Weight Training

[Teaman1]

I used to do a lot of weight training in high school and college but haven’t in a few years. I’m starting back at it and am wondering if any of you use weights as a big part of your mountain training. Curious on various reps and sets some people might be using.

 

[Bigjay73]

Big time. I of course work my entire body, but core, and lower body is focused on for packing. I workout every other day, different body part every workout. My knees are not so young anymore, so no squats, but I highly recommend them. 5 sets 6-8 reps. Deadlifts are a must. Probably the most complete body lift you can do imo 5-6 sets 5-8 reps. Stiff legged dead lifts on leg day for hamstrings, 5 sets 8 reps. Throw in the regular lifts most people do for legs, lower back and abdominal muscles, and you'll be golden. Those lifts work the intended muscles, plus arms, Lower back and your core. Proper technique is a must. Always go with lower weight, and proper form. Cardio is great for hiking, heavy weight training will get your animal out of the mountains.

 

[NEhunter]

I use Wendler 531 for weight training. Great system imo.


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[*zap*]

Strength is never a disadvantage. Either bodyweight calisthenics or free weights are very good to incorporate into your fitness program. I have found that butt to the floor squats are helpful for my knees along with leg curls and extensions. When you go deep with squats you also hit the core, abductors and hips. Start light with any weight exercise and go for the best form while working the negative.....I usually stay with 4-5 sets of an exercise and go 12-10-8-6&4 if I do a fifth, adding weight as I go. As you get up in years core and hips become very important.....also engage the core and pelvis rotation as much as possible while doing any free weight exercise. Hanging leg raises are very good core as well as heel claps/toe to bars without any kipping and a pause at dead hang before the next rep. Good luck and a small improvement each workout will add up fast....I have found that short term goals that help me reach my long term goals help a lot.

 

[theCaptain]

i mix up my strength and conditioning days. Strength days usually consist of either deadlifts or squats with 3-5 sets and 3-8 reps depending on the weight. Like the others said, focus on core strength and proper execution of the lift. I like to think the strength days help out when standing up with a heavy pack or loading coolers in and out of trucks.

Conditioning days, i lower the weight and do lots of reps and keep my heart rate elevated and maximize work capacity with as little rest as possible.

My conditioning work out today consisted of the following:
10 rounds of:
5 strict pullups with 45# chains around shoulders
10 squats with 45# chains
10 push ups with 45# chains
10 step ups on bench with 45# chains for each leg
200m jog/spring (jog out to mailbox/sprint back to garage)

The chain weight mimics the typical weight of my pack and the step ups really work the legs and simulate gaining elevation. It all adds up in the end to increase your work capacity.

 

[Bulldawg]

It is the bulk of my training, and the training changes every few months. Periodization is key to training for top performance. Right now I don’t do much conditioning, working on hypertrophy. Do some strength training and then condition with some pack training and “conditioning”


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[Coach Chris]

I'm a Strength & Conditioning Coach. From the end the hunting season until late spring/early summer strength training takes a significant role in my program.
Currently I'm lifting 3-4 days a week, all full body. Primary goal is hypertrophy. Secondary goal is endurance-strength.
Every session contains 1 heavy compound lift. I utilize a variation of Wendler's 5/3/1 for this lift.
The movement patterns that remain I hit with kettlebell complexes, resistance bands and bodyweight exercises.
Rep ranges for these vary from 5 - 10 reps. Set volume is usually 3-5 sets.
The main thing that interferes with training this time of year is snow shoveling. Last week I shoveled snow for 14hrs over 3 days. Today I'll probably shovel for 4hrs

Mid summer I cut back to 2-3 days a week. I continue to hit the primary lifts as above with some strength mobility work with bodyweight exercises (divebomber push ups) or kettlebells (Turkish get ups and 2 hand anyhows) mixed in.
This is when I start my weighted vest hikes and ruck training

Late summer I lift 2 days a week. Sessions are heavy primary lifts as above with the goal of maintaining base strength levels. My strength mobility work are just Turkish get ups and bodyweight which are also at a maintenance level.
I'm doing 2 heavy ruck sessions a week at this point.
I maintain this schedule through hunting season.


I do a variety of loaded carries, kettlebell swings and pull ups/rows almost everyday, all year round.

 

[Teaman1]

Thanks for all the replies. Looking through the workout forums, I didn’t see really any heavy weight training so I was worried that some might think it’d hurt a guys muscle endurance or something for the pack out

 

[Poser]

Coming off the couch, you should look no further than running Starting Strength Novice Linear Progression.

 

[Clarktar]

Coming off the couch, you should look no further than running Starting Strength Novice Linear Progression.

Sound advice. Wendler program would also be good, pretty much the same as starting strength

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[Jordan Budd]

The MtnTough program may be one to look at. Matt and I are doing it right now and there’s a thread in a sticky that’s at the top of this forum section. I have nothing but positive things to say about it really. You do a lot of squats and step ups that do suck but they are undoubtably beneficial. It’s pretty much all full body lifts. I have a tough time coming up with workout plans and this is a great one for me to follow.


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[Teaman1]

Ya. Not gunna go right off the couch back to personal best bench press and deadlifts. I know a good bit on weight lifting, just confused me that I don’t see much weight room stuff when people talk about it. Definitely going to look into MtnTough, thanks again

 

[*zap*]

I think crossfit type stuff in in vogue now.....nothing wrong with using free weight training to increase strength/stamina. I enjoy it and the benefits from it.

 

[rackcity24]

I usually switch my rep ranges 3-5, 5-8, 8-12. I dont condition as far as running. So far I havent had any issues. If you cant get your heart rate up while lifting your not doing it right. My main lower body/ core workouts are nothing fancy. Front and back squat, deadlift, Romanian deadlift, lunges, calf raises, and planks "I dont do them all in one workout" .Someone mentioned the wendlers* program earlier in the thread, and I think it would be a good workout.

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[Poser]

No reason the OP should be doing an intermediate program at this time. Off the couch, the novice effect will allow him to add weight to the bar every workout for weeks or months. I’ve been an intermediate for years and I am still able to run Novice Linear Progression for short periods when coming back from trips, illness, down time etc.
an intermediate program uses periodization because the trainee can no longer recover from one workout to the next. For example, Wendler 5-3-1 adds 10# to your squat once every 3 weeks because an intermediate trainee requires much more stress and recovery time. The OP should be able to add 5# per workout, 3x a week for a total of 45# for the same 3 week period and he should be able to continue that progress for a decent amount of time. There is 0 reason to do more complex programming or unnecessary volume than an individual needs to progress forward. If there is a more effective Novice (novice does not mean that you don’t know anything, it simply means that you untrained or detrained) program than Starting Strength Linear Progression, I am unaware of it. Strong Lifts has unnecessary volume for a novice. Take advantage of the simplicity of those novice gains while you have the opportunity. The goal is not to do the most complex or crazy program you can find or to be so sore you can’t walk, or to try and turn the gym into the mountains, the goal is to get your body the strongest you possibly can in the shortest amount of time and a barbell with 4-5 movements and a proven program is the most effective and efficient way to do that.

I’ve said this before on here but mountain hunting is not rocket science. Get your body strong and then get in shape for hiking with a pack. That’s it -very little skill involved so don’t make it harder than it needs to be.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

No reason the OP should be doing an intermediate program at this time. Off the couch, the novice effect will allow him to add weight to the bar every workout for weeks or months. I’ve been an intermediate for years and I am still able to run Novice Linear Progression for short periods when coming back from trips, illness, down time etc.
an intermediate program uses periodization because the trainee can no longer recover from one workout to the next. For example, Wendler 5-3-1 adds 10# to your squat once every 3 weeks because an intermediate trainee requires much more stress and recovery time. The OP should be able to add 5# per workout, 3x a week for a total of 45# for the same 3 week period and he should be able to continue that progress for a decent amount of time. There is 0 reason to do more complex programming or unnecessary volume than an individual needs to progress forward. If there is a more effective Novice (novice does not mean that you don’t know anything, it simply means that you untrained or detrained) program than Starting Strength Linear Progression, I am unaware of it. Strong Lifts has unnecessary volume for a novice. Take advantage of the simplicity of those novice gains while you have the opportunity. The goal is not to do the most complex or crazy program you can find or to be so sore you can’t walk, or to try and turn the gym into the mountains, the goal is to get your body the strongest you possibly can in the shortest amount of time and a barbell with 4-5 movements and a proven program is the most effective and efficient way to do that.

I’ve said this before on here but mountain hunting is not rocket science. Get your body strong and then get in shape for hiking with a pack. That’s it -very little skill involved so don’t make it harder than it needs to be.

Yep! Grab those big initial gains quickly with a linear program. 5/3/1 is great, but there's no need for it until you have stalled out on a linear gains with a program like Starting Strength.

Crossfit Football also had a good beginner template that basically had you doing M: Squat & Bench, Tu: Deadlift, Th: Squat & Press, Fri: Power Cleans. Short metcons after each session, and a longer metcon on Saturday. Rest on Wednesday & Saturday. Gains come slower than Starting Strength since the lifting volume is less, but it allows for more conditioning volume if that's what's important to you.

 

[rackcity24]

No reason the OP should be doing an intermediate program at this time. Off the couch, the novice effect will allow him to add weight to the bar every workout for weeks or months. I’ve been an intermediate for years and I am still able to run Novice Linear Progression for short periods when coming back from trips, illness, down time etc.
an intermediate program uses periodization because the trainee can no longer recover from one workout to the next. For example, Wendler 5-3-1 adds 10# to your squat once every 3 weeks because an intermediate trainee requires much more stress and recovery time. The OP should be able to add 5# per workout, 3x a week for a total of 45# for the same 3 week period and he should be able to continue that progress for a decent amount of time. There is 0 reason to do more complex programming or unnecessary volume than an individual needs to progress forward. If there is a more effective Novice (novice does not mean that you don’t know anything, it simply means that you untrained or detrained) program than Starting Strength Linear Progression, I am unaware of it. Strong Lifts has unnecessary volume for a novice. Take advantage of the simplicity of those novice gains while you have the opportunity. The goal is not to do the most complex or crazy program you can find or to be so sore you can’t walk, or to try and turn the gym into the mountains, the goal is to get your body the strongest you possibly can in the shortest amount of time and a barbell with 4-5 movements and a proven program is the most effective and efficient way to do that.

I’ve said this before on here but mountain hunting is not rocket science. Get your body strong and then get in shape for hiking with a pack. That’s it -very little skill involved so don’t make it harder than it needs to be.

Which workout do you recommend?

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[FURMAN]

I use Wendler 531 for weight training. Great system imo.


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Do you want to put on muscle? Eat and do this.

 

[Poser]

Which workout do you recommend?

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Starting Strength Novice Linear Progression as outlined in the book “Starting Strength.”
You may be tempted to alter or customize the program because it looks so simple. Don’t. Do it exactly as written. Tens of thousands of trainees have run through that program over the last 30 years and every adjustment and alteration has been experimented with and they all come back to the same conclusion: just do the program. If the program fails, it’s because you didn’t follow it.

https://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-Basic-Barbell-Training/dp/0982522738

 

[bozeman]

First, congratulations on starting back. Second, a lot of programs and advice out there. I use weights daily in workouts. One of the guys at the gym said this, 'I lift weights for strength, for cardio, I lit weights for strength 'faster'. best of luck!