Flatlander in Training

Joined
Jun 4, 2014
Messages
1,173
Location
North Dakota
I'm 31 years old and will be venturing out for my first backcountry elk hunt next fall. I've been on a few elk hunts, but never anything that could be considered extreme. I've always lifted and stayed in decent shape, but I don't think I'm in mountain shape. I would like to get into some type of training routine that doesn't involve only weight training. Free time is tough to come by these days, but I would like to incorporate some type of high intensity cardio into my daily/weekly routine, along with weight training. What are you flatlanders doing to get into (and stay) in mountain shape?

I live in North Dakota, so going for a 5-10 mile hike with significant elevation gains will be impossible. I could go hike around this hills on the weekends, but during the week I'm pretty much limited to the gym or a set of 72 steps near my house. Once we get some snow on the ground I'll strap on the snow shoes and pack and find some hills. Any other ideas?

Ryan
 
I poked around on there a little bit today actually. I would just have a hard time justifying the cost to access the workouts.

I hear ya. I was in the same boat last year with it. But the amount of material (instructional videos, workouts, networking) that is available to you once you sign up is crazy. If you are truly dedicated to the membership, its worth every penny.
 
ndbwhunter. Heres my personal opinion about mountain hunting. You can be in some of the best shape, cardio, muscular, etc... but nothing can really prepare you for the mountain life. I take around 30 or so hunters each year in the backcountry and some are in amazing shape, some not so much. Even the guys who train hard, dedicated to crossfit or whatever their into still have a very difficult time in the mountains. Its all about the elevation. You can have some powerful legs, hit the gauntlet machine for years, but its still not going to fully prepare you. The more time you spend in the higher elevation, the better youll get. Our bodies adapt and change in ways most dont realize. When you live and hunt in higher elevations, your body tends to build mass quantities of oxygen carrying red blood cells. That alone is why some 60 year old 30lb over weight hunter is out hiking the 30 year old Florida boy at 11,000 ft. Ya just need to spend time in the sky bud.
 
I dont lift at all, we do a shit ton of push-ups (sets of 20, alternating type- wide arm,diamond,spiderman,regular, clapper) and sets of 50 jumps (keep your back straight, squat down far enough to touch the floor then jump up a few inches) in between w/o rest, 5 sets total of each followed by switches, with clapper push-ups in between, then 4 sets of 50 deep knee bends(deep squats w/o a bar) followed by ladder drills(speed and agility type) then pull up's and dips, and finally ab's.

when I'm about 6 weeks from goin out west I'll start using a elevation training mask, it's a real asskicker

I live @ 600' elevation
 
like pronghunter said, its all about the elevation. do your best at getting your legs in shape with the stairmaster/stairs and a mix of other cardio so at least they aren't fatigued and your lungs get a workout. when you get to the mountains there is basically no way you won't suck wind due to lack of oxygen from what you are accustomed to. all you can do is get in the best shape possible where you live so you can be effective. I don't live at very high elevation but have been able to manage. if you are in great shape, you might not be the best one out there in the mountains but you will still have a great hunt and likely not need to take days off.

also, if you lift weights, get used to doing different exercises and sets with minimal rest in between for the entire workout (1 minute rest max). this will give your lungs a workout as well on the lifting days.
 
I have only been elk hunting once so take my advice lightly.

I lift and do cardio at least 3 times a week, I'm also a runner (couple marathons) I focused a lot on squats and lunges and leg work before I went, which was good but more cardio would have done me much better. Like HIIT type stuff.....

I'm using now as an experiment Battle ropes, flip a tractor tire, sledge hammer a tire, pull a tractor tire and punch a heavy bag. Rotating thru those with no or minimal rest will get your rate up and keep it up. Add in some ab work for core strength.

I'll be a lot better the next time I go out.
 
Despite all of your efforts, you'll never be in the shape you really want to be in when heading to the mountains, simply because we don't all live in the mountains and are usually acclimatized by the time we leave. I think you are probably on the right track, just keep after it, most of it is a mental game anyway, so doing something now and up until your hunt is better than nothing at all.
 
One thing that worked well for me: Find a hill, doesn't have to be a big one, and do wind sprints. I worked these in on the same day as a stairclimber session or just going out for a run. (If you don't have a hill, you could do wind sprints towing a tire, or just wind sprints to exhaustion) I'd do 5-10 90 second hills as fast as I could. Also had days where I'd just lift upper body and core to give the legs a rest. By the time I made it to Montana, you can always be in better shape, but my conditioning wasn't holding me back.

Make sure your boots fit really well, are completely broken in, and your pack fits perfectly - and that you test both of these on steep inclines and declines with a heavy load. Those things bothered me more than conditioning.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. For those of you that use a stairclimber, do you where your pack to add weight or is that addition of weight best for actual hikes?
 
A hill is a hill, it doesn't matter if it's in NoDak or Montana. Climbing uses it's own set of muscles, so they must be worked on a regular basis. Go off trail as often as you can. One mile in rough terrain can feel more challenging than ten on a flat easy trail.

Climb a local hill you can get too quickly, bleachers, stairs or even just a 12 inch step up box in your living room. Don't go overboard on how heavy the pack is and keep your breathing/heart rate at a level you can still talk.

Go easy on the hill sprints, no more than once every 7 - 10 days, depending on your ability to recover. The bulk of your training should be hiking with a pack on, 4 - 5 days per week. Even if you only get ten minutes in on a step up box, that's better than nothing. Fit your training in where you can, don't make excuses to skip it, make excuses to do it.

Forget Crossfit, it's too general and stressful on your body, your focus here needs to be specific, climbing a hill with a load on your back.

Learn to breathe deep and even, before you are winded, that will also help with the altitude change. Breathing ladders are an excellent way to learn to control panic breathing.

While you will not be able to train at altitude, you will adjust and acclimate faster if you are in top climbing condition.
 
Anymore input on the use of the elevation training masks? I read up on them a little bit, but haven't seen any reviews. Does anyone have any firsthand input on the actual benefits of these masks?
 
Checkout Mountain Athelte out of Jackson Hole WY. They have a program that you can do at a gym and it will get you in shape for any backcountry hunt.
 
I am 48 (47 in Sept at time of my hunt) and did my first Backcountry bow hunt in CO this last season. I too am in decent shape (max my Army Physical Fitness test every year). I was active in Crossfit for about 18 months when I stopped going in June to focus on hiking and was having some issues with my shoulder and elbow. At work I have 140 steps that I can climb. I do have fairly significant hills/small mountains to use locally for training but no way to replicate the altitude. I did not do any weight training those last three months prior to my hunt; though I had a very good strength base especially for my lower body and core prior.

This is what I did.

I hiked after work at least twice/wk for a minimum of an hour but usually 90mins with a pack; started at 25lbs and worked up to 50 the last month before the hunt. It is fairly hilly in my area and I was doing about 750ft of vertical on these after work hikes.
Twice a week after work I biked; either road (15-25min) or mnt (6-10mi) again it is hilly where I live so lots of climbing.
On the weekends I hiked with a pack one day for a minimum of 7mi in the mountains; locally or up in the Whites so vertical gains about 1200-2500ft. Most weekends I was also getting in a mnt bike as well. But at least a hike or bike if not both.
At work at least 3 days/wk I worked up to 3reps/3xday of doing the stairs taking them two at a time; not fast just walking pace recovering on the way back down then right up again. I would do them at my AM break, before lunch, afternoon break.

Was I still huffing and puffing when I got in the mountains in CO? Sure was. There is a big difference between living at 1200ft, hiking mountains of 2000-something to 4000-something and hunting 8500-12,500ft that I was doing in CO. But, I was able to recover petty fast and able to keep up with the locals I was hunting with who insisted that I was not holding them back. I did not have any issues with altitude sickness, headaches, or any issues like that. I did arrive a day early before heading to the mountains to spend a night in CO Springs (5,700ft) at one of my hunting partners homes to get the acclimation process going. We ended up hiking over 40 miles during my 6 day hunt; and climbed a total of 14,992ft during that time. I feel I was a about as prepared as I could have been given my schedule and not sure what else I could have done besides more training if I had the time. All hiking was done in the boots that I hunting in and with the pack that I took as well. Good luck I can’t wait to go back.
 
Do some searching on the nutrition forum as there have been some very in depth discussions on this matter.

I'm certainly no expert and new to hunting out West, but my partners and I recently travelled from the flat, swampy lands of West TN to a very steep unit in SW CO to hunt elk. We all had some experience backpacking in various settings out West and I had done a lot of alpine climbing and mountaineering in the past, so I think we all had a reasonable frame of reference for the shape that we needed to be in. We all 3 separately used HIIT based programming as the core of our conditioning.
Personally, I used Crossfit. As discussed in the Nutrition forum, some members seem to agree that Crossfit will get you about 80% there. Of course, you'll need to spend some additional time under the weight of a pack. Others disagree with that approach and that's fine. I'm not going to debate any of these guys because they are all more experienced backcountry hunters than I am. That being said, I think the 3 of us performed very well at elevations up to 12,600 feet. Our first 1/4th a mile approach consisted of 2000 feet of elevation gain, some of it technical. As far as being flatlanders, I think we performed as well as anyone could have possibly expected us to.

While Crossfit is definitely going to have you doing a lot of general conditioning, you'll find yourself well balanced. What's your goal? To be in shape for hunting and only hunting or to be in excellent shape period and condition specifically for hunting seasonally? While the productivity of everything from spending time doing deadlifts to handstand pushups can be debated as far as productivity in hunting (and it has), having a well balanced body that is not super overdeveloped in one area can certainly help to keep you injury free. Having personally gone through a Crossfit cycle in preparation for a hunt, I feel confident in it. I think that training at or very near your V02 max and being able to extend the amount of time you can spend training and functioning in that super high intensity state pays dividends in terms of endurance. I am well aware that is a somewhat controversial conclusion amongst endurance type athletes, but, bare in mind that I have plenty experience with the LSD type training to. In the end, I feel like my performance in the mountains exceeded my expectations and that I was also very impressed with my partners' performances as well. Going in, we were all very nervous about getting our asses absolutely handed to us.
 
More than one way to skin a cat and fitness is no different. I've done several different programs and have never returned from the mountains disappointed in my conditioning. Until this last year I made up/did my own programming. Consisted of weight training, stairmaster, swimming, mountain biking, hiking with a weighted pack and hill sprints. The weight training varied from heavy ladders to circuit training. Emphasis was put on back, legs and core. Left the chest and arms off the program. No conditioning issues on the hunts, and no regrets.

This past year I tried Crossfit for a change of pace. Decided I liked it so joined a gym. I was curious as to what the results were going to be and figured I'll just find out. I did nothing but Crossfit for hunt prep this year other than a few hikes with moderate weight, 50#. Tried out a couple new packs and bought one and the only hiking I did was to test the packs and then dial in the fit. That consisted of 22 total miles of hiking over 4 months, I record all of them. My conditioning was fine and right on par with where I had been in the past.

Point being, there are multiple ways to get in shape to go hunt. I don't think the supposed "hunting specific" programs hold any big advantage over any other general fitness program. I disagree that HIT type training is inferior to other methods and won't prepare you for the mountains. I think with nothing but a treadmill you could be mountain ready and never leave the confines of your home. Really, any good fitness program will do. Find something you like and stick with it. No program is effective if you don't like it and aren't committed to it long term. Get in good, general physical condition and go hunt.

Look through the posts on this site. There is a WOD thread where some of us post our workouts every day. Pick through those and it won't cost you anything. Take some of the exercises and add something hunting related to them if you want to specify. There are many other threads where guys discuss workouts and workout programs. A lot of info in many threads.

Conditioning is the only part of my hunt that I have absolute control over. Because of that I take it very seriously and my goal is simple. Lack of conditioning will never cost me an animal or prevent me from hunting how I want. So far, with many different methods and programs, it hasn't been an issue.
 
Google "Mountain Athlete" out of Cody, WY.

Do the 6-week Afghan Pre-Deployment Program...

It's specifically designed to prepare soldiers for rucking in mountainous conditions... Great for Western Hunting too.
 
Back
Top