Sheep Training Question

[StraightShooter]

You bet. Jim and Clay run a good outfit. Be sure to post up a full report in the Sheep forum when you get back. Don't get too caught up in the physical training that you forget to put in some good trigger time. Feel free to PM me with any questions. The months are going to fly by. Heading back to NWT myself in 2020 to chase moose. Can't get enough of that part of the world.
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My buddy has a farm that we set up a shooting range a several years ago. We have steel target set up from 300 to 1000 yards and go regularly to keep our shooting tuned up. I just bought a new 6.5 Creedmoor that I am setting up for this hunt and am getting it broke in. I definitely believe in making sure that I have practiced plenty enough that when the time comes to squeeze off a round that I am confident that I will be right on target. I have never been to the NWT so I am very excited just to see that part of the world. I will definitely have to do a before and after report in the Sheep forum. Thanks

 

[Wildwillalaska]

My perspective is the leaner/stronger you go in, the more you will enjoy the hunt. Heavy packs and mountains work every part of you. Whole posterior chain will get its daily dose and then some, especially for us heavier gents.

I’d stick with your workouts and if anything, lower weights as you get closer to your departure. Best way to prep for mountain backpacking hunt is mountain backpacking. If you live in flat land, stairsteppers with pack help, but also actual stairs, ones where you can skip ones going up, ones that are stationary requiring full strength to raise to. I’m fortunate to have sheep mountains not far from my back porch, but far enough some evenings after work, with family, chor3s, etc., can’t make it to favorite trailhead for workout—so I stop at the high school stadium and simply hike the bleachers up/down for an hour. We don’t have any buildings over 2-3 stories locally, but if in a city, I’d expect a high rise stairwell would also serve well.

So I mix up high intensity workouts, strength training, and longer (much longer) hikes. As I get into summer hiking season, I quit doing heavy back squats as my legs get hours of weighted lunges 2-4 days a week. I still lift weights 4 days a week, but with steep mountain hikes no less than 2 days a week, squats leave my routine till after moose season.

As you get closer in time to your departure, you will seriously benefit from doing at least 2 consecutive days, and more the closer your get, of climbing bleachers/stairs with moderate weighted pack. I’d go a good pace to get heart rate elevated and go for as long as your schedule will allow.

You want to be able to spend hours climbing up, down, sidehilling, each day, day in and out, for duration of your hunt—and be fit enough to relish the suffering. I cannot wait for the suffering.

 

[OXN939]

Guys - I have a up coming sheep hunt planned in the NWT the first of this August. I typically do weight lifting training at the gym about 5 day a weeks and carry quite a bit of muscle at 5'9" and 225 pounds. That being said I know from some of my past experiences in the mountains this is probably to much muscle for a flatlander like me to be carrying around in the mountains. My question is how much cardio should I start doing per week and how much weight do you think I would need to lose to be more efficient with my cardio on this hunt. I am a just a little torn about loosing to much muscle when I start my dieting and cardio. Any suggestion and comment would be appreciated. Thanks

Add some running in there. People hate it, but it works better than anything else you can do because of the change in physiology it precipitates. If you work your way up to doing four runs for a total of ~10 miles a week by the middle of July, you'll see weight loss, increased energy levels, better endurance and better athletic mobility.

 

[StraightShooter]

Guys - I have a up coming sheep hunt planned in the NWT the first of this August. I typically do weight lifting training at the gym about 5 day a weeks and carry quite a bit of muscle at 5'9" and 225 pounds. That being said I know from some of my past experiences in the mountains this is probably to much muscle for a flatlander like me to be carrying around in the mountains. My question is how much cardio should I start doing per week and how much weight do you think I would need to lose to be more efficient with my cardio on this hunt. I am a just a little torn about loosing to much muscle when I start my dieting and cardio. Any suggestion and comment would be appreciated. Thanks

Guys - I just wanted to do a little update. It has been almost a month now and I am down to 208 pounds now. I have been doing a Keto type diet over the last 4 weeks which has lowered the amount of carbs I am taken in. This has taken some adjusting to because the lowered amount of carbs has affected my strength as well as my energy levels. It took my body about two weeks to adjust. My energy levels have started to feel more normal over the last couple of weeks.

I also have incorporated about 2 to 3 days a week of cardio per week. I started off in the beginning with walking about 25 minutes on the treadmill at about a 12% incline on first day of cardio and then working on the stair climber on second day of cardio for about 25 minutes. Now over the last couple weeks I have worn my pack with 25 pounds of weight for 32 minutes on 15% incline keeping my heart rate at approx. 150. I figure I would keep increasing the weight by about 5 pounds per week until I reach the 50 pound mark in the next 4 weeks. Then my plan was, starting about 6 weeks out, to up my cardio sessions to around 45 minutes and change the frequency to 4 times per week. I figured one time a week on treadmill with 50 pound pack, two times a week on stairs or stair climber with 50 pound pack, and a one hour hike per week on the weekend with a 60 pound pack.

I am still planning on doing my weight lifting sessions about 4 times per week. I am still trying to figure out what my weight needs to be when I leave for the hunt. My mind says probably between 190 and 200 pounds. Let me know what your thoughts are about my plan so far.

 

[Ohio Darin]

With that plan you will be just fine. Your weight will be what it will be but you'll be in good physical shape. I averaged about 200 minutes of cardio a week the last 8 weeks leading up to my hunt last summer. Looked at my Garmin app earlier today and saw I did 1366 minutes over 7 days of my hunt. Never seemed to run out of gas. Your guide will be used to running up and down the mountain so don't feel you need to keep up. Just put one foot in front of the other and go at your own pace. It's a marathon and the sheep aren't going anywhere. Good luck.

 

[Felix40]

Might as well set high goal. Id be trying to lose as much weight as possible. 180 seems very doable. Its almost never good to carry more weight around the mountains.