HikeStrong Podcast
The HikeStrong Podcast is where I share practical guidance on hiking, backpacking, and trekking preparation. Each episode blends fitness insight with real-world training strategies to help you build strength, endurance, and confidence for any trail.
I sit down with guests to break down how to train for demanding hiking, backpacking, and trekking goals using smart strength training, endurance training, and conditioning approaches. You’ll hear clear advice on altitude training, uphill training, and injury prevention, all woven into training conversations that support preparation for major destinations such as Kilimanjaro, Everest Base Camp, Rim to Rim, Tour du Mont Blanc, the Camino de Santiago, Patagonia, Machu Picchu, the Alps, and the Dolomites.
Because training is never one‑size‑fits‑all, I also bring listeners inside real programs. In select episodes, I interview clients in a deep‑dive format that reveals week‑by‑week training details — real data, real challenges, and real solutions — offering a clearer picture of how people actually prepare for hiking, backpacking, and trekking goals.
A cornerstone of my approach is elevation‑gain training. I believe that consistently building weekly elevation gain is one of the strongest predictors of success on any major adventure. In each episode, I share clear, actionable ways to develop that strength — even if you don’t have access to hiking terrain — so you can stay on track whether you train on hills, treadmills, stair machines, or step‑ups.
If you're preparing for a major trip, gearing up for a multi-day backpacking route, or building a long-term plan for tougher hiking or trekking challenges, you’ll find episodes that support every step of your training.
Beyond training, some episodes feature voices from across the hiking, backpacking, and trekking worlds — guides, operators, storytellers, and industry experts whose insights can shape how you think about adventure. These conversations broaden your perspective and influence your outdoor experiences, even when the focus isn’t directly on training.
Listen, train with purpose, share with your adventure partners — then take on at least one unforgettable hiking, backpacking, or trekking experience each year. Train | Hike | Repeat
I’m Marcus Shapiro, a hiking strength and conditioning coach and an early pioneer in online training for hiking, backpacking, and trekking, helping adventurers get physically ready for everything from local elevation goals to high-altitude expeditions.
HikeStrong Podcast
Training for the Camino After a Heart Attack: One Man’s Return to Hiking | HikeStrong | Ep. 36
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In this episode of the Hike Strong Podcast, Marcus Shapiro sits down with Joel — a 63-year-old retired physician who went from a heart attack, beta-blockers, and years of declining fitness… to completing the Camino de Santiago and rediscovering what he’s capable of.
Nine months before this conversation, Joel reached out with a simple question:
Can I actually do this?
After a STEMI in his 40s, years of weight gain, and the limitations of beta-blockers, Joel felt out of shape, uncertain, and honestly — afraid of elevation. But he also had a growing list of adventures he didn’t want to miss.
This episode follows that journey.
Joel shares what it felt like to start over…
What it was like training in a completely flat environment…
And how his confidence slowly returned — one walk, one stair climb, one small win at a time.
We talk about:
- The mental side of rebuilding after a cardiac event
- What it feels like to exercise on beta-blockers
- Reclaiming identity after years away from fitness
- Training alongside his wife and staying accountable
- The moment preparation turns into belief
And ultimately, what the Camino de Santiago meant to him.
From quiet coastal mornings along the Camino Portuguese…
to the realization halfway through the journey that he was ready…
And it didn’t stop there.
Since completing the Camino Walk, Joel has gone on to hike the Great Ocean Walk in Australia, continuing to build momentum with each new experience.
Looking ahead, he and his wife are planning future adventures including the Cotswold Way, the Tour du Mont Blanc, and even Kilimanjaro — goals that once felt uncertain, and now feel possible.
This is not a story about elite performance.
It’s about reclaiming your life, one step at a time.
If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s too late — or whether your body can still do hard things — this conversation will resonate.
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