Training for mountain hunts

[Shane]

If you are carrying more than just a light day pack, I recommend doing training with the pack on.

Get used to how it feels, and get it adjusted properly.

Adding weight on you back really changes your center of gravity and changes your balance point.


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Yep. During the hunt, we'll just have day pack weight loaded. But I'm training with a weighted pack anyway. If I can do harder stuff at low elevation, it'll make whatever I do at higher elevation a little easier.

[MadHatter]

Living life
I generally start doing some sprints the last couple weeks to really blow my lungs out, but that’s about it.

[Landrover]

Yep. During the hunt, we'll just have day pack weight loaded. But I'm training with a weighted pack anyway. If I can do harder stuff at low elevation, it'll make whatever I do at higher elevation a little easier.

Thats my theory also..........but just aint no dang oxygen up there......EVER!!!

[Shane]

Thats my theory also..........but just aint no dang oxygen up there......EVER!!!

Yep. Instead of "a little easier", I should have said "a little less hard".

[bsills]

No matter how good of shape your in showing up a couple days early to acclimate is as good as anything else. You cant out train a bad diet!

[Mr. Public]

Last year was my first time to train for going to hunt elk in Colorado.

I typically just go do weight training several days a week, but never added cardio until I drew the tag last summer, then knew I needed to focus on cardio and endurance.

I weighed 215lbs when I drew the tag.
I weighed 205lbs after training and arrived in CO.
I weighed 196lbs when I returned home. 4 days driving, 10 days hunting. 1 rest day.

I always ended my weight training with weighted pack on the stair master(started with 25lbs and worked my way up to 75lbs), incline treadmill, and jogging/running/ sprinting on the treadmill. I ended up doing my best mile on a at 6min 22sec. I big improvement from the first 10min 40sec mile when I started.

All this training was useful, but I still could not get over the altitude: I don’t believe any training can prepare you for that. I do think training on an actual incline or hill would be more beneficial.

I learned slow and steady was what I managed best covering an average of 5-6 miles per day in the mountains. I also learned to not carry anything else I did not need. This year I will be dropping the extra stuff and going minimalistic, unless we have to pack in deep and stay until we kill.

My cousin did not take training/conditioning, practice calling, or preparation of gear seriously at all. He came Willy-nillly. He also gave up on day 4 and drove all the way back to Texas abandoning me. I was disheartened at the fact that I was now solo, but happy to lose the dead weight until I joined up with a fellow TBHer and his FIL. Then we turned on and had great experiences and all 3 had shots! Looking forward to going back.

Those are some take-aways from my physical experiences. I learned I need to stop and take breaks and actually force myself to eat, when I am in full blitz hunt mode I don’t eat, but maybe once at night. Hence my severe weight loss. This year I will take protein powered to force down early and mid day.

Encourage partners to take conditioning seriously.

Practice and fiddle with gear well before it’s time to use it.

Take a day off from training/hunting, enjoy it.

Hope some part of that helps


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[Mr. Public]

No matter how good of shape your in showing up a couple days early to acclimate is as good as anything else. You cant out train a bad diet!

I think this is sound advice. I would like to get there earlier myself to scout/glass and acclimate.


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[Shane]

There's just no way to train to simulate altitude. It takes a week or two to fully acclimate, and by then you are usually wrapping up your trip and heading home. When you don't have the luxury of extra time to be there ahead of the hunt for several days, the best you can do is just be as fit as you can be.

The last couple of mountain hunts I've done, I've focused my training on leg strength and low impact cardio (to protect my knees). A couple years ago I was on a guided hunt. With good leg strength, I was able to keep up with the guides everywhere we went. I was breathing a lot harder than they were, since they lived at altitude and I was just visiting. But I was able to keep up still. Of course, every time you have a birthday everything gets a little bit harder. I'll be 56 this fall. Lord willing, as long as I don't screw up and injure myself by overtraining or something, I'll be ready to go up and down the hills even if I have to huff and puff in the process. A few years ago, I was on a hunt with my brother-in-law who never exercises. Just walking uphill on a road with him, we had to stop and let him rest about every 30-50 yards. That makes it tough. I'll be hunting this year with my 25 yr old son, so if anybody needs to stop and rest, it'll probably be me instead of him. I hope to not slow him down though.

[CEO]

I work out year round and have for a long time. Mostly weights, but I've gotten to where I do more cardio than in years past. I also like to hike and can go just about any distance I want with my pack on around here. The altitude was a killer though. I wasn't really that tired going up the mountain, just couldn't breathe. My buddy seemed the same way. This was all between 9500-11,000 ft elevation.

I did Guadalupe Peak, which tops out around 8700ft, and didn't have any issues.

[J-Bone]

I take a completely different approach to this. I try to stay as lean as possible year round and hammer down on cardio. I don’t see why people think they need so much strength. Muscle is heavy and requires oxygen. I’m 6’ 3” and I’ll hit the trailhead at 180-185 pounds. I never let myself get north of 190 during the year. I’ve never had an issue getting myself and my gear wherever I wanted to go. I’ve also never had issue with altitude sickness. I think putting your body through these high intensity workouts trying to build strength in just a couple months is more detrimental than beneficial.

Sure packing meat is rough on my build, but it’s rough for anyone. If I’m packing meat, that’s my last day any way. I’ll gladly take that *** whipping and head to the nearest pizza and beer joint for recovery.

[solocam_aggie]

I switch next month from more weight training focused to cardio. All day at the hospital I am taking the stairs. Lunch break I burn through them as much as I can. In my opinion it helps tremendously.

I’ll continue to weight train 3-4 times a week and running 8-10 miles a week along with the stairs. July I’ll switch to weighted rucks in July to finish off.


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[jomw10]

I take a completely different approach to this. I try to stay as lean as possible year round and hammer down on cardio. I don’t see why people think they need so much strength. Muscle is heavy and requires oxygen. I’m 6’ 3” and I’ll hit the trailhead at 180-185 pounds. I never let myself get north of 190 during the year. I’ve never had an issue getting myself and my gear wherever I wanted to go. I’ve also never had issue with altitude sickness. I think putting your body through these high intensity workouts trying to build strength in just a couple months is more detrimental than beneficial.

Sure packing meat is rough on my build, but it’s rough for anyone. If I’m packing meat, that’s my last day any way. I’ll gladly take that *** whipping and head to the nearest pizza and beer joint for recovery.

I agree. I concentrate in cardio, running 4 or 5 times a week for an hour or so. Increase pace as needed. Also practice with a loaded pack up the stairs for 45 minutes. Start light and all the way to 50lb or so.

[Slick8]

I take a completely different approach to this. I try to stay as lean as possible year round and hammer down on cardio. I don’t see why people think they need so much strength. Muscle is heavy and requires oxygen. I’m 6’ 3” and I’ll hit the trailhead at 180-185 pounds. I never let myself get north of 190 during the year. I’ve never had an issue getting myself and my gear wherever I wanted to go. I’ve also never had issue with altitude sickness. I think putting your body through these high intensity workouts trying to build strength in just a couple months is more detrimental than beneficial.

Sure packing meat is rough on my build, but it’s rough for anyone. If I’m packing meat, that’s my last day any way. I’ll gladly take that *** whipping and head to the nearest pizza and beer joint for recovery.

So many good comments in this thread. Really wish we had a like button.

I agree with this comment but haven't structured my life to do so.

I'll be doing light weights, cardio and working on improving knee function. Last year I did my first hunt in the mountains between 8500 and 10k. I of course wish I had lost a few more pounds and had a little better cardio. The part that was the worst was packing out the front shoulder of my elk killed my knees on the down hill. If I had been hunting with a partner and had more days to hunt after my kill I'd really be hurting.

[Shane]

When I was younger I could run and jump and do that kind of cardio a lot more. My knees don't let me do it these days, whether I want to or not.

But there's still great advantage in being stronger (not talking about trying to be bigger and heavier). If two guys are about the same size and one guy can squat 400 pounds and another guy can only squat 200, which one can do more squat reps with 150 pounds? Which one will get fatigued faster if they climb up a hill together?

Ideally, you build strength from anaerobic work along with endurance from aerobic work. Then if you can be acclimated to altitude on top of all that, you'll be a mountain goat that can go anywhere all day long. But if you live in the low country and have old knees, you just do as much of all of that as you possibly can in order to be as able as you can be when you get to the mountains, knowing you won't be a mountain goat that can run up and down the mountain all day long. But you'll be able to do more than most of your friends who are flatlanders too, but are fat and out of shape.

[rbsears]

I just run bleachers at the local high school and smoke cigarettes the whole time. That’s what high country acclamation feels like to me. In all seriousness, a decent regular cardio routine should be sufficient assuming you’re in decent health.