HikeStrong 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.
HikeStrong Podcast
20 Weeks, 20 Lessons & The MT Sobek Story | Part 2 – Lisa’s TMB Journey | HikeStrong | Ep. 24
In Part 2 of this conversation, Marcus and Lisa pick up where they left off—digging into the peak phase of her 20-week training plan leading up to the Tour du Mont Blanc. They talk about how Lisa managed higher mileage and tougher elevation goals, how she kept her body feeling good and avoided overtraining as the workouts got tougher, and the mindset that carried her through the final stretch of preparation.
Later in the episode, Marcus brings in Travis Wardell, Program Director for Europe at Mountain Travel Sobek—one of, if not the, world’s oldest adventure travel company. It’s Travis’s first time meeting Lisa, and he shares insights on what makes MT Sobek’s version of the TMB different from the classic route, how the company designs and curates world-class trekking experiences, and the activity level system they use to help travelers choose the right adventure for their goals and abilities.
The episode wraps with a relaxed, behind-the-scenes exchange after the formal interview—a fun, unscripted glimpse of the conversation once the mics were supposed to be off.
Mountain Travel Sobek - The Adventure Company | Est. 1969
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