team members in gym class, which was the way it was done in my public school back then. In high school I weighed only about 110 pounds. Yet in 1990, I befriended people of all sizes and shapes who completed a thru-hike. Whatever your physique, you can get in top notch physical condition. Commit to physical fitness preparation, and you greatly increase your opportunity to enjoy the adventure.
All great athletes train in order to compete in their respective sport. When you backpack you are not competing against anyone, yet you must train since you are carrying out an athletic challenge of great magnitude. And looking back, all of the physical training I did was surely a contributing factor to the fact I had no injuries, even though my right leg is out of alignment.
So what training should you do? Do physical exercise you like! What do you enjoy? Tennis? Then play a ton of tennis. If aerobics are fun for you, go all out with that. If you love ping pong like I do, then… No, it has to be more physical than ping pong. And adding some extra activities to your training will help, since backpacking involves a variety of muscles. And whatever you like to do, do it harder than you ever have in your life.
In January and February, I did four day rotations: Lift weights, swim, lift weights, and run (or ride a stationary bike). (I add that I did not do “recovery.” Taking a day off at least once a week is best for your body. It is a good thing I was young.) I enjoyed these three activities. Plus I exercised harder than I ever had because it was preparation for a dream of doing what I like most of all - hiking. For example, before this training, I had swum laps for fun here and there. Yet during my training, I swam up to two miles. I had never swum more than half that amount. I have not swum that far since. I was training for a dream.
Then in March as I got closer to departure time, I did more walking. Once I purchased my boots, sometimes I would take walks for about five miles or more with my dog to break in the boots. Those long walks prepared me. And I continued the cross-training.
Being the thinnest Scout in Troop 150 in Virginia, I learned a huge lesson early on since our Scout troop went backpacking every May. The secret to successful backpacking for a smaller person: Have the lightest pack possible within reason. The result of having a light pack: I enjoyed the backpacking! But for a thru-hike, “light pack” is a relative term. Carrying five to ten days’ worth of food, and more water than usual, is not light. Whatever the nature of your body, and however “light” your pack is, physical conditioning is imperative.
When I started at Springer Mountain in Georgia, I was in the best physical condition of my life. Being in such good shape would only be topped by my physical condition on the last day of my thru-hike, minus the fact that my body was so worn out that I needed rest.
Physically train by doing an athletic activity or activities which you like for months before you begin your thru-hike, and you will be prepared!
Hunter ‘90
