Training tips?

Please doublecheck what I am saying, I am not a fitness expert, I have just listened to them a bit.

Running doesn't use all the same muscles as hiking. It also positions your body differently and you're more likely to get injured. If you want to get good at swimming, swim. If you want to get good at hiking, hike. There are caveats, for example, swimmers lift weights to help with strength.

Swimming is a great cardio workout, unlikely to damage your legs (most propulsion comes from arms) but with poor technique, you'll get shoulder problems. You could train now and be noticeably fitter in a few weeks, but it works both ways. If you stop training, you will lose it. To swim fast, you have to have flexible ankles, flexible ankles can be prone to injury. If you are only swimming once a week, I don't think this will concern you.

There might be a moment you require strength in your arms during the trip, but typically, they aren't half as important as your legs. Because they lack importance, they also won't get bigger, they'll waste away on a calorie deficit. If your body doesn't have a sufficient calorie intake, it'll start to metabolise muscle not in use. For this reason, I've chosen to try make my arms bigger prior to the trip. To gain muscle at any significant rate, you have to have surplus calories, and this will mean gaining fat as well as muscle. Cardio makes surplus calories harder which is why you might want to keep it minimal when trying to gain muscle mass from weights.

I would start with palates to help core strength.

Weights to gain muscle mass but you don't necessarily need huge legs per se (hiking will make them bigger and stronger). I am not suggesting you skip leg day, but you don't need to squat 9000 pounds.

Biking and swimming to help with cardio.

Hiking to get good at hiking.

Hiking is a pain if you lack time to train. You can spend 45 minutes working out with weights, and you'll make a significant improvement to your body. Whereas, you have to hike for hours and hours.

You should also check to see if you have any physical problems, for example I have hypermobility. Yoga and weightlifting are typically a terrible idea for me, whereas palates is good. I see a lot of people say you don't need to train much or just do some running or jogging. I'm not convinced it is the optimum method. I realise it might work and after a few weeks they body adapts anyway, but I would suggest you speak to a fitness expert. I am not one, nor do I claim to be.

One thing I am 90% sure is correct, start off small to avoid injury and foam roll frequently

/r/PacificCrestTrail Thread