Hiking Strength – Build a Durable Core
The next step in building a strong, trail ready physique will be to focus on core work.
On the trail, having a strong and solid core will help you maneuver obstacles, haul packs for miles and will reinforce your overall strength training. During winter backpacking, in particular, pack poundage can tend to add up with the addition of cold weather gear. The pack here was around 50-60 lbs!
Fortunately core training is not just beneficial on the trail, but also daily life around the house; carrying groceries, moving boxes, dragging Christmas stuff up from the basement, everywhere! Strengthening your abdominals, obliques, and lower back will support your spine and provide added mobility and stability to all your movements.
While there are a copious number of ab and core exercises out there I just want to touch on a few here I believe translate well on the trail. Squats and deadlifts will really be the base exercises for core work. The movements here will just add a little more mid-section structure and will be complimentary to those other major muscle movements.
In this post: Hollow Rocks. Plank. Carries.
Hollow Rocks
This simple gymnastic exercise is surprisingly effective and quickly fires your abs. Start with 5-10 ‘rocks’ back and forth, then hold as long as possible
Click to Play Details at GymnasticsWOD
From GymnasticsWOD.com:
- With lower back touching the ground
- Legs straight and tight together with toes pointed
- Arms straight and glued to your ears
- Start rocking back and forth without allowing the shape to break at any point
Plank
These are great static movements that help build isometric strength and will improve the entire core. Work front, side and back variations. Do these for time, from 30 seconds to over 2 minutes. Work to gradually increase hold time.
Carries
Carries are a little different from your standard ab exercise. Build strength, stability, toughness and grit by just picking up a sandbag and taking it for a walk. A simple sandbag can be built with an old duffel, some tough plastic trashbags and Play Sand from Lowes or Home Depot. Fully scale-able from 20-200lbs. The lighter the bag the farther you walk. Carry by shouldering, bear hug, behind the neck or any other way you can imagine. Taking a 50lb bag for a mile or so along a trail is different from the nice even loading of a backpack and will crush muscles in the core you didn’t even know you had.
Conclusion
Tacking these exercises on to the end of a workout will supplement your workout and build a strong solid core. Hiking with a developed midsection will help you go farther, more comfortably and with less effort.
Thanks for reading!
Hiking Strength Series
