A 2-day trek in the Córdoba sierras takes 30 days of preparation: three hikes and two strength sessions per week. A 7-day high-altitude expedition takes 90. In both cases leg strength to sustain elevation gain with a pack matters more than cardio.
The question we get most before a departure is always the same: how fit do I have to be?
The short answer is that it depends on the destination, and the gap between destinations is enormous. Walking 6 hours on a Saturday in Los Gigantes and climbing to 5,468 metres over seven days are not the same activity at different lengths: they are two different physical demands.
Here is what level each one expects, what you actually train, and how to arrive ready with the weeks you have.
How fit do you need to be for trekking?
It depends on days of walking and elevation gain, not on distance. A moderate 2-day trip takes 30 days of preparation. A 3-day trip with altitude takes 60. A 7 or 8-day expedition in the Andes takes 90 days and, on the highest ones, previous mountain experience.
This is the reference we use for our own departures. The column that matters is the last one:
| Trip | Days | Demand | Minimum preparation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Gigantes, Córdoba | 2 | Moderate | 30 days |
| Pueblo Escondido and Cerro Áspero | 2 | Moderate | 30 days |
| Bautismo de Montaña, Mendoza | 3 | Moderate | 30 days |
| Cerro Champaquí, Córdoba | 3 | Moderate | 45 days |
| Cerro del Medio, 4,170 m | 3 | Demanding | 60 days |
| W Circuit, Torres del Paine | 7 | Demanding | 90 days |
| Salkantay to Machu Picchu | 8 | Demanding | 45 days |
| Cerro Vallecitos, 5,468 m | 7 | Very demanding | 90 days plus mountain experience |
| Cerro El Plata, 5,968 m | 7 | Very demanding | 3 to 6 months plus mountain experience |
If you already do some physical activity two or three times a week, you are at the starting level for the top half of the table. From the middle down, the gap is not closed with willpower: it is closed with months.
Before choosing a trip, look at total elevation gain. It predicts how demanding a trip is far better than the number of kilometres does, as we explain in elevation gain: the number that matters more than distance.
Why running in the park is not enough
Because trekking is not steady running on flat ground: it is sustained load on uneven terrain, with weight on your back, and with part of the effort happening on the descent. That calls for strength alongside cardio, what sport science calls concurrent training.
Concurrent training combines strength and aerobic endurance in the same week. Strength in the quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings and core improves movement economy: strong legs spend less oxygen per step, delay fatigue and protect your joints on long descents.
Put the other way round: someone who runs 10 km comfortably but has never done strength work usually feels fine at midday and falls apart on the second day's descent. It is the most repeated pattern we see.
That is why all three plans below always carry both pieces, hiking and strength. None of them is cardio alone.
Important notice. Everything that follows is general guidance: orientation schemes so you know where to start, not a training plan built for you. The ideal is always to build your plan with a qualified exercise professional who assesses you first. That assessment is what establishes your actual fitness level, the load you can handle today and how fast you can progress, and it accounts for your injury history and your routine, which no general scheme can know. It is what we do at Entrenamiento MONS.
How to train for trekking in 30 days
With three hikes and two strength sessions per week. The first two weeks to wake the body up, the next two to add pack weight and elevation, and two or three days of complete rest before travelling.
A month is enough for a moderate 1 to 3-day trip if you start from a minimum base of activity. The goal is not to gain power: it is that the joints and muscles trekking will load arrive awake.
Weeks 1 and 2, activation
- Three hikes of 40 to 60 minutes at a steady pace. The right intensity lets you talk but not sing, what is known as aerobic zone 2.
- Two strength sessions: squats, lunges and step-ups on a box or stairs.
Weeks 3 and 4, specificity
- The same three hikes, but with the pack loaded to 5 to 8 kg on at least one of them.
- If you can, find real elevation, with climbs and descents. A stairwell works if there is no hill nearby.
- Taper: two or three days of complete rest before travelling, only gentle mobility work.
If Champaquí is your specific target, the detail is in training for Cerro Champaquí.
How to train for trekking in 60 days
Two months allow progressive loading: the body has time to fatigue, recover and come back stronger. This is what a summit above 3,000 metres or a 3-day trip with altitude asks for.
Month 1, structural base
Repeat the 30-day scheme, but focus on gaining strength in the gym: weights that are genuinely hard, fewer repetitions, always with supervision.
Month 2, transfer to the mountain
- Replace one of the short weekly hikes with a 3 to 4-hour trek on Saturday or Sunday, with the pack loaded.
- Add eccentric work: lower the weight slowly on every squat repetition. That mimics the load your knees will take on the way down.
By the end of the second month you should be able to link 4 hours of walking with 8 kg without the next day becoming a problem. If you cannot, the right trip for you is one from the top half of the table.
How to train for trekking in 90 days
Three months is the standard for a 7 or 8-day expedition. The first two build volume and strength; the third is spent simulating the real trip: consecutive days of walking, pack weight and dialling in your hydration.
Months 1 and 2, construction
Follow the 60-day guidelines and increase the volume. Your weekend hike should gradually reach 5 or 6 hours of continuous walking.
Month 3, simulation
- Consecutive days. What defines a long expedition is working tired. If you can get to the sierras for a weekend: walk 4 hours on Saturday with your pack and go out again for 3 hours on Sunday. Your legs need to learn to start without having fully recovered.
- Hydration. Use this month to find out how much water you personally need. Go out with a bottle of known volume and check how much you drink per actual hour of walking: the reference is 250 to 500 ml per hour in temperate weather and up to 750 ml on hot days. The simplest check is urine colour at each stop: pale means you are fine, dark yellow means you have fallen behind. The altitude figures and the rest are in hydration on high-altitude treks.
- Tapering. In the last 10 to 14 days, cut intensity and volume by roughly 50%. The work is already done; what is left is arriving rested with full glycogen stores.
How much weight do you need to carry?
Between 5 and 8 kg for a 2 or 3-day trip with hut accommodation, and between 12 and 15 kg when there is a tent, sleeping bag and food. Pack weight is not something you meet on departure day: you train it over at least four hikes beforehand.
What surprises people is not the weight itself but where it shows up: in the shoulders after two hours, and in the knees on the first long descent. Both are solved by walking with the pack on before the trip, carrying the real weight you will take.
A pair of trekking poles takes part of that load off your knees. How to choose them is in trekking poles: what they are for and how to pick a pair.
How do you train for the descent?
With eccentric work, which means braking the weight instead of lifting it. Squats and lunges lowering slowly, over three seconds, plus stairs or downhill slopes. It is the part most often skipped and the one that hurts most on day three.
Going up is cardiovascular; coming down is structural. On the descent the quadriceps works to brake rather than to drive, and that action produces more muscle micro-damage than the climb. It is why someone can reach the summit feeling great and finish the day wrecked.
Two or three sets of slow-lowering squats, twice a week for six weeks, completely change how the last day of a trip feels.
When should you ease off before the trip?
In the last 10 to 14 days for an expedition, and in the last 2 or 3 days for a weekend trip. Training hard the week before adds nothing and takes away recovery.
The gain from a training session shows up when the body recovers from it, not while you are doing it. Arriving tired cancels out a good part of what you built over months.
Easing off is not stopping. Through those days you keep the frequency, so you still go out walking, just shorter and gentler: 30 minutes instead of 60, no pack, no hunting for elevation. What drops is the volume, not the habit.
The most common mistake is the opposite: squeezing in a long test hike three days out to "see how I am". That outing tells you nothing you do not already know and takes energy off your first real day.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I need to train for a 2-day trek?
Thirty days, with three hikes and two strength sessions per week, if you already do some physical activity. Starting from zero, count on 45 days to arrive comfortable.
Can you do a trek without training?
A moderate outing, yes, although you may enjoy it less. From several days with a pack onwards, a lack of preparation always shows up in the same place: on the descent, which is where the wear is felt most.
Is running good preparation for trekking?
It works as an aerobic base, and it is not enough on its own. Running on flat ground trains neither the eccentric strength of the descent nor carrying a pack, and those are the two things that decide how the trip feels.
What weight should I train with?
The same weight you will carry on the trip. If you do not know it yet, start at 5 kg and add 1 kg a week until you reach the real figure.
How many times a week should I train?
Five sessions: three hikes and two strength sessions. Four also works if one of the hikes is long and has real elevation gain.
Does training prevent altitude sickness?
No. Being fit makes each day's effort cost less, but acclimatisation depends on your ascent profile and time spent at altitude, not on fitness. The reference medical guidance is published by the UIAA Medical Commission.
Can I train without a gym?
Yes. Squats, lunges, step-ups on a box or stairs and planks cover the essentials with body weight and a loaded pack. A gym starts to help from 60 days on, when it pays to load more weight than a pack can give you.
How do I know I am ready for a high-altitude expedition?
If you can do a weekend trek in the sierras with days of 5 or 6 hours carrying 12 kg without suffering through it. That is the filter. If you want us to look at it with you, write to us and we will check it against the specific destination.
A plan built for your trip
Everything above is a general scheme. Your injury history, your routine and your schedule change the planning, and that is put together person by person: it is what we do at Entrenamiento MONS, with remote plans designed by mountain guides who are also qualified in exercise science.
If you have already chosen your trip, check the dates on the calendar and count the weeks from today. If you have not chosen yet, write to us on WhatsApp at +54 9 3512 11-3842 and we will help you pick a destination that fits the preparation time you have.