Before I hiked the Inca Trail, I naturally did the modern thing and consulted the font of wisdom that is the Internet. Quite a few sites talked about the cardiovascular challenge of the trail, the risk of altitude sickness, etc. Before I hiked the trail, though, I didn’t appreciate how helpful resistance training would have been.
The normal brief description of the 4-day approach to the trail goes something like this:
- Day 1 — warm-up
- Day 2 — painful climbing
- Day 3 — a little climbing, but mostly down-hill
- Day 4 — smooth sailing into Machu Picchu
This is generally accurate, but an over-simplification. Continue reading
