Most hiking injuries don’t happen on the way up…


They happen on the way down.

Downhill hiking creates eccentric loading: your muscles are braking your full body weight instead of lifting it.


That creates more microscopic damage to muscles, tendons, and joints than climbing.

Translation: You’re not weak.


You’re just hiking downhill wrong.

Three rules that saved my knees across 300+ hikes in the past two years alone:


• Shorter steps


• Slower cadence


• Trekking poles only downhill

I use trekking poles because they offload up to 25% of knee force.

Need some tips to pick out new poles?

Here’s what to look for:

1️⃣ Be honest about your hiking style
Different hikers need different poles. Period.

2️⃣ Collapsible > fixed (for 90% of humans)
If you ever stash poles in your pack, travel, film, or hike mixed terrain, you must go collapsible

3️⃣ Aluminum vs carbon
Aluminum = bends, survives abuse
Carbon = lighter, stiffer, snaps when it hates you (I’ve had two break coming down waterfalls in the last year alone)


4️⃣ Flick locks or walk away
Twist locks fail when wet or dirty.
Flick locks save your wrists.

5️⃣ Cork grips or regret it later
Cork molds to your hand. Foam dies. Rubber gets gross.


6️⃣ Straps aren’t decoration
If they’re flimsy, the poles are trash.
Use them right or don’t use them at all.

7️⃣ Tips + baskets
Carbide tips. Replaceable parts.


8️⃣ Weight doesn’t matter as much as comfort
A pole that slips or hurts your hands is heavier than one that weighs 3 oz more.

Bottom line:
Buy poles that match your hiking reality, not your fantasy version of yourself.

Follow for more pro hiking tips and let me know if this helped you out! #hikingtips #howtohike #hikesmart