Training for mountain hunts

[bakin7005]

I'm 56 and climbing Rainier in July. No running for me. Bleachers at the high school stadium with a 40lb pack 1-2 hours twice a week. I'm in decent shape already but this will have me ready. The bleachers give you downhill training that you absolutely need! Stair stepper in the gym can't prepare you for that. Make sure you got plenty of room in the toe box or you'll lose toenails!

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[Still Hunter]

You certainly have the right idea. I do not know if you are overweight at all but any excess weight you lose between now and September will be that much easier on you up in the Mountains. Keep this in mind also with your weight training also. You do not want to "bulk up". Diet is key. Repetitive short wind sprints really help. Be sure to hydrate when you get to Colorado. The body will be trying to produce more red bloods cells. Hemoglobin is the protein inside red blood cells that carries oxygen to your muscles and your body will be automatically trying to produce more of it to get more oxygen into the blood stream to compensate with the lower levels of oxygen at the higher elevations. So drink of plenty of fluids. This is why you "acclimate" after a few days as your body has had time to produce more blood cells to carry the oxygen to your muscles. Good Luck on your hunt!

[MadHatter]

Regular old life lol.
I climb alot for work, hike yr around, bike, etc. Never had to do any training for the mountains thankfully.

[Shane]

I follow Pat McNamera on Instagram. He has hundreds of videos of workouts that you can do with just about any heavy object you can find. I generally pick 6-7 of them, and do them twice a week. My HR will fluctuate from 130 to 180 for these. Then I run distance (8+ miles min) twice a week, keeping my HR around 145 to 150, and either run stairs or carry weight (40 or 50 lbs) up stairs once a week (I have access to 17 stories), and do it 6 or 7 times, with my HR peaking around 180 or so.

Weekends is walking dogs and resting.

I'll check out his stuff. Thanks!

You’re on the right track Shane. Your regular routine of staying in decent shape will go a long way towards helping you make the most of your mountain hunt. I just turned 58 last month, and I am constantly challenged by the need to stay fit enough to make those trips into the mountains that I love so much. One thing I like to do is simply hike the toughest terrain I can find with some weight tossed into the Exo backpack that I hunt with. I wear the boots I’ll hunt in and use my ever present hiking poles. Every mountain hunt I do screams out to me, “Legs & lungs!”

If you would like to have a very well put together specific workout plan for this type endeavor, click on the link below and scroll down towards the bottom where it says: “Sign-up to become an Exo Insider and we will send you a FREE Backcountry Hunting Training plan...” I was a couple weeks into this routine and found it to be quite legit for me, until I got on a turnaround project working 7-13’s. At my age, this kind of work schedule creates a whole new challenge in my fitness routine.

Good luck brother!

https://exomtngear.com/

Yep. Legs and lungs. That's the reason for the shift in my workouts. Need more of both without totally ignoring general strength all over.

I just signed up for the Exo deal. Thanks!

Shane, I lost 70lbs training for my elk hunt in 2018. Rucking 40 to 60lbs on the mountain bike trails (since we have no other elevation in Houston) and lots of step mill at the gym. What I totally was not prepared for was walking down hill. That by far was the worst and really the only bad part of the trip. Definitely the part that caused me to lose toenails.

Yep. Downhill is hard on the knees. I'm not overweight much. I'm 6' and 210#. I have a little fat I will lose as I get back to a more consistent nutrition plan the next few months. And I won't mind if I give up a little muscle by September too. I'd like to get to 195-200# range, just to have a little less weight to carry around. My toenails are fine, as I have great boots. Just gotta keep them laced up tight, especially around the ankles, to keep from sliding down into the toe box.

I'm 56 and climbing Rainier in July. No running for me. Bleachers at the high school stadium with a 40lb pack 1-2 hours twice a week. I'm in decent shape already but this will have me ready. The bleachers give you downhill training that you absolutely need! Stair stepper in the gym can't prepare you for that. Make sure you got plenty of room in the toe box or you'll lose toenails!

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I'm hesitant to do a lot of downhill bleachers or stairs, as that's hard on my knees, just like running. In addition to the incline treadmill and stair climber work, and the HIIT on the Airdyne bike (standing up and sprinting), my strength work for legs is focused 2:1 single leg work to double leg work. I'm doing a few variations of Bulgarian split squats, weighted step-ups, single leg squats, etc. in addition to back squats, front squats, RDLs.... Lots of up and down on one leg with those single leg movements. Single leg lifts really pull in the core (abs and low back) a lot more than regular squats too. And when I'm working double leg, I'm focused on *** to grass squats as well. Going full range of motion there hits the glutes and all the muscles you use to climb really well, and it's actually easier on my knees than stopping at 90 degree parallel. Stopping at parallel seems to be a stress point position for me that grinds on the knees.

I'm incorporating some heavier weight/lower rep sets on some exercises along with moderate weight/higher rep work on others. I'll shift things around every couple of weeks to hit different movements in different ways like that.

Another resource I found is MTNTough. https://mtntough.com/ I haven't subscribed to their 4-mo plan yet, but I might. It's $300 though. I'm definitely gonna throw their 22s workout into my routine every now and then. I'll experiment with different superset movements for that. Looks pretty brutal. I'll do the 1/2 mile sprints standing on the Airdyne bike rather than running though, so I can keep it low impact on my knees.

I did a lot of running back in 2013 to prep for my desert sheep hunt. I was in great shape when I got there, but my knees were shot when I arrived in camp. The downhill climb in the first half of the final stalk did me in. I burned out my quads trying to stay squatted to keep from pounding my knees. When it was time to start going back uphill, my quads were toast. Lesson learned. I've been going low impact on my knees ever since, and I haven't had that issue anywhere I've been or in my workouts.

[ladrones]

I have been working more on diaphragm breathing and balance exercises.

I try to spend ten to fifteen minutes on diaphragm breathing daily.

I took a movnat class and learned a couple of basic balance exercises. Lots of video resources on this.

I have a balance beam that I do some exercises on with a forty pound bar. The balance beam is just an eight foot 4x4 that I milled.




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[Redraider]

What I found out for me was getting my hip flexors in shape. Do a lot of rowing, stairs and stretching. I also incorporate some sprints to work at getting heart rate up then try to shoot or something that you have to control heart rate and breathing. Bicycling seems to really help me as well.

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[DTala]

Shane, I lost 70lbs training for my elk hunt in 2018. Rucking 40 to 60lbs on the mountain bike trails (since we have no other elevation in Houston) and lots of step mill at the gym. What I totally was not prepared for was walking down hill. That by far was the worst and really the only bad part of the trip. Definitely the part that caused me to lose toenails.

this^^^^^^^is why stairs, steps, bleachers are better than gym workouts. Go up...ya gotta go down and those descending muscles need working on.

[Hockley]

What I found out for me was getting my hip flexors in shape. Do a lot of rowing, stairs and stretching. I also incorporate some sprints to work at getting heart rate up then try to shoot or something that you have to control heart rate and breathing. Bicycling seems to really help me as well.

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Hip Flexors are big. You will feel them when you find an exercise that hits them. This is what I do in a rotation:

Workout 1:

50 Jump Ropes
10 Standing Long Jumps
50 Jump Ropes
10 Push Ups
50 Jump Ropes
10 Wall Balls (18 lbs is what I have)

x 3 Reps as hard as you can go

Workout 2:

10 Pushups
10 Lunges
20 Situps
10 Burpees
1 Min Plank

HIT 15 Mins ARP (As Many Reps as Possible)

Workout 3:

https://www.onnit.com/academy/full-b...nt=begkettlewo

Workout 4:

15 Burpees
10 Jump Squats
125 yard sprints

15Mins ARP

Workout 5:

10 Pushups
50 Jump Ropes
10 Situps
20 Squats

15 Mins ARP

Workout 6:

5 mins of step ups
15 Burpees
1.5 Mins Blanks

x2

I will add weight on the squats, lunges and step ups as I progress. On the off days I will either get in a jog, which I hate, or I will hike with a loaded pack.

I personally want to do more bleacher work this year, but I'm too lazy to leave my house. I also need to start eating better NOW.

[cmeadors]

i like to run 5+ miles 4 days a week, situps, pullups and pushups and hike with a bag of corn in my pack.. I enjoy it and it keeps me in shape

[Hunter Dan]

I need to prep much better. I lift big every day and do very little cardio so that I can build mass and keep it. This works great for life as I look good in a tee shirt but it sucks for hunting. I was mt lion hunting in Idaho a few months ago and it nearly killed me. I had a very long steep hike in after the dogs to get my cat after a week of chasing those dogs and by the end of it I was dying. It was about 18 degrees and I was drenched in sweat, my beard and hair were a block of ice. Long story short, I survived the hunt and the cat did not!

[Brute Killer]

The first time I went, I didn't do enough cardio. I focused more on strength training. I had a difficult time with the altitude. Subsequent trips I focused more on doing wind sprints or lung capacity. But as you said, you are avoiding running.

[Shane]

The first time I went, I didn't do enough cardio. I focused more on strength training. I had a difficult time with the altitude. Subsequent trips I focused more on doing wind sprints or lung capacity. But as you said, you are avoiding running.

I'm doing lots of cardio. Just not running. Standing sprints on an Airdyne bike will work your entire body and get your heart and lungs pumping every bit as much as running, it just won't involve any pounding on your knees. A Concept 2 rowing machine can do the same thing, also without heavy impact on your joints. HIIT workouts on those is very similar to sprint intervals.

Just got back from the gym. Today was cardio/aerobic day - steady state, not high intensity. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill at 15-degree incline, and then did 15 minutes on the stair climber. Yesterday was leg day, and I drove 3 hours to Dallas and back earlier today. Legs were stiff after all that sitting in the truck, but after the 1st 10 minutes on the treadmill they finally loosened up. My goal is to build up to 1 hour each (back to back) on the treadmill and stair climber with a 50# pack by September. I haven't been doing a lot of cardio over the last year or two, so I have a ways to go.

[Shane]

I was just reading a couple articles about collagen supplements (protein powder). Supposed to help rebuild cartilage. I'm gonna use that the next few months. Maybe it'll help my knees. Anybody have any experience with that?

[Texans42]

I was just reading a couple articles about collagen supplements (protein powder). Supposed to help rebuild cartilage. I'm gonna use that the next few months. Maybe it'll help my knees. Anybody have any experience with that?

It won’t rebuild your cartilage. If you want your cartilage fixed, then find an orthopedic that specializes in stem cell.

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

I lost 50lbs doing the Keto diet and rode my mountain bike up some hills in and around my neighborhood, 3-4 times a week. I did this for about 3 months. We climbed to 9500ft and I didn't have any problems with the climb or the altitude. As others have said, going downhill was the tough part.