Healthy Hiking in the Berkshires
Discover the health benefits of hiking in the Berkshires, common hiking injuries, prevention tips, and ways to keep your body strong and trail-ready.
Robert Inesta
9/26/20268 min read
World-class hiking is one of the greatest gifts, among many, that the Berkshires has to offer.
With access to the Appalachian Trail, Monument Mountain, Mount Greylock, and countless other trails throughout the region, we are extremely fortunate. As an Appalachian Trail Conservancy Community Supporter, I’m especially appreciative of the work that goes into protecting and maintaining access to these natural resources.
Hiking is, in my opinion, one of the best forms of physical exercise available. It combines cardiovascular exercise, strength, balance, coordination, mobility, and time in nature into one activity. It can be challenging or restorative, social or solitary, and can be adapted to almost any fitness level.
And unlike many forms of exercise, it often doesn't feel like exercise at all.
Why Hiking Is Such Good Exercise
Walking is one of the most fundamental movements the human body performs. Hiking takes walking and adds something particularly valuable: variability.
A treadmill or paved road provides a relatively predictable surface. A trail does not.
Rocks, roots, inclines, declines, turns, and changes in surface require the body to continuously make small adjustments. Your joints, muscles, connective tissues, and the balance mechanisms of your nervous system must work together to determine where you are in space and how to respond to the terrain beneath you.
This challenge exercises proprioception, the body's ability to sense its position and movement in space.
Rather than repeating exactly the same movement over and over, hiking asks the body to continually adapt.
Over time, this can help develop:
Cardiovascular and muscular endurance
Lower-body strength
Balance and coordination
Proprioception
Joint and tissue adaptability
Overall movement confidence
Uphill and downhill hiking also challenge the body differently. Ascending generally places greater demands on the hips, gluteal muscles, calves, and cardiovascular system. Descending requires the muscles, particularly the quadriceps, to work eccentrically, essentially acting as brakes to control the body against gravity.
This variability is one of the things I like most about hiking.
Hiking Is Good for More Than the Musculoskeletal System
There is another component to hiking that shouldn't be overlooked: being in nature.
Research continues to demonstrate associations between exposure to natural environments and improvements in stress, mood, attention, and psychological well-being.
We spend an enormous amount of time indoors, sitting, looking at screens, processing information, and responding to various forms of technological stimulation. Getting outside provides a dramatically different sensory environment.
The sights, sounds, smells, changing terrain, fresh air, and expansive visual environment of the natural outdoors give the brain something very different to process.
Combine this exposure to nature with physical movement, and hiking becomes an activity that can benefit both body and mind.
For someone dealing with persistent pain or stress, that combination can be particularly valuable.
Hiking as Part of Rehabilitation
In fact, I recommend walking, and eventually hiking when appropriate, as part of a rehabilitation program for many of the injuries and musculoskeletal conditions I see.
Walking is one of the simplest and most accessible forms of movement, and research increasingly supports its role in maintaining lower back health.
Walking outdoors on natural terrain can add another dimension by challenging balance, coordination, strength, and movement variability.
Of course, this needs to be appropriate for the individual. Someone recovering from an acute injury may need to begin with short walks on level ground, whereas someone who is already active may be ready for more challenging terrain.
The goal isn't simply to hike farther or climb higher. It is to expose the body to an appropriate level of challenge that it can successfully adapt to. This principle applies to exercise in general.
Common Hiking Injuries and Problems
As healthy as hiking can be, injuries certainly occur.
Some are acute and unpredictable. Others gradually develop from repetitive strain. Common hiking-related musculoskeletal problems include:
Ankle Sprains
Uneven terrain makes ankle sprains one of the more obvious hiking injuries. A loose rock, hidden root, muddy patch, or momentary loss of balance can cause the ankle to roll unexpectedly.
You can't eliminate every possibility of this happening. However, ankle mobility work, leg strengthening, balance work, appropriate footwear, and gradually exposing yourself to uneven terrain can help make the system more adaptable.
Plantar Fasciitis
Hiking for long distances, although healthy, can place considerable repetitive stress on the feet and ankles.
Tight calf muscles, limited ankle mobility, abnormal foot mechanics, inadequate footwear, and a sudden increase in walking or hiking volume can all contribute to increased stress on the plantar fascia and the development of heel or foot pain.
Even though the pain is felt in the foot, I prefer to evaluate the entire lower extremity. Hip, knee, ankle, and foot mechanics all interact during walking, and restrictions or movement imbalances elsewhere in the chain may influence how forces are ultimately distributed through the foot.
Knee Pain
The knees absorb substantial forces during hiking, particularly while descending.
Downhill hiking requires the quadriceps to repeatedly control the body's descent. If someone isn't accustomed to this demand, or if restrictions elsewhere in the body alter mechanics, the knees may become irritated.
Interestingly, for many hikers the descent can be harder on the knees than the climb, even though climbing may feel more cardiovascularly demanding.
Hip mobility and strength, ankle mobility, quadriceps capacity, and overall conditioning can all influence how the knee handles these forces.
If you already have knee pain, choosing a flatter trail initially may be much more appropriate than tackling a long hike with significant elevation changes.
Low Back and Hip Pain
Hiking requires repeated movement through the hips while the trunk and pelvis continually adapt to changes.
If hip mobility is restricted or there are significant myofascial or joint restrictions, movement may be compensated for elsewhere.
For example, limited hip motion can sometimes result in additional movement or stress being transferred to the lower back or knees.
Carrying a backpack can add another variable, particularly during longer hikes.
For many people with lower back problems, walking is extremely beneficial. But the terrain, distance, and intensity still matter.
Someone dealing with an irritated lower back or disc-related condition, for example, may tolerate a relatively flat trail much better than a steep, prolonged climb. The appropriate choice depends on the individual, the condition, and how the body responds.
Falls and Acute Trauma
Sometimes injuries simply happen. Not all injuries are preventable.
Stepping on a loose rock or tripping on a root hidden beneath leaves can easily happen to anyone. Mud can also make an otherwise easy section of trail slippery.
The goal of injury prevention isn't to somehow control every variable around you. It is to make your body as adaptable as possible so it has a greater capacity to respond when something unexpected happens.
Strength, mobility, balance, and coordination all contribute to that adaptability. And if an injury does occur, having a well-conditioned system may also improve your ability to tolerate the event and recover faster.
Overuse Injuries Can Sneak Up on Hikers
Not every hiking injury happens from a fall or awkward step.
Repetitive strain can gradually develop, especially when there are pre-existing joint restrictions, myofascial tension, weakness, or chronic movement-pattern imbalances.
A relatively minor imbalance may not cause symptoms during a 20-minute walk. Add several hours of climbing and descending, however, and the cumulative demand becomes much greater.
This is why a nagging ache shouldn't necessarily be ignored simply because there wasn't an obvious injury. Sometimes it is the body's way of telling you that something isn't tolerating the current workload particularly well.
Match the Hike to Your Body
One of the best things about hiking is that there is something for almost everyone.
A hike can be a short stroll along a relatively flat wooded trail or an intense technical ascent to a mountain summit. Both count.
Knowing your current abilities and choosing terrain accordingly is important, particularly if you're returning from an injury or haven't been active for a while.
Someone dealing with knee pain may tolerate flat or gently rolling terrain but struggle with long descents. Someone recovering from a lower back problem may do extremely well walking but find steep inclines irritating.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn't hike. It may simply mean choosing a different trail. Exercise should challenge the body without overwhelming it.
How to Prepare Your Body for Hiking
Preparation matters. Research involving long-distance Appalachian Trail hikers has found an association between pre-hike conditioning and fewer musculoskeletal injuries.
You don't need an elaborate training program to enjoy hiking, but a little preparation can go a long way.
Know the trail. Understand the distance, elevation change, terrain, and approximate time required before heading out.
Build gradually. If you haven't hiked recently, don't make your first outing a strenuous several-hour climb. Begin with shorter, flatter terrain and progressively increase the challenge.
Wear appropriate footwear. Your footwear should be appropriate for the terrain and comfortable enough for the distance you plan to cover.
Consider trekking poles. For longer or more technical hikes, trekking poles can provide additional stability and may help reduce some of the demands placed on the lower extremities, particularly during descents.
Stay hydrated. Bring adequate water and possibly electrolytes, depending on weather and distance.
Warm up. A few minutes of walking followed by simple dynamic stretches can help prepare the body for more demanding terrain.
Work on single-leg balance. Hiking repeatedly places you in temporary single-leg positions as you negotiate rocks, roots, and uneven ground. Simple balance exercises are an excellent and simple way to train this ability away from the trail.
Maintain hip and ankle mobility. Both areas play important roles in absorbing and transferring forces while walking over variable terrain.
Build lower-body strength. Squats, step-ups, lunges, calf raises, small foot, and other basic movements can help prepare the legs for climbing and, importantly, descending.
Recover afterward. Gentle movement or stretching, hydration, adequate nutrition, and sleep can all be part of recovery after a demanding hike.
What If Something Hurts?
Some muscle fatigue or soreness after a challenging hike can be perfectly normal, particularly if the distance or elevation was greater than what you're accustomed to.
Persistent or increasing pain is different.
If discomfort continues from hike to hike, changes the way you walk, progressively worsens, or prevents you from doing activities you normally tolerate, it may be worth investigating why.
Sometimes the painful area isn't the only area that needs attention.
A painful knee may be influenced by hip or ankle function. Lower back discomfort may be related to restrictions through the hips, pelvis, or overall myofascial system. This is where evaluating the body as an interconnected system becomes important.
Depending on the problem, treatment may include myofascial work, chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture or dry needling, mobility work, strengthening, and modifications to daily activity while the irritated tissue recovers.
The goal isn't simply to make the painful area feel better. The goal is to improve the body's ability to move, adapt, and tolerate the activities you need and want to do.
Keep Hiking
The Berkshires provide an incredible opportunity to use nature as part of maintaining our health.
Hiking can strengthen the cardiovascular system, challenge muscles and joints, improve balance and coordination, expose us to constantly changing movement demands, and provide the psychological benefits of spending time outdoors.
Perhaps most importantly, it is something that can continue throughout much of life.
You don't have to climb the highest mountain. Find the appropriate trail for your body, start where you are, and gradually build your capacity.
Our bodies are designed to move, and here in the Berkshires, we have one of the best environments imaginable in which to do it.
Having Pain or Difficulty Hiking?
If hip, knee, ankle, foot, or lower back pain is interfering with your ability to hike or stay active, identifying and addressing the underlying restrictions may help.
At Berkshire Functional Chiropractic & Acupuncture in Great Barrington, treatment may incorporate myofascial therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture or dry needling, and individualized movement recommendations depending on the person and condition.
The goal is simple: help you move better so you can continue doing the things that keep you healthy and the things you love.
Contact me here if you'd like personalized help.
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