I love the ellipitical. My shins can't take the treadmill.

As others have said - walk, walk, and more walk....with a pack.

I also do the stair master when in the gym but enjoy doing the bleachers at the local middle school stadium much better. But soon it will be too hot unless I go early in the morning. I also climb 8 flights of stairs 2-3 times a day at work, but without a pack. I may have to start doing that too.

I also use a big exersise ball to do my stomach crunches. It helps the oblique muscles which is good for developing balance carrying a pack. It also stretches out my lower back.

I also do step lunges keeping my feet close along a center line rather than farther apart. This also helps develop balance and those obliques.

To top that all off, I do about 10-15 minutes of stretching after I'm done. I do a little before I start but usually the elipitical takes care of the warm up.

Hope this helps.

I have just 59 days left til my son and I take off on our 70 mile hike in New Mexico. The altitude I've been at the last week (7300 ft) tells me I am not near close enough to being ready to hike from 6,000 - 11,000 ft over a 12 day period. I'm normally at around 450 ft altitude.

I got some training to do!

Tango