Work out continuation ideas???

[D_wit22]

So I need some advice. Just completed the nine week heavy bag training from mountain tough. Arguably I would say I am in the best shape of my life. Exactly 3 months until my planned Archery elk hunt in Idaho. What are some recommendations of workouts I could do to maintain The condition I am in? I don’t really need my legs getting any stronger, but I would love if I could just maintain.

 

[TheViking]

Run, bike, ruck, lift, stairs...pretty simple.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Regardless of your relative fitness, your absolute fitness can always be improved upon. Less gym time and more weighted pack training in the hills would be an excellent idea.

 

[Mattman215]

Dare I say it without getting a lot of hate…..join a CrossFit gym

 

[D_wit22]

Dare I say it without getting a lot of hate…..join a CrossFit gym

Not a terrible idea but I’m kinda anti-gym sorta guy. Feel like I can get just as good of a workout with sandbags and hills

 

[cornfedkiller]

What about some of the other Mtn Tough programs? Minimal Gear Daily, The Mountain 2.0, Bulletproof, etc..

 

[TheHammer]

Box jumps, burpees, I use a trampoline which has greatly helped with lower leg durability, strength and helping with dead fall. Pack training, bike riding, running hills, lunges with the pack on both up and down hills, squats. It’s a year around journey which boils down to the moment of truth, when we hit the mountains. Good luck to everyone on here.

 

[Ramem7mm]

Pack training in the mountains is what I am going to start doing. I workout at home and do stairs etc as well and use dumbbells. Nothing fancy at all.

 

[RuggedYogi]

This is the time of year when I start doing more back-to-back long runs and rucks. It’s less about going hard than building my endurance leading up to a hunt. I don’t want to be on day 5 of a 9 day hunt and feel like my fitness/endurance is holding me back.

 

[crowlja]

Why not continue with the mountain tough program? The preseason training? You may not finish the full 16 week program before you start your hunt, but I'm sure you'll still get alot out of it.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Isn’t mtn tough a yearly subscription that gives you access to all the plans?

Just pick one of those that suits your needs. No need to make threads about it when you’ve literally paid for a service that lays it out for you.

 

[Slugz]

First off congrats. Most if not all of those Mtn Tough programs are very challenging. I like those programs as they expose weaknesses and fix them them.

Id do another one of their programs.

 

[D_wit22]

Isn’t mtn tough a yearly subscription that gives you access to all the plans?

Just pick one of those that suits your needs. No need to make threads about it when you’ve literally paid for a service that lays it out for you.

Responses like this confuse me. I had a 3 month free trial of MT Tough.
If you want to point the finger, let’s do it together as fellow hunters and point it at things that are affecting us.

 

[mtwarden]

3 months out I would continue to build my aerobic base. Starting adding a long day per week (in addition to several Z2 hikes), you need some “big time on your feet” days. 2 months out—look for the thread here that discusses muscular endurance. I’d also continue strength training twice a week, slowly tapering the weight as go day approaches.

Those three things will keep you on the right track.

 

[D_wit22]

3 months out I would continue to build my aerobic base. Starting adding a long day per week (in addition to several Z2 hikes), you need some “big time on your feet” days. 2 months out—look for the thread here that discusses muscular endurance. I’d also continue strength training twice a week, slowly tapering the weight as go day approaches.

Those three things will keep you on the right track.

Thanks. Great advice

 

[TaperPin]

Sounds like you’ll be better prepared than most guys backpack hunting, if you’re backpack hunting.

With guys in good cardio shape, in steep terrain the number one complaint heard is, “My calves are sore.” Dedicated calf raises are the only thing I’ve seen that takes care of that.

Number two is sore feet from side hilling or going downhill. 95% of that is solved simply wearing properly fitting boots a lot to toughen up feet (not just while hiking) and hiking off trails while conditioning not just following popular trails.

The number three is, “Going down hill with weight sure makes my knees sore,” which is from weak quads that can’t properly support the knee. I’ve had guys who could run a half marathon, but never lift their feet higher than needed walking up stairs complain about sore knees from having to high step over downfall.

Number four is about weak climbing muscles going up hill, even guys with beach muscles.

Our oldest son is great at setting fitness records, but at the end of the day he’s wiped out - a lot of old guy stamina comes from economy of motion, pace, and simply knowing how to walk in the woods, combined with muscle memory.

Each day you’ll know where more time should have been spent - everyone has different natural strengths and weaknesses, not to mention personal preferences while bushwhacking with a pack, and completely different hunting terrain. Just now it reminded me of a dude asking about something similar - turned out they hunt from a truck, only walk about a half mile in flat terrain with great game trails. He could have never moved from the couch all winter, wore Birkenstocks and been fine. lol

 

[Focus Knob]

Eat and sleep more. You get stronger when you sleep, not when you exercise.