At the end of every racing season, my high school cross-country coach laid down the same strict decree: two full weeks off. No runs, no light jogs, no cheating. I spent those two weeks pawing at the gates, desperate to keep moving for fear that I’d lose my fitness.
But last month, as I blearily packed my bags for yet another day in the mountains, I found myself wishing more than anything that Coach Stasko would appear on my left shoulder and tell me to take a break. Then, I told myself to snap out of it. It’s just hiking, I reminded myself.
Hikers don’t need an off-season. For many endurance sports, a designated off-season is a crucial time to rest, heal nagging injuries, and give the nervous system a break from the endless cycle of prep and exertion. Most trail running coaches advise their athletes to take two to six weeks off of running at least once per year, especially after completing a demanding objective.
Runners often follow that period of total rest with several months of unstructured outdoor time or cross-training. Cyclists and triathletes are known to take even longer—sometimes up to two full months of rest before they start their cross-training. Does taking long walks through the woods count as an endurance sport?
In 2021, German researchers tested a group of walkers before and after they hiked 60 miles over a 24-hour period. What they found surprised them: the group’s post-hike health markers were similar to those of ultramarathon finishers. Admittedly, that’s a long way to hike in a single day.
But those results indicate that periods of low-intensity, long-duration exercise can create muscular and metabolic stresses similar to high-intensity running events. Even if you’re not doing grueling, single-day forced marches, extended hikes leave a lasting impact. Do enough of them, and your recovery plan might need to resemble that of an ultramarathoner, too.
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