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
Travel Better, Not More: Insights You’ve Never Heard | HikeStrong | Ep. 37
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Most hikers focus on the trail—almost no one understands what shapes the experience before they arrive.
What does it really take to create a great hiking experience—and who’s working behind the scenes to make it possible?
In this episode, Marcus Shapiro sits down with Shannon Stowell, CEO of the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), to explore the hidden systems that shape adventure travel around the world. From developing destinations like the Jordan Trail and Patagonia to training guides and supporting local communities, Shannon shares how ATTA quietly influences the experiences hikers have every time they step onto a trail.
The conversation opens with a wild story—being unexpectedly pulled from his own event to meet a governor in Mexico—and quickly expands into deeper insights on what makes adventure travel meaningful, responsible, and sustainable.
Marcus also brings a powerful thought experiment to the table: two hikers summiting Kilimanjaro—one prepared, one not. Both reach the top, but the experience couldn’t be more different. What does that mean for guides, group dynamics, and the future of adventure travel?
You’ll also hear:
- How destinations like Chile and Jordan are developed into global hiking hubs
- Why 30–50% of travelers still show up underprepared—and how that impacts guides
- What “traveling better” really means (and how it can positively impact local communities)
- Why adventure travel is more resilient than mass tourism
- The growing trend of “dim sum travel”—doing more, not just one thing
This episode connects the dots between prepared hikers, supported guides, and protected places—and why all three matter more than ever.
If you’ve ever wondered how your experience on the trail is shaped long before you arrive, this conversation will change how you see adventure travel.
Explore trips and get inspired @ https://www.adventure.travel/
Learn more about the work behind the Adventure Travel Trade Association @ https://www.adventuretravel.biz/
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