Wondering what everyone’s favourite gym exercises are for mountain hunting

[Poser]

For the stair-stepping machines, how long to be on one? 30-45 minutes minimum?? I have access to one, but have never used it. I just have been walking 3 miles early in the morning before the 100 degree temps and 90% humidity. I'm thinking a stair-stepper inside would be a welcome change or an addition to my walking.

I'd argue that 20 minutes is the minimum effective dose. There are also data points that suggests that doing two, three or four 20 minute sessions a day is just as productive as doing a single 40, 60 or 80 minute session.

 

[RedPaint]

You missed the point
You absolutely have to strength train to be in the best shape possible for a hunt.
Strength training is GPP aka general physical preparation.
It doesn't directly translate over to mountain sports.
Hunting in the mountains is Rucking
Rucking is SPP aka specific physical preparation for mountain hunting
Becoming physically stronger will enable you to handle heavy loads over time and distance more efficiently.
Strength training in and of itself will not.
You still have to get out and walk, hike and ruck to be prepared for the mountains.
You can ruck without strength training for preparation.
You can't strength train without rucking and be prepared.

So it sounds like there is plenty you can do in the gym such as rucking on a stair climber that will translate to mountain hunting. Your line “There is nothing you can do in the gym "that translates to helping with mountain hunting"” really confused me.

 

[Flatland Fit Man]

I agree with what Coach Chris said. For example, you will never be doing burpees and pushups on a hunt... Does this mean you should never do them? No.

You should be doing a diverse range of movements in the gym to build you physical capabilities. BUT know that you will be carrying a heavy pack in the mountains on your hunt, so the best way to prepare for that is to do that same thing in your training. This is called Rucking. The best thing about training is you can scale it in preperation for the event (Hunt).

Let's say you're going on a 7-day elk hunt with 40 pounds on your back covering 6 miles a day. You don't need to ruck 40# 6 miles every day for your training. You could do 2 miles 3 times a week with 30-50# and then on the other days' work on your upper body, Lower body, accessories.

All that to say Rucking should be your primary focus for physical preparation for a backpack hunt.

 

[wh0cansay]

This is all I do these days.

https://www.instagram.com/functionalpatterns

 

[RedPaint]

I agree with what Coach Chris said. For example, you will never be doing burpees and pushups on a hunt... Does this mean you should never do them? No.

You should be doing a diverse range of movements in the gym to build you physical capabilities. BUT know that you will be carrying a heavy pack in the mountains on your hunt, so the best way to prepare for that is to do that same thing in your training. This is called Rucking. The best thing about training is you can scale it in preperation for the event (Hunt).

Let's say you're going on a 7-day elk hunt with 40 pounds on your back covering 6 miles a day. You don't need to ruck 40# 6 miles every day for your training. You could do 2 miles 3 times a week with 30-50# and then on the other days' work on your upper body, Lower body, accessories.

All that to say Rucking should be your primary focus for physical preparation for a backpack hunt.

I agree 100%. My answer to the original question would be to spend your time in the gym rucking on a stair mill. That’s what I dis this am for over an hour. Translates very well to mountain hunting.

 

[justinspicher]

I haven’t been to a traditional gym in years. I have used kettlebells for several years now with good results. Mostly I just like to take my rifle for a walk.

 

[justinspicher]

I haven’t been to a traditional gym in years. I have used kettlebells for several years now with good results. Mostly I just like to take my rifle for a walk.

 

[cwitt]

Specifically as it regards to strength training, I break the year into phases. I run a push, pull, legs for most of the off season. March/mid-April I will do a strength phase, working up to some 3RMs. Mid-April/May I move my rep ranges up to 8-12 and continue to do push, pull, legs. Then around June 1 I will transition to a push, legs, pull, legs to start focusing more on lower body and increasing the volume. Also starting to ramp up the cardio/rucking. Around Aug 1, I transition to a full body split 3x a week while putting more of the focus on the running and rucking. Structuring my training this way I feel like really keeps me from plateauing and sets me up to have the best base I can when the fall rolls around.

Heavy unilateral stuff is key in my opinion, especially as the season gets closer. I start to focus a lot more on bulgarians, reverse lunges, single leg RDLs, weighted step ups, etc. Those small stabilizer muscles get used a lot more and translates to the mountains. I also like to start mixing in more front squats. Earlier in the year, back squats, hex bar dead lifts, and heavy RDLs are my go-tos.

Core strength can’t be understated either, although it’s mentioned a lot on here. I would add that not just traditional sit ups, but focusing on rotational strength as well. Landmines are great for this. Mobility work is also something that really gets neglected despite how important it is. We all want to be doing this for as long as we can and building and maintaining good ranges of motion is crucial to that.

Lots of other good info on here.

 

[Sneaker]

I used to run alot but didn't seem like it was doing enough and I was getting bored of it. I learned that for me, mentally and my body, I like having diversity of workout and movements. I do crossfit 4x a week and do more and more rucking the closer I get to a hunt, with a little trail running mixed in.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Squat, deadlift, lunges,& gear workouts in PPE… hiking toddlers around the hills in backpacks or running at elevation. Most other lifting I do is purely for vanity

 

[Wprinkle]

Walking is good
Fighting is better
Fcking is best

 

[LCguy]

Thanks for the feed back, any tips for the hip thrusts? I can never get a perfect forum and it just feels awkward


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I definitely get this, it took me a long time of lifting to finally "figure out" how to fire my glutes as effectively as possible. The cues that help me are keeping my chin tucked, my rib cage tucked and really focusing on squeezing my glutes to move my hips and making sure the ONLY thing moving is my hips.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I’m back at it full time this week with the gym stuff. I took way too much time off of working out during/after hunting. I used diagnosed long covid as a bit of an excuse and while it does SUCK to try and workout with it, I need to start being better about using more of my shooting time for working in exercise like last summer when I was dialed in.

Stretching and mobility to me is what everyone forgets. Guys show up to the gym and start pushing and pulling without much “purpose” to what they are doing. Yes you will get strong and it’s not a bad thing at all, but having hunting in mind when working out is a great step.

Plyometric work is key for me for backpack style hunting. It doesn’t matter if an 80 lb pack is “easy” to lift for a strong guy when they then can’t carry it up and down steep terrain due to mobility, flexibility, and overall cardiovascular issues.

I know it’s cheesy and pretty gay, but if you can do something like the old P90X Plyometric workout with no breaks and no rest, 3 times per week, paired with traditional lifting and good/regular stretching, it’s pretty substantial seeing the difference in guys in the field.

Also, there is zero replacement for just putting on your backpack with weight and hiking in hunting terrain. No matter what types of “workouts” you do, certain stabilizing muscles, tendons, joints, etc will be conditioned and strengthened that nothing else really offers. Plus developing tough skin where your pack rides on shoulders and hips, where your boots might rub, toughening up your feet/ankles etc. keeps guys hunting longer.

In saying all that. I’m excited to having the gym mixed back in versus simply packing around and shooting like I’ve been doing. It does makes a big difference in overall strength and health (Dad Bod) by just doing normal gym stuff 4-5 days per week.

 

[TaperPin]

Everyone is built differently with different natural strengths and weaknesses. I know some guys with strong shoulders who could pack without a hip belt. Others naturally grow huge calves, or have big strong butts and legs. I adjusted off season work to make up for weaknesses I’d feel on the first big trip of the summer. For me strong triceps get used a lot with hiking poles - look at what the cross country skiers are doing since a lot of secondary muscles are getting used. I need shoulder work to make up for naturally weak musculature. A set of slow calf raises to failure toe in, one set toe out and a third straight, every other day has taken care of 100% of calf issues for everything from backpacking to bagging 14ers. Stair climbers or whatever uses small steps is ok, but closer to hitting the mountain I’ve always liked stepping up and down on a knee high box. How it stresses the knee is completely different, especially going down. My quads always need extra work, as do most folks. Old smoke jumper photos show them working a lot on their quads and they are training in the mountains rucking a lot. Stepping off of rocks going downhill with heavy weight is really hard on the quads, just like landing with a parachute is. The back of my knees get sore early in the season - leg curls makes a big difference to me - and my skinny butt needs all the help it can get.

An old polaski handle clipped onto a low cable machine gives such a good workout to a lot of muscles all at once when a good low stance is used with a good range of motion. Wildland fire guys can relate.

 

[Burch]

An uncle of mine goes on 2 week mountain hikes every year and has done so for as long as I can remember. His training program is to put 40 pounds in his backpack and walk stands at the football stadium. When he can walk 40 sets of stands with 40 pounds he is ready for his hike.

 

[Coach Chris]

So it sounds like there is plenty you can do in the gym such as rucking on a stair climber that will translate to mountain hunting. Your line “There is nothing you can do in the gym "that translates to helping with mountain hunting"” really confused me.

"rucking on a stair climber" isn't actually "rucking" since you're not propelling your body weight + external load through space.
You're lifting your legs up to step on the treads of the Stair Climber while holding up your bodyweight + external load.
You are increasing aerobic capacity.
Increasing aerobic capacity in the gym isn't specific to rucking.
The benefit of increasing general aerobic capacity is that helps improve recovery both during and after strength training and rucking.
It does this by increasing Oxygen uptake, enhancing waste removal, enhancing replenishment of ATP and at least during rucking, it can reduce or delay reliance on the Anaerobic system.
While that is immensely beneficial it still is not a direct transfer of training to hunting in the mountains. It is just a piece of the process.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

"rucking on a stair climber" isn't actually "rucking" since you're not propelling your body weight + external load through space.
You're lifting your legs up to step on the treads of the Stair Climber while holding up your bodyweight + external load.
You are increasing aerobic capacity.
Increasing aerobic capacity in the gym isn't specific to rucking.
The benefit of increasing general aerobic capacity is that helps improve recovery both during and after strength training and rucking.
It does this by increasing Oxygen uptake, enhancing waste removal, enhancing replenishment of ATP and at least during rucking, it can reduce or delay reliance on the Anaerobic system.
While that is immensely beneficial it still is not a direct transfer of training to hunting in the mountains. It is just a piece of the process.

I’m incredibly lucky to have steep Mountains and canyons in my back yard.

For folks who do not, what do you recommend to help simulate packing in steep terrain?

 

[Poser]

Everyone is built differently with different natural strengths and weaknesses. I know some guys with strong shoulders who could pack without a hip belt. Others naturally grow huge calves, or have big strong butts and legs. I adjusted off season work to make up for weaknesses I’d feel on the first big trip of the summer. For me strong triceps get used a lot with hiking poles - look at what the cross country skiers are doing since a lot of secondary muscles are getting used. I need shoulder work to make up for naturally weak musculature.

I've had a torn rotator cuff since mid April and I've been having to be very careful with my left trekking pole in steep terrain -you don't realize how much you push into those poles when the terrain gets steep until you have a shoulder injury.

 

[Skerhunter]

A combo of Running (short 2-4 miles of hills) + heavy rucks (short 2-3 miles) + stair machine (1000-2000’ in 20-40 mins) is what I have found works best for a flat lander desk jockey with limited time. I do weights all winter to maintain strength and then focus more on getting steps in/cardio the last 60-90 days before any big trips.

 

[Elite]

Professionally speaking
There is nothing you can do in the gym "that translates to helping with mountain hunting"
The only thing you can do in the gym is improve your absolute strength, mobility and aerobic capacity.
None of that directly transfers to mountain hunting.
Good Journey!

I would disagree with that some what. I went with a guy that weight very similar to me and same body frame. When we shot a sheep and the packs got heavy he didn’t have the leg strength or core and it was very obvious that strength training all winter helped on my end


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