Hip workouts for packing

[Nickoftime]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if you guys had tips on ways to strengthen your hips for packing out elk? I've been doing squats and lunges with a pack, but seeing if someone had some suggestions!

Thanks

 

[*zap*]

glute bridge, good morning, rdl, dl with perfect form/hip hinge.

 

[Backyard]

Put 40-50 lbs in your pack and do about 3 miles of hills up and down 2-3 times a week.

 

[UWneptune308]

If you have resistance bands you can wrap them around your ankles and side step. You can do goblet squats. Take a bar bell throw it on your shoulders and do box squats. The amount of stuff you can do is endless to be honest.

If you don’t have access to a gym you can do ALL of these with body weight too


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[Mike1187]

Second for Bandwalks…for me, it seems to hit the same area that I notice when packing.
Side to side, forward/backward, diagonal side steps

 

[sszelong]

There are exercises that bias glute max, medius, etc., but when you isolate a muscle, it should be because of a singular deficit that you are trying to strengthen. If you’re talking about carrying weight regardless of what it is then trying to bias muscular activation via specific exercise isn’t what you want to do. Let’s assume you are a healthy, fit individual. My first suggestion is to take your body weight and perform simple division to gain some perspective. For example let’s take two healthy individuals. I’m 220# and I load my pack with 100# so I’m at 44% of my body weight. Another guy (165#) loads with 100#, he’s at 61%. That would be 137.25# on my back to be at 61% BW. I’ve hauled that kind of weight and it’s not too friendly. What I’m driving at is to know what your body is capable of for the type of terrain and distance you need to get that weight back to. Take your pack, load it up with various weights and distances, and figure out what is doable and what is not. Ya it’s great to do squats, rdl, good mornings, whatever, but 5 sets of ten won’t get you five miles worth of steps with 100# back to the truck.

 

[Poser]

Strength is a general adaptation not a specific one. With that in mind, using a backpack to actually get stronger is a terribly inefficient way to get there. Don’t get me wrong, hiking uphill with a pack is necessary to be in shape for hiking uphill with a pack, but you are training the sport specific, muscular endurance (the ability to perform a submaximal movement over and over again) aspect when you do that.

Since hiking with a pack, even a super heavy pack of 100#+, is a submaximal affair (it can’t be maximal by definition because that can’t be sustained for hours on end) and strength is a general adaptation, strength training with a barbell is the most efficient way to get the body stronger and you shouldn’t be thinking in terms of muscle isolation rather fundamental movement patterns: squat, press, pull. Put your time under the barbell with heavy weight and low reps to build strength, put your time with the pack on rucking to build muscular endurance. If you desire strong hips, you must squat heavy. No way around it as everything else: lunges, hip hinges, leg presses, squatting with a pack on, bands etc are submaximal variations of the parent movement, the squat. you’re thinking, “I need stronger hips”, but what you should be thinking is, “I need a stronger body” because increased strength is more effectively achieved by stressing the entire system vs isolating muscle groups. The specific part of this equation is then using those strong muscles to do a submaximal task over and over again for hours on end. That specific adaptation, rucking, is achieved by actually rucking and during the process of developing this sport specific muscular endurance, you develop the necessary capillary density to perform the task over and over again.

 

[Lelder]

Slow walking on treadmill (2mph) at a steep incline 10-15 degrees for an hour or more

 

[TurboTec]

I personally have found the only way to train for packing meat out is hauling sand bags on pack frames prior to the season. In my opinion there is no substitute for pack training. I always had hip flexor issues in elk season, but then started training in the summer for it. Problem solved. Good luck!


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[mtwarden]

do you happen to live in a Wintery clime? I find snowshoeing to be very good in strengthening the entire hip region (and well beyond! )

 

[TurboTec]

do you happen to live in a Wintery clime? I find snowshoeing to be very good in strengthening the entire hip region (and well beyond! )

Thanks a great idea! I’ve always wanted to try snowshoeing. I’ll bet it is a great workout. Lots of snow on the ground now and the time is right. Any suggestions on a snow shoe model for beginners?


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[mtwarden]

MSR makes a few different models- their plastic Evo's are a good all around shoe and they come with optional tails if needed for additional flotation (powdery snow, heavier pack, etc)

 

[AZSTM44]

Squats and deadlifts

 

[WyoArk]

So, I do a little of all of the above. I am a long time weight lifter, 212#@5”9.

Prepare for a long post to follow. I feel like there is a lot of misinformation out there about what works and what doesn’t. Being in shape for the mountain is the number one thin go I see keep guys from not being able to get that bull/buck every year. Especially if you are a diy guy.

What I am about to breakdown is my typical week and year around training program. You don’t have to do as many sets or reps starting out. Start with what you are capable of doing! Loading up the pack or bar too early will only lead to injury or defeat. Keep it light to start and the old 3 sets of 10 rule is a great Place to start!




I agree with above comment about having a strong body overall. Not just having strong hips.

I use an 60 pound sand bag in my Stone glacier pack and 20 mins of stair master as hard as I can go. I pay attention to my heart rate. Once I get in the high 140s or low 150s I try my best to keep it there. I can go for about 12 minutes straight and then I have to slow my heart rate down for a couple of minutes. I finish my last 8 minutes at my original speed and then cool down for two minutes. Cool down is important, you don’t want blood pooling to cause cramps or make you pass out!

Immediately afterward I head over to the treadmill and max out the incline. I will go for 10 minutes straight @ 2, 2.5, 3.0 mph. Once again I am watching my heart rate and making sure I am keeping it up in the high 140s or low 150s. I adjust my speed, but never the incline. I keep it steep. Also, it does no good to grab the handle bars and lean back. That’s cheating yourself. No handles to grab on the mountain.

I do this Cardio routine 5 days a week starting in May. June through August I increase time for both the stair and the treadmill. I train at 7200 feet so that does help quite a bit.

If you can’t handle that amount of weight start small. No pack at all and work your way up. You will be amazed at how quickly you can gain cardio endurance.

Below is my weight lifting routine.

I do a variation of the “bro split”.

Monday- Back day 8-10 sets of t bar rows, working my way up in weight sets of ten.

Lat pull downs 8-10 sets of 10 half full grip, half close grip. Some days I trade these out for pull ups

Bench Lat pulls 4 sets of ten increasing weight.

Seated rows 5 sets of 10 increasing in weight each set.

Good mornings 3 sets of 10 keep the weight low on these until you get your form down. Jumping in too heavy Is a great way to get injured. I would start with the bar.

Tuesday-

Chest day

7- 8 sets of flat bench increasing in weight. Admittedly I have never been a guy who stretches. I warm up with my first set being the bar. So bench would look like this.

Set of 30 with the bar, set of 15 with 85 #, set of 12 135#, set of 12 185#. Set of 10 225#, set of 8 275#, 2 sets of 315#s for 3 reps.

Once again how much you can lift starting out doesn’t matter! Start with what you can do and increase the weight!

4 sets of 10-12 incline bench increasing weight each set.

4 sets of decline bench increasing weight each set.

3-4 sets 10 reps of flat bench dumbbell flys

3-4 sets 10 reps of incline dumbbell flys

3-4 sets 10 reps of decline bench flys

Always starting lighter and getting heavier each set. Usually I start with 25’s and work my way up to 60s.

Wednesday- leg day

6-8 sets of squats

Number of reps depends on the weight. I always mix it up. Some weeks I do lighter weight for high reps. Some weeks I stack up the bar and do heavy weight with 3-5 reps a set.

* I always do a warm up set with the bar of 15 reps low and slow.

Lunges 3-4 sets of 10 increasing in weight each set.

Leg extensions 4-5 sets of 10 increasing weight each set.

Calve raises seated and standing 8-10 sets of ten increasing in weight. The calve is a stubborn muscle and very important when you are a crazy steep slope. Don’t overlook them! Mine suck genetically, so I have to train them extra hard.

Straight leg dead lift with the barbell 4 sets of 10.
Don’t go crazy with the weight here either starting out! Make sure to keep your knees straight and work those hamstrings.

Thursday- no training

Friday shoulders and traps and abs

5 sets 10 of standing military press increasing weight each set

3 sets of 10 hammer strength shoulder press increasing weight each set

5 sets of 10 seated or standing side laterals increasing weight within reason. Be careful with these, too much weight will destroy your shoulders!

5-8 sets 10 of trap bar should shrugs. Increasing weight each set.

5 sets of 10 reverse peck deck machine increasing in weight each set. If you don’t have that machine substitute any rear deltoid lift. It’s important not to leave out the rear head of the shoulder muscle group!!!

Abs I do hanging straight leg lifts. 3-5 sets of 10 as high as I can raise my legs without bending my knees.

I should note that standing military press does a ton in helping build strong core muscles.

Saturday- arms tris and Bis

Curls may be for girls but I still do them!

6-8 sets of 10reps of seated incline bicep curls with dumbbells.I increase weight each set.

6-8 sets of 10 skull crushers flat bench with easy curl bar. Increasing weight each set.

3 sets of 10 close grip bench press increasing weight.

3 sets of standing barbell curls increasing weight each set. Sometimes I do 21s.

3-5 sets of 10 tricep pull downs with rope.

Sunday- rest

In no way am saying the above is the Bible, but it does work! I change up my weight training often and substitute other some lifts for others. This is just a rough guide of what I do year around.

I hope this helps someone. I am a personal trainer on the side and I am always happy to help anyone with questions!

 

[*zap*]

Hips are very important as you age as is the whole area of center of the body...from mid thigh to mid core.

I see people doing deadlifts and not engaging hips/ending on hip thrust. So, yes certain exercises can be very beneficial to hips but form and rom (especially in squats) is very important to strengthen hips. The good morning is another very good hip exercise if done as a hip hinge movement. Obviously if your doing max weight dl's you may not hip hinge as much but it may be a good idea to include some dl's where you focus on hip hinge.

ymmv.

 

[kjw]

Hip flexors are a big thing for me. Seems like first couple trips they are the first to get fired up. I do a lot of band work. Like mentioned above, the side steps and such. I also like to anchor a band to some low behind me, attach to my ankle and do some forward kicks or high knees. I will also turn and swing legs to the side just to get everything moving and used to some stress

 

[kjw]

Hip flexors are a big thing for me. Seems like first couple trips they are the first to get fired up. I do a lot of band work. Like mentioned above, the side steps and such. I also like to anchor a band to some low behind me, attach to my ankle and do some forward kicks or high knees. I will also turn and swing legs to the side just to get everything moving and used to some stress

 

[ddd-shooter]

X10 for the side steps.
Also walking lunges, reverse lunges, and side lunges. Get the hip moving across all planes.

 

[Old_Norther]

Hey everyone, I was wondering if you guys had tips on ways to strengthen your hips for packing out elk? I've been doing squats and lunges with a pack, but seeing if someone had some suggestions!

Thanks

Hips are right in the old pump house. Center of everything. Can you be more specific with what you mean? If you’re getting some numbness or “burn” in your butt/hip that could be a pack fit issue.

As a strength coach, it’s pretty hard to beat Lunges, squat, deadlift for hip strength.

I would add loaded farmer carry to the list, this one is for your QL, which plays a huge role on stabilizing your hips during gait, under load.