The Hiking is a beginner-friendly bodyweight strength exercise that targets the quadriceps and glutes, with the hamstrings, calves, abdominals, lats and middle back working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesQuads, Glutes
Secondary musclesHamstrings, Calves, Abs, Lats, Middle Back
EquipmentBodyweight
LevelBeginner
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Hiking
Set your poles to a length that lets the elbows sit near ninety degrees.
Settle into a walking rhythm you could hold for hours before adding terrain.
Plant the opposite pole as each foot lands to share the load with the arms.
Shorten your stride and keep the torso upright as the grade steepens.
Control the descent with bent knees and let the poles take some of the braking.
Ease the pace over the last stretch and stand tall to recover your breathing.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Delivers cardiovascular work that scales with pace, terrain and pack weight.
Builds leg strength and balance through varied, uneven terrain.
Shifts effort toward the upper body when poles are used.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Overstriding uphill, which spikes knee load and drains the quads early.
Locking the knees on descent, so braking force goes into the joints instead of the muscles.
Carrying poles without using them, which wastes their load-sharing effect.
Choosing terrain far above current conditioning, which is where most trail injuries start.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Hiking, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
