Injuries While Preparing For The Hunt.

[NPO_Aaron]

Hey everyone! This post is a follow up to my previous post about back country injuries. The common response I have been getting is that an extremely important factor in injury prevention while in the back country is proper physical conditioning. The point of my research has been to create a "manual" for injury prevention while hunting, therefore it makes sense that I need to address injury prevention while preparing for the back country as well.

So, my next question is: What injuries, acute or chronic, is everyone dealing with while training? I am hoping to correlate types of injuries with types of exercise and then create a blueprint to avoid or rehabilitate those injuries.

Thanks again.

 

[Dos Perros]

I've had lower back pain, not sure if I'd call it an injury but enough to cool it off for a while, as well as shoulder pain, from packing sandbags and shooting my bow too much/lifting, respectively.

 

[elkyinzer]

Here are a couple of my injuries that I have learned lessons from:

2013 - Shinsplints twice. I tried distance running/jogging, because I was a beginner prepping for my first elk hunt in Colorado, and thought I had to as a flatlander in order to conquer the mountains (internet experts partly to blame there). It was stupid because I know my body just isn't designed for distance running. I'll race and beat just about anyone 50 yards, but I just don't do the joint pounding distance stuff. I now do interval training, pack training, hiking, biking, kayaking and a mixture of other cardio, and stay in great shape. The lesson there is know your own body and come up with a plan that suits you.

2015 - Tore my MCL playing softball in early May, by mid-July it had healed enough to get back into my training routine. As a result I was not in tip top shape for September elk hunt but it was good enough to get by. I was lucky not to damage the acl or pcl. I guess the lesson there is weigh your risks in relation to wanting to enjoy your hunt. I still play softball and baseball but I am banking on that being a freak occurrence as those aren't high risk. I'll play basketball in winter but cut that out in the spring as I feel there's a much better chance I'll do something there I'll regret.

I think in general there is a some good information out there and a ton of misinformation propagated about training for mountain hunting. In the end there are so many individualized factors that what you are trying to do is really complicated.

 

[JPD350]

The biggest thing that effects my pre hunt workouts is my heel pain and a nerve in the ball of my foot, it seems that all of my foot pain originates from the lower back, as long as I constantly stretch it is under control but when I push it to far or miss some streching it can really mess up workouts and hunts. The reason I have nerve issues is because I broke my back while I was taking an ATV out of a truck, it rolled over backwards on me, so that would be one thing people should never do before a hunt because then you don't get to go at all! LOL

You need to be just as conscientious before your hunt as your are in the back country.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

A few years back one of my hunting partners was playing goalie in soccer a few weeks before archery elk season. He sprained his wrist so bad that he couldn't shoot his bow for the first three weeks of season and had to be full-time caller.

 

[slow]

I notice a little soreness and stiffness in my hips when increasing mileage or pack weight on training hikes. I believe some of this is because I've been running a Kifaru frame since February, and I'm able to get more of the load on my hips than before. A foam roller and spending a little extra time stretching the hips works wonders. Thanks to recommendations by some members here I've also started taking a fish oil supplement.

Also, I think wearing trail runners instead of boots for training hikes and summer backpacking helps strengthen and condition my feet a little more.

I'm far from an expert, but that's my two cents.

 

[Bonedalien]

my right shoulder pops out of socket real easy. this first happened 20 years ago snowboarding.thankfully this has never affected my ability to draw my bow,and its came out on hunts before. i have been able to get it back into socket myself for years now.
this affects my training in two ways. first on my hikes and scouting trips ect, i have had to train myself to tuck my arm if i slip and not flail out and try to stop myself,thats when it goes.
second ,flys are the only weight i do for chest and shoulders and i do them lying on the floor for safety

 

[ColoradoBackpackHunter]

For the longest time I had problems with my shoulders due to improper form which I have since fixed. I train hard in the off season and tend to scale back weight as well as how often I am at the gym the closer it gets to the season. I would hate to go hard all winter and end up with a preventable injury that would cost me the hunting season. You won't make up for not working out by starting a few weeks before the season starts anyways.

 

[bridgerbenson]

My biggest is low back pain, have fought it for 20 years. Also dealing with a tweaked shoulder for a few weeks now that started acting up after starting to go to the gym again after 12 years off. Have always been very active from scouting/archery hunting, and as a self employed carpenter, all of which keep me pretty fit, but always seem to have that low back throbbing.

 

[Ray]

Recommend that people put as much time into mobility work as they do into working out. Especially us older guys.

I did not know much about IT band issues while moving from a desk potato to a mountain potato, and thus slowed all my fitness down with IT band issues on and off for a year. It took a lot of research to figure out how to counter it as most IT band stretches recommended at the time did not help as they focus on muscles not related to the IT band. Mobility WOD and ROMWOD along with Daily Vita Moves have taught me a bunch about how things work and how to get them to work better.

Never cut off the tip of one of your fingers three days before you head out for two weeks of moose hunting. Sharpen all your tools at least a month or more before the trip. Gives you time to get the stitches out if the file slips off the blade.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Agree with Ray on the IT band issues. Another one to look out for is plantar fascia injuries. I battled PF for 8 months one year. Stretching and cross training are your friends, as are good fitting shoes and proper running form.

 

[Pow]

I need to do more basic pushups and situps before season starts this year. I get plenty of cardo running and riding my bike, but not enough core and upper body.

 

[Wyatt G]

pain from tight back muscles: stretching, stretching, and more stretching. Got it from being rear ended and limping/favoring one leg for a long time and bad posture.
Torn meniscus: got this from playing basketball and shredded it in my left knee. So try to stay away from things with alot of twisting/cutting if you dont have the best knees. Pt is the best thing for it if its not a bad tear, if you do have to have surgery if you work hard with ot it can be a pretty quick turnaround.
Crps: pretty rare nerve disease that's excruciatingly painful from a knee surgery. I've had this since September of 2014. If you get this or something similar dont plan on any hunting anytime soon because its gonna be a long until you're physically able to do anything. The best thing to do is to go to a program that specializes in it and work your hind end off until its gone.

 

[SLDMTN]

Peroneal Tendonitis and Shin Splints for me. Mtn running, trail running, and packing weight are my exercises.

 

[2ski]

Don't slip and fall on ice in the middle of July and injure your back. Yes....July. Had to hike out 8 miles after it happened too.

 

[5MilesBack]

As you get older tendons get less flexible. Achilles tendon tears are very common for older guys that jump back into activities without good prep work. Tearing shoulder tendons can also happen if you pick up your bow the week before hunting season after letting it sit all year. Thankfully I haven't had anything like this happen.......yet.

 

[DmrbigEshotT]

Achilles tendonitits - Started training hard off the bat doing bleachers and said, "Hey, lets try running 2-3 miles now since I'm killing bleachers." Running uses muscles and tendons differently than bleachers and after getting tired at 2.5 miles I said I'm getting 3 no matter what. Poor form led to heel pain and it took 2-3 months of stretching and inactivity to get rid of it.
Lesson learned = ease into training and when your body (in an injury type of way) is telling you to take it easy, take it easy. Do what feels best and to me, that is stairmaster and riding the bike.

Sciatica - Periodic severe lower back nerve pain. Result of lifting weights with poor form when I was 19 or 20. Bothers me from time to time now but as long as I'm mindful of how I bend over to pick things up or twist, I'm good.
Lesson learned = Be mindful and focused at all times when doing difficult things. Just because you've been doing something for a while with no ill results doesn't mean it can't happen.

Left ACL and meniscus repair in 2007 and bursitis in right knee in 2013 - ACL and meniscus was from football in 2007. Reconstructive surgery and PT followed and it is back to normal. Bursitis was from a near-tragic volleyball accident and it was a miracle I didn't blow anything. Both swell up a decent amount when first starting training but a couple months in, swelling is very minimal after each session and feel pretty good.
Lesson learned = no more sports for me as I want to be able to climb mountains when I'm 60 and hunt. If you have any kind of injury and PT is prescribed, take that sh!t seriously because it has a major impact on how you recover. Also, an object in motion stays in motion. Keep active if you have joint issues because it is tough starting back up after periods of inactivity.

 

[Schnagelbagel]

I have a herniated disc the doctors say. Been having pain in back and leg since about a week after i got home from last years hunt. Had been having the symptoms leading up to the hunt from work. Been trying to exercise with doing some cardio classes, swimming and elliptical/treadmill. Nothing is taking the pain in my right side spine away. Had three injections, MT, PT, Chiro, and acupuncture really contemplating surgery!

 

[2ski]

I have a herniated disc the doctors say. Been having pain in back and leg since about a week after i got home from last years hunt. Had been having the symptoms leading up to the hunt from work. Been trying to exercise with doing some cardio classes, swimming and elliptical/treadmill. Nothing is taking the pain in my right side spine away. Had three injections, MT, PT, Chiro, and acupuncture really contemplating surgery!

As I said in my post, I fell on the ice in July almost 2 years ago and injured my back. It was not a fast process to heal. I should've gone in right away when I fell, but I thought it was a bruise so I left it alone. In Sept. I got out of bed and had pain in my left leg. I've been to the chiro and it wasn't until sometime in Dec. that I had parts of the day after I had been up and loosened up for a while where I didn't have some sort of pain. I thought it was an injury that would heal over a few weeks. My uncle does tell me that acupuncture has helped him a ton.

 

[mfolch]

Broke my left knee and foot (twice) in high school and neither ever quite healed right; then the meniscus tore on the same knee. I ended up with back pain and plantar fasciitis from the injuries.Putting all the stress on my right side eventually led to a tear in the patellar tendon of my right knee. All of this compounded by a relatively sedentary profession and being a regular runner for decades.

Long and short, after three doctors recommended physical therapy and yoga (!), I reluctantly tried both, and the transformation was instantaneous. I'm still dealing with the scar tissue and structural issues, but one hour of yoga (I follow youtube videos--can't bring myself to go to a studio) a week thrown into the usual mix of running, weight training, and backpacking around town with bags of rock salt has my knees stronger and more balanced than they've felt in 20 years.