Most hillwalkers assume that fitness for the hills comes from the hills themselves. There is truth in that — nothing prepares you for the Cairngorms quite like time spent in the Cairngorms. But there is a quiet gap in most people's preparation, and it shows up on the fourth or fifth hour of a long ascent, when the legs start to feel wooden and the descents turn into a careful negotiation with gravity. That gap is strength. Not gym strength for its own sake, but the specific, unglamorous strength that lets your knees track properly, your ankles absorb rough ground, and your core keep you upright when the rucksack shifts.

The good news is that you do not need much. Two short sessions a week, twenty minutes each, built around a handful of movements, will make a noticeable difference within six to eight weeks. Here is how to go about it.

Why Legs Alone Are Not Enough

Walking is a endurance activity, and endurance without strength tends to mean compensation. When your quadriceps cannot control the lowering phase of a step, your knee drifts, your hip drops, and something else — usually the iliotibial band or the patellar tendon — takes the strain. When your calves tire, your ankles roll more readily on wet rock or loose scree. When your core gives up, your posture folds and every breath becomes slightly harder work.

Strength training addresses all three. It teaches your muscles to produce force steadily, to resist collapse under load, and to keep working when they are already tired. That is precisely what a long day in the hills asks of you.

Step-Downs: Control on the Way Up and Down

If you only do one exercise, make it this one. Step-downs build the eccentric control that descents demand and, perhaps surprisingly, improve your climbing because your legs learn to drive from a stable, well-aligned position.

• Stand on a step, low wall or sturdy box at roughly knee height. A garden step or the bottom stairs at home works well.
• Shift your weight onto one leg, then slowly lower the other foot towards the floor, taking around three seconds to get there.
• Tap the floor lightly, then drive back up through the standing leg without pushing off the lowered foot.
• Keep your hips level and your knee tracking over the middle toes. If the knee caves inwards, use a lower step.
• Start with three sets of eight per leg, and build to three sets of twelve.

Progress by lowering the step gradually — the lower the step, the harder the exercise — or by wearing a lightly loaded rucksack. Never rush the lowering phase; the slow part is the whole point.

Lunges and Split Squats for Climbing Power

Lunges mimic the long, loaded stride of a steep ascent, and they build single-leg strength that carries over directly to rough ground. Reverse lunges are generally kinder on the knees than forward lunges, so start there.

• Stand tall, step one foot back, and lower until both knees are bent to roughly a right angle.
• Keep your torso upright and your front shin roughly vertical. Step further back if your front knee creeps past your toes.
• Push through the front foot to return to standing. Three sets of eight to twelve per leg.
• Once that feels comfortable, try a Bulgarian split squat with your back foot resting on a step — this is a serious step up in difficulty.
• Add load with a rucksack holding a few litres of water, and increase the weight before you increase the repetitions.

Walking lunges across a room or along a quiet path are an excellent variation, and they add a balance challenge that flat-floor repetitions do not.

Calf Raises and Ankle Resilience

Ankles are the most commonly tweaked joint in British hillwalking, and the muscles around them are frequently neglected. Strong calves and mobile ankles mean fewer rolls, better balance on boulder fields, and less fatigue on relentless uphill gradients.

• Stand on the edge of a step with your heels hanging off. Rise slowly onto the balls of your feet over three seconds, then lower over three seconds.
• Work up to single-leg raises: three sets of twelve to fifteen per leg.
• For Achilles niggles, emphasise the lowering phase — rise on two feet, lower on one — which is a well-established way to build tendon resilience.
• Add a knee-to-wall ankle drill: keep your heel down and drive your knee towards the wall, aiming for ten centimetres or more of clearance. Ten repetitions per side, daily if you can.

Core Strength That Actually Transfers

Crunches will not help you on a boggy traverse. What matters is the ability to resist movement — to stop your torso folding or twisting when the ground shifts beneath a loaded rucksack.

• Dead bugs: lie on your back, arms up, knees bent at ninety degrees, and slowly extend the opposite arm and leg while keeping your lower back pressed down. Three sets of eight per side.
• Side planks: build from twenty seconds to forty-five seconds per side, keeping hips stacked and lifted.
• Bird dogs: on all fours, extend opposite arm and leg slowly, pausing for two seconds at the top.
• Suitcase carries: hold a heavy rucksack or water container in one hand and walk fifty metres without leaning. This is brutally effective.

Fitting It Into Your Week

Two sessions a week is plenty, spaced at least two days apart. Do them after a walk rather than before, or on days when you are not heading for the hills, and never the day before a big outing — you want fresh legs for that.

Begin with two sets per exercise and add a third after a fortnight. Once you can complete the top end of the repetition range with good form, add load or increase the difficulty of the movement. Warm up with five minutes of brisk walking and a few bodyweight squats first, and stretch your calves and hip flexors afterwards.

The rewards are modestly stated but real: ascents that feel controlled rather than desperate, descents that leave your knees intact, and the pleasant discovery that a long day out finishes with something still in the tank. Give it eight weeks and see how the hills feel.