With new walking trends emerging every other week and a mass shift to embrace slower-paced and lower-impact exercise, it’s no wonder that hiking has been a hit among those of us keen to keep fit while savouring time outside.

A 2020 survey revealed that 23% of Brits would call themselves hikers, and at the start of 2024, 15% said that they intend to hike at least monthly this year. It’s clear there’s a growing enthusiasm to reap the rewards of hiking regularly – of which there are many. 

A study from 2016, published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, called the activity a ‘cost-effective intervention that encourages people to be physically active while spending time in nature’. It goes on to suggest that the benefits of hiking can be immediate – including decreased blood pressure and stress levels, enhanced immune system functioning and restored attention – and there are those that happen over time, such as decreased depression.

According to PT Nancy Best, founder of Ladies who Crunch, hiking up inclines and maintaining a brisk pace can bring about some serious health gains. “Building your cardiovascular fitness is an important element of overall heart health, as it improves your capacity to pump blood around your body,” she says. “Hiking can get your heart rate into a ‘working’ zone, without putting your body through too much stress (versus more high impact aerobic exercise, like running or HIIT training).” The boost that hiking can give to your mental wellbeing isn’t to be underestimated. “The repetitive nature of the movements involved in hiking can be very mindful,” Best says. “Not to mention being outside in nature, away from the drain of screens. From a holistic wellbeing perspective, it can also bring opportunities to socialise – there are lots of hiking clubs and communities to explore.” Speaking of which, we recommend joining us at the Strong Women Trek in Surrey on 20 July.

The quantity of benefits on offer is nothing short of impressive, but what about the link between hiking and hypertrophy – does hiking build muscle? If, like 19% of women who participated in PureGym’s UK Fitness Report 2023/24, you are motivated to train by your goal of gaining muscle, you might be keen to know how your hiking hobby supports your overall objective. For clarity, we asked Best to explain more about the relationship between the two. 

First, a bit of background on why building muscle is so important. Muscle mass supports your musculoskeletal system, which is crucial as you age. “After 50, our bone density starts to decline meaning our bodies lose bone faster than we can rebuild it,” Best explains. “As you age, your chances of developing osteoporosis increases, making your bones fragile and more likely to break.”

Hormonal changes accelerate this process too. According to Best, women can lose up to 20% of their bone density within five to seven years following menopause. “Furthermore, maintaining solid muscle mass helps our functional fitness,” she expands. “This means our bodies are better adapted at performing everyday activities, from carrying shopping, or lifting overhead, to pushing a trolley.”

Hiking can help you build strength, as it recruits multiple muscle groups, from your quads and glutes to your core. Does hiking build muscle, though? The honest answer is that it could, in theory, facilitate hypertrophy, but it’s unlikely to be the most efficient method of achieving your goal to build more muscle.

“There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to building muscle mass, and it’s important to take factors like genetics and nutrition into consideration,” Best emphasises. “Although hiking up an incline or across mixed terrain is a form of bodyweight resistance, I’d recommend complementing it with resistance training, using dumbbells or kettlebells.”

The thing is, hypertrophy occurs when muscle fibres are subjected to stress or damage during resistance training. When your body repairs and rebuilds these fibres, this results in increased muscle mass. So, in order for you to build muscle, you need to be constantly challenging your body, which would involve regularly increasing the intensity of your hikes in one way or another (steeper inclines, different terrains, carrying additional load via a weighted vest, as a few examples). This isn’t always practical, nor is it the most efficient way to build muscle.

“If you’re repeating the same hike week after week, your body will eventually adapt and you’ll hit a plateau if you’re trying to build muscle,” Best explains. “Utilising resistance equipment helps to ensure there is adequate progressive overload, to continue to develop your muscle fibres.”

“Although hiking alone will not build muscle mass, it does improve the strength and endurance of your muscles, particularly if you’re completing challenging, varied routes,” says Best. “The best way to achieve a muscle building goal via hiking would be to introduce additional resistance by wearing a weighted vest. This resistance could be gradually increased to ensure progressive overload.” Although you can, theoretically, wear a backpack filled with snacks, water and other heavy items to add weight, PTs tend not to advise this as a tactic for increasing the challenge of hiking as the load isn’t evenly distributed. By all means, carry your belongings in a supportive backpack, but if you’re intentionally looking to make a hike harder, essentially, opt for a weighted vest.

Alongside hiking, Best recommends completing two-three resistance training sessions per week. “To build muscle, hypertrophy training is effective, without requiring huge time commitment.” Research suggests the ideal rep range for hypertrophy is six-12 repetitions per set with 60 second rest intervals, and three-six sets per exercise. “If you’re focused on improving your functional strength, you’ll need to prioritise lifting heavier weights for a smaller rep range (3-5 sets of 2-6 reps).”

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