Prone to Falling on Trail? These Exercises Will Help Prevent Injury.

It happens to everyone at some point. One minute, you’re admiring the scenery from the trail, and the next, the ground is rising up to meet you as you sail through the air, boots over backpack. 

At best, falling is mildly embarrassing and leaves you with a few minor scrapes and bruises. At worst, it leads to serious, hike-ending injuries, like sprains and fractures. 

Of course, accidents happen to even the most experienced and well-prepared hikers. But there are steps you can take to reduce your fall risk and to minimize the damage in the event you do take a spill. 

Why We Fall 

Milica McDowell, D.P.T., physical therapist, exercise physiologist, and vice president of operations at Gait Happens, explains that there are external and internal factors that impact your fall risk. The external factors are the “environmental pieces that you can’t change and just have to be prepared for,” she says. A slippery surface, technical terrain, inclement weather, and poor visibility are all external factors. 

Internal factors are unique to you, the hiker. You have control over some but not all of them. One study on fall-related accidents among hikers found that a higher age seemed to increase a hiker’s fall risk. This isn’t surprising, considering strength, mobility, and balance tend to decline as we get older. The research also found that fallers had an above-average mean for body mass index (BMI) and a high rate of vision impairments. A separate study on adults ages 60 to 90 found a clear connection between falling (in general, not just while hiking) and big toe weakness.

Then there are all the planning and equipment-related mistakes that can increase your chances of wiping out on the trail. A too-heavy or improperly packed backpack can throw off your sense of balance. Improper footwear can lead to slipping and leave your feet and ankles vulnerable. Even trekking poles, which are designed to provide support and aid balance, can just be one more thing to trip over if you don’t know how to use them properly. 

Fall-Proof Your Gear

When it comes to fall prevention, proper gear is the low-hanging fruit. You need a pack that fits you, but it also needs to be loaded so that the heavier items, like your tent or sleeping bag, are at the bottom of your bag “down by your pelvis and hips, where your big muscle groups are,” McDowell says. “If you have a higher load above your center of gravity, above your belly button, it increases your fall risk,” she says.

If you choose to use trekking poles, get a pair that’s easy to stow, and practice using them before heading out for a hike. “When I work with people who are learning to use them, they walk on flat terrain, not elevated terrain, to start. In some cases, I’ll have them walk on a treadmill with their poles. They really have to get comfortable with them before they take them out into more challenging terrain,” McDowell says. 

And, it should go without saying: Don’t hike in sneakers. You need the traction of a rugged tread and the protection of a stiff upper, especially if you’re prone to falling. The squishy foam of a running or walking shoe will add an element of instability and make it harder to feel the ground underneath you. Stick with a shoe or boot that’s specifically designed for the trail. 

Fall-Proof Your Body 

If Plan A is not to fall, Plan B is to recover from a fall relatively unscathed. One of the best ways to boost your resiliency and protect yourself from a sidelining injury is to strength train. 

Muscle mass acts as a cushion to your bones and connective tissue and provides shock absorption during a fall. “Strength training not only puts on muscle mass, but it also strengthens the bones themselves. So, we’re literally more resilient when we hit the ground,” says Jessie Duppler, P.T., D.P.T., creator of the Chain Reaction Strength Revolution program. “It also allows us to be stronger to get back up off the ground,” she adds, noting that when she works with clients on fall prevention, she often has them practice getting up off the ground. 

Your strength training routine should engage all the major muscle groups, but pay special attention to your hip and ankle strength and mobility. “Those are the muscles that really fire to keep us upright,” Duppler says. “If we have a weakness in one spot, the other spot has to work harder. And if we have weakness in both spots, then we tend to have a bigger propensity for falling.” 

Try these exercises for a stronger, more fall-proof hike. Pick a couple at a time to incorporate in your full-body strength-training sessions. 

Lateral Step-Up 

One of Duppler’s favorite moves for hikers is the lateral step-up, which requires hip and ankle mobility and builds lower-body and core strength. It’s also functionally relevant to backpackers who are constantly stepping up and down, testing the limits of their hip and ankle flexion and extension. You can do the lateral step-up with just your body weight, while wearing your pack, or holding a pair of dumbbells. 

1. Stand beside a box or bench. (Duppler recommends a box height between 12 and 20 inches.) 
2. Lift the foot that’s closest to the box and place it on top of the box. Push through your foot and extend your knee so that you’re standing on top of the box. Let the other foot hover next to the box. Keep your chest up, and your shoulders down and back. 
3. Bend the knee of your standing leg and slowly lower your hovering foot to the ground. 
4. Step off the box. 
5. Repeat for 12 to 15 reps, then switch legs. Complete a total of two to three sets on each side. 

Downhill Forward Lunge and Angled Board Squat

Training on a slope helps you learn to manage your body weight going downhill, which is critical to fall prevention; some research shows that you’re more likely to fall while descending than ascending. Taking the forward lunge and the squat—two foundational strength exercises that engage the major muscle groups of the lower body—and performing them on a decline introduces a stability challenge that benefits hikers. 

Downhill Forward Lunge

1. Start at the top of a ramp or hill. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms at your sides. Alternatively, you can use a barbell or wear your pack. 
2. Keeping your chest up and shoulders back, step forward with your right foot so that you’re moving down and toward the bottom of the slope. Bend both knees 90 degrees, keeping the front knee in line with your second toe. 
3. Push through the front foot to step back and return to a standing position. 
4. Repeat on the opposite foot. 
5. Do two to three sets of 10 to 12 reps on each foot. 

Angled board squats

1. Stand on an angled board or wedge with your feet around hip-width apart. Your heels should be slightly higher than your toes.
2. Hold a set of dumbbells at shoulder height. Alternatively, you can use a barbell or wear your pack. 
3. Keeping your chest up and back flat, hinge at your hips and push your butt back as you bend your knees into a squat. 
4. Once you’ve reached the end of your range of motion, push through the soles of your feet to return to a standing position. 
5. Repeat for 10 to 12 reps. Do two to three sets. 

Forward Lean 

Strong toes—especially strong big toes—can help you steady yourself and keep a little stumble from becoming a bigger fall. “Most falls occur when your center of mass is outside your base of support,” McDowell explains. “If you think about being able to essentially claw your toes into the ground, that prevents you from tipping over.” The forward lean, formally known as the “anterior fall envelope” among physical therapists, activates the toe flexors using just your body weight. 

1. Stand facing a wall with your bare feet together, legs straight, and your arms at your sides. 
2. Slowly lean forward toward, going as far as you can while keeping your body in a straight line from your head to your heels. (The wall is there in case you need to catch yourself.)
3. Once you’ve gone as far as you can, push through the toes to return to your starting position. 
4. Repeat for 10 to 12 reps. Do two to three sets. 

Fall-Proof Your Vision 

Vision plays a huge role in balance. Duppler explains that you need to be able to divide your attention between what’s ahead of you and what’s on the ground and directly in front of you. Vision is also critical to proprioception, or understanding where your body is in relation to its surroundings. “We use our eyes to figure out where our feet are,” Duppler says. 

Hikers should always wear sun protection and any doctor-prescribed corrective lenses. But beyond that, it’s possible to train the eyes. Duppler says that eye exercises train the “reflexes in our brain that help us with that ability to look near and far and change where we’re looking quickly. They also train the muscles in our eyes.” 

Duppler recommends doing the following exercises daily. 

Figure Eight 

1. Extend your arm in front of you and hold your thumb at eye level. 
2. Use your thumb to slowly draw a wide figure eight in the air. 
3. As you make the figure eight, keep your eyes on your thumbnail. 
4. Do five figure eights with each hand. 

Side to Side 

1. Extend both arms in front of you and hold up both pointer fingers so that they’re about a foot apart. 
2. Keeping your eyes on your right finger, slowly turn your head to the left as far as you can while keeping the right finger in sight. 
3. Then change directions. Keep your eyes on your left finger as you turn your head to the right. 
4. Repeat 10 to 15 times. Do two sets. 

Pen Exercise

1. Holding a pen vertically at eye level, extend your arm in front of you. 
2. Keeping your eyes on the upper tip of the pen, slowly draw the pen toward your face until it’s a couple of inches from your nose. 
3. Continue to keep your eyes on the tip of the pen as you extend your arm and draw the pen away from your face. 
4. Repeat 20 to 30 times. Do two sets.