Hike Strong Podcast

About Hike Strong Podcast

The HikeStrong Podcast is where I share practical guidance on hiking, backpacking, and trekking preparation. Each episode blends fitness insight with real-world training strategies to help you build strength, endurance, and confidence for any trail. I sit down with guests to break down how to train for demanding hiking, backpacking, and trekking goals using smart strength training, endurance training, and conditioning approaches. You’ll hear clear advice on altitude training, uphill training, and injury prevention, all woven into training conversations that support preparation for major destinations such as Kilimanjaro, Everest Base Camp, Rim to Rim, Tour du Mont Blanc, the Camino de Santiago, Patagonia, Machu Picchu, the Alps, and the Dolomites. Because training is never one‑size‑fits‑all, I also bring listeners inside real programs. In select episodes, I interview clients in a deep‑dive format that reveals week‑by‑week training details — real data, real challenges, and real solutions — offering a clearer picture of how people actually prepare for hiking, backpacking, and trekking goals. A cornerstone of my approach is elevation‑gain training. I believe that consistently building weekly elevation gain is one of the strongest predictors of success on any major adventure. In each episode, I share clear, actionable ways to develop that strength — even if you don’t have access to hiking terrain — so you can stay on track whether you train on hills, treadmills, stair machines, or step‑ups. If you're preparing for a major trip, gearing up for a multi-day backpacking route, or building a long-term plan for tougher hiking or trekking challenges, you’ll find episodes that support every step of your training. Beyond training, some episodes feature voices from across the hiking, backpacking, and trekking worlds — guides, operators, storytellers, and industry experts whose insights can shape how you think about adventure. These conversations broaden your perspective and influence your outdoor experiences, even when the focus isn’t directly on training. Listen, train with purpose, share with your adventure partners — then take on at least one unforgettable hiking, backpacking, or trekking experience each year. Train | Hike | Repeat I’m Marcus Shapiro, a hiking strength and conditioning coach and an early pioneer in online training for hiking, backpacking, and trekking, helping adventurers get physically ready for everything from local elevation goals to high-altitude expeditions.

Publisher

Marcus Shapiro | Hiking Strength and Conditioning Coach

Category

health & fitness · society & culture · sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Apr 2024

Latest episode

24 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 41 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   24 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Don’t Rush Everest Base Camp: Advice from a 30+ Year Himalayan Guide | HikeStrong #41

   Himalayan guide Ang Tshering Lama shares decades of Everest Base Camp trekking wisdom with host Marcus, revealing insights into Nepal's mountains and Sherpa culture.

2. 

   17 Jul 2026

   Training Kids for Big Hikes: A Family’s Inca Trail Story | HikeStrong | Ep. 40

   Mom of three Anna shares her family's Inca Trail training journey with host Marcus, revealing how they prepared their children for this iconic trek.

3. 

   9 Jun 2026

   Inca Trail vs. Kilimanjaro: Training, Terrain, and What to Expect | HikeStrong | Ep. 39

   A hiker who completed both Mount Kilimanjaro and the classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu compares the training, terrain, altitude, stairs, weather, guides, and gear. A few months after summiting Mount Kilimanjaro, Alicia is back on the HikeStrong Podcast, this time after completing the classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. In this episode, Alicia and Marcus compare Kilimanjaro and the Inca Trail from the perspective of someone who has trained for and completed both. They discuss the biggest diff...

Inside a recent episode

Don’t Rush Everest Base Camp: Advice from a 30+ Year Himalayan Guide | HikeStrong #41

Published 24 Jul 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Makes sense. You're young, you've trained hard, and then you get to the mountain, and you try to move at the same pace that you did at sea level at altitude, and it doesn't work. It does not work. And you try to prove yourself, you know, I want, like, you know, nah, go slow, take your time, enjoy the mountains. What would you say is a good pace, a good daily pace? That's a hard question, I guess. I mean, usually I just explain my clients, go, enjoy the mountains. It's not the destination, it's the journey. Take your time, you're fit, you enjoy, you see the fauna and flora, you enjoy the plants, you enjoy the birds, wildlife, learn more about all this. […]

Who has been a guest on Hike Strong Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Ang Tshering Lama
• Anna
• Alex Harz
• Tia Banks

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

4,549

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

34 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

11 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 39 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

20

Social presence

0

YouTube

74

Engagement

71

Contact Hike Strong Podcast

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about Hike Strong Podcast