Backpack training - how much weight?

I have been throwing a 45lb plate on the pack and going but I think I'll play around with training with my actual gear I hunt with. It enables you to get familiar with where everything belongs in the pack too.
 
I usually stay between 40 and 70 lbs. I don't do 70 too often, but I usually just add a dry bag with sand to my gear already in the pack.
 
Being a flat-lander the stair stepper has become my best friend. I usually strap a 45 and 25lb plate (70lbs) to my Kuiu pack frame. I don't worry as much about speed as I do the amount of time. I always shoot for at least 45 minutes with an hour as the goal. On my "off" days it's back to the stair stepper but NO pack weight. 1 hour sessions where I focus on speed (average right around 90 spm).

I have to say, I'm very jealous of you fellas and ladies with mountains out your back doors ;)
 
Beendare said:
Thats my heavy training load in the hills....sometimes I go even lighter.

I used to pack 80# around to train....and I now think its a bad idea. I'm a pretty big guy and have packed many heavy loads over the years...but i've come to realize it has a cumulative effect on your ankles,knees, hips and back.

I feel like I get the same effective training with 40#....and its less wear and tear. Shattered my ankle while training with an 80# pack back about 8 yrs ago...PITA coming off the mtn with my foot just dangling....The next year I pack meat loads just fine with the lighter regimen......I only pack the heavy loads when i need to now.
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Hey guys
Lots of great ideas on here. Beendare brought up a great point and I wanted to share some experiences of my own gained years ago while working alongside the US Special Operations guys and that have true for over a decade. These guys obviously do a lot of physical training, especially when it comes to preparing for assessment and selection courses. Typically these training regimens are months long and require a significant amount of walking over uneven terrain with a waited pack (sound familiar?). One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was told to me by an army Special Forces training instructor. He recommended to start light and steadily work up to a pack weight of 45 pounds dry (before adding water) and keep it at that weight going forward. The reason being was that even though there will be times when can increase the weight now and then to change things up, carrying more weight on a regular basis will not improve your conditioning much if any, but will increase your risk of injury SIGNIFICANTLY, particularly in regards to knee and ankle strain, tendonitis, and lumbar issues - all of which can take months to adequately heal. Obviously none of us can afford to train up for tough hunts only to be sidelined or risk further (and more serious) long term injury by pushing too hard. After all, the point of physical training is to condition your body to hold up under the physical stress and demand is placed on it (no different than on a backcountry hunt) and works against us if it is overdone and invites injury, which slows us down or prevents us from doing what we started conditioning for in the first place. With all that being said there were still times when we upped the weight to 80 or 90 pounds to change it up and mentally and physically prepare for the times when we need to carry more (pack out that 200" buck hopefully), but those instances were the exception, not the rule.
So just food for thought. I've found this to be more and more applicable as I've gotten older. I'll be 37 this fall and when I worked with those guys I was 26. I could go pretty hard those days but even then it was a valuable lesson to learn. These days I won't consider breaking that rule. You guys have proven training routines and you know what you're doing, just wanted to help out in any way I can based on a valuable lesson learned. Good luck out there this coming scouting (i.e. training) season and this fall!

dan
 
Cant hit em said:
40# bag of water softener salt $6 at walmart


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This is what I've been using. The cool thing about the bag of salt is that I can swap it out every month or so with a new one and empty the old one into my water system so bag durability is a non-issue.
 
I have my truck tire chains in an old porter-cable tool bag. They make a great 45 lb training weight. Dead, quiet, and somewhat pliable/moldable. Moves and weighs a lot less than my other alternative...
3904393ec7a4ab14f1eaa1c41d93e049.jpg



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Gym at work has 60lb sandbag. I drape it over my shoulders and do stairs for 30min's. Mon/Wed/Fri.

At home, on weekends, I have a huge steep hill in backyard. Strap my pack with lots of water (50lbs or so), then do laps up/down and shoot the bow each lap. 4 laps is about an hour.

Only problem is one can't simulate altitude well here in San Diego...so I still suck wind at 8000ft!!!

Legs have never been a problem though.
 
Last few years I have been doing my weighted hikes with 60lb bag of sand, 3L of water, and some other items. Bag comes out to just over 80lbs with everything. I have not gotten past 5 miles with that setup but usually get 3 times a week at 3-4 miles up and down the hills around me which is around 3,000 ft with a max elevation gain of anywhere between 500 and 1,000 ft. This seems to really have helped as putting on 20-40lbs feels like nothing during hunting.
 
justinspicher said:
I'll typically carry the same on training or actual hunts using the gear I'm taking for both. This allows me to check how I'm packing and get a feel for the volume that taken up in the bag. I don't carry sand in the back country so I'm not going to train with it.
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This is what I do as it gives me a chance to work with my gear and change things around plus my pack stays packed so there's no since unpacking to carry sand or water.
I will add 10 to 20 pounds, usually the wifes small dumbbell weights just for a little extra weight. It a good mental trick when I throw the pack on to hit the hunting trail and think boy this pack sure seems light.
 
Hiked parking garage stairwells up and down for an hour and a half yesterday with a 40# bag of pool salt on the load shelf. 96 degrees with the humidity.

Hopefully training in this heat and humidity will be an advantage in some way
 
Doc Holliday said:
Hiked parking garage stairwells up and down for an hour and a half yesterday with a 40# bag of pool salt on the load shelf. 96 degrees with the humidity.

Hopefully training in this heat and humidity will be an advantage in some way
Click to expand...

You'll train yourself to know what dehydration feels like?
 
I had been using an old Dana Designs Bighorn from the mid-90s for training. This year, I switched over to my Kifaru Timberline 3 bag on the frame that came with my Longhunter Guide. It fits me much better than the Dana Designs pack and carries weight better. I have a loop of about 4 miles at a local state park that I have been doing once or twice a week recently. It has quite a bit of ups and downs. My total pack weight has been right around 65 pounds. I will up that weight in a couple of weeks as this fall I am going to have to carry a lot of extra water and some other gear I would not normally carry into base camp.
 
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