Mountain training for a flatlander!

[msmudduck]

Guy give me some tips or ideas about things do to get in shape for Season! Currently I hit the gym 5 days a week. There days of heavy leg workout mainly squats, deadlifts, and a few various machines to isolate different muscle groups. The other two days are used for upper body. Two types Of bench then some curls and things to hit those tuffer muscle groups. I have tried to add in about three sessions of interval cardio for about an hour each session. I just wish we had some hills around to actually pack with some weight! Oh an I have been hammering the core to help me stabilize packing heavy loads! Any pointers?

 

[Kebler]

You got a staidum with bleaches/steps could be a high school??

 

[msmudduck]

That was my initial thought but I can't find any bleachers or Long sets of stairs without serious gates and security? Seems like bleachers+weighted pack would be awesome leg burner

 

[ol490]

I moved from Wyoming to nebraska 4 years ago, so I have been through the transition to flat lander. My advice is to find an activity that really winds you and hit it a couple of times a week to vary your workouts. The first two years I went back and hunted elk at 8,500 elevation, my wind wasn't very good even though I did cardio. I now play ice hockey (which is awesome for legs and wind) and also do flights of stairs or stadium steps to push the legs to max fatigue and work the wind. The last two seasons have been great when I went back and hunted since starting these activities. My two cents....

 

[colonel00]

Does your gym have a stair climber? How about putting a treadmill as steep as you can? Any decently sized office buildings or parking garages around that have stairwells?

 

[Poser]

These days, it can be difficult to gain access to stadiums. We use the stairwell in a 33 story building. As an alternative, find a local hill or sustained flight of stairs and do laps.

 

[JeremiahH]

I picked up a zfo weighted vest off Ebay. Hiking with that is awesome. Also stair climber with it is great. Training with a pack is great but having a weighted vest with the weight wrapped around your body is terrific for your transverse abdominals and core strength. Push ups, planks, lunges with a vest, all great. Imo one of the best things you can do for your legs for mountain hunting is consistently push you're lactic acid threshold. The weight vest and some hard stair climber sessions will work well for that. My 2 shillings..

 

[Huntmaster]

I have combined Insanity and hikes with a weighed pack and it has worked quite well for me.

The insanity does good for the legs and lungs, then the weighted pack gets you used to carrying the weight.

 

[AZ Vince]

I do interval training at least 3 days week for 40 minutes on the treadmill with a 40 to 70 pound pack. The weight of the pack depends on the intensity of the training. I've found it helps a bunch.

 

[Poser]

Yesterday, we did 90 seconds max effort/ 60 seconds rest on stairs with packs. Do the 90/60 for 5-8 sets after you are warmed up. It should push you very hard -close to your anabolic threshold, then resume a steady moderate pace on uphill terrain for another 15-30 minutes before cool down. It's a good way to simulate hiking with less oxygen since you'll be sucking wind hard from the max effort bursts. Using manual settings, you can do that workout on a stairclimber. Rest can either be standing still or immediately backing the stair climber resistance down to easy.

 

[Darren Best]

If you can't get to a hill, stairs or bleachers, make a box step out of 3/4" plywood.

 

[msmudduck]

Thanks for the ideas guess, I think I will look into a weight vest to use on the treadmill. Locally we don't have many multi storie buildings. Unfortunately the stair master at my gym broke a couple of months ago, hopefully they can get it fixed soon, October is coming quick! I want to be ready

 

[justinspicher]

Drag a tire. You can by rope real cheap and the tire will be free from any tire dealership. It doesn't have to be big, get a couple of different sizes.

 

[rhendrix]

18" box, and get to stepping. Simple and effective.

 

[Z Barebow]

I would add some more endurance cardio into your mix.

As far as hills, you might need to be creative. Highway overpasses, underground city water tanks, and the one I use the most, local flood dike. I will hike/walk backwards, up the dike with weighted pack. This put a major burn on your quads.

I am a big proponent of improving the things that you use in day to day hunting. Leg strength, lungs and heart. I do core and only some upper body. Main time for pure strength is when hauling meat out. The icing on the cake, so to speak.

 

[Jason Snyder]

18" box, and get to stepping. Simple and effective.

Yep. Put 40 pounds in your pack and hit the box step for an hour.

 

[krueger]

I would add some more endurance cardio into your mix.

^ this, mountain hunting is about cardio and endurance. Exessively big muscles can be very counter prouctive bc all they do is suck up all your oxygen. Endurance training for your legs and core and lots of interval cardio training would be all i would do if i were a flatlander prepping for an elk hunt.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Unfortunately, absolutely nothing prepares you for mountain hunting except actual mountain climbing/backpacking in the mountains. That being said, you work with whatever you got available to you. I think what you're already doing is good and what other posters have said regarding throwing weight on your back and getting on the stair climber. I would do the stair climber for at least an hour a session and at least 3 to 4 times a week. Start off at a doable pace then as your endurance gets better slowly increase the pace and continue to challenge yourself. This is what I try to do all winter long, but it still never fails that, the first few times in the spring, when I actually get into the mountains and start backpacking I still get really sore. You use different muscles when you're actually backpacking in the mountains that you just never seem to really work out in the gym. At least that's what I have found to be true.

 

[Ray]

One of the biggest issues for flat landers to train for is the down hill under load. Your quads will get micro tears in them and you will be very sore for a few days. It can make hiking very difficult for a day or two after a good downhill day. What I have found for my leg muscles is that once I put them through a tough down hill hike and allow them to fully recover over a three to four days that the micro tears will not occur again in that season as long as I keep working them.

Read the first paragraph of this for the sciency stuff: http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/three-tips-for-running-downhill
I know its about running down hill, but your leg muscles do the same contractions when walking down hill and will result in the same condition.

Other than hiking down a slope I can't think of a decent in home training similator other than box jumps. Stepping down off the box or jumping off the box will create the stress on your quads. Once you break the muscles in they are less prone to micro tears until you really stress them out over a long day down hill. For me it takes about a two to three hour down hill hike to get my quads screaming. Once early in the summer and it does not happen again for the remainder of the season.

 

[colonel00]

Interesting point, Ray. I actually find that my knees take a punishing on extended downhill hikes. Especially when it is a straight line downhill as opposed to zigzagging back and forth across the slope. I would love to find a way to better strengthen the muscles to keep the stresses off of my knees.