How do you improve your fitness for hiking and backpacking? Just hike more! We hear this a lot. And for a small group of people who live near mountains, have easy access to trails, and already have a solid base of fitness, that might be true. But for most people - those in flatlands, cities, or with limited time and trail access, especially those newer to backpacking or training for a bigger, international objective - simply “getting out more” isn’t always realistic or sufficient. Hiking and bac