Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting "Right" ratio of muscular strength, endurance, cardio

I try to spend as much time as I possibly can in the mountains, fortunately I have mountains in my backyard and get out 4-5 days a week, one or two hours during the week and at least one long day on the weekend. I'll hit the gym twice a week strength training- a mix of body weight exercises and basic compound lifts.

I'm a firm believer in specificity; if you're hunting rough country in the mountains, the more time you spend moving through mountainous rough country, the more efficient you'll move through that country

That's been the biggest improvement in my stamina over the past few years. Went from 225 to 185 and it's like having a weight-free backpack

Our good friend taught me the same. The brain will give out before the other parts. That said, I need to be less of a tub of lard and do more running...

Agreed.

Attitude is critical.

A lot of football players don't have much endurance. They train for strength, speed (in short bursts) and, mostly, want to weigh as much as possible. Rugby and soccer players have a lot more stamina.

I am 60 and live where I hunt in the West slope of the Rockies. I keep a year around cardio program, ride and rope steers. I do no upper body stuff and actually wish I wasn't so overly muscled from work. The most important thing a mountain hunter can do is cardio work, imo.

Running will tear your knees apart, at least it did mine. Get to hiking with a pack and you'll work every muscle in your body. Your knees may still take a beating, but I can't imagine it isn't "better" for them than running.

Come Feb, you and I will be putting everything we've said here to the test, and I am more than a bit looking forward to wearing myself the hell out.

I can run from my front door. "Hiking" takes quite a bit longer to get to from where I live, especially if I want to include any topography. That said, I get your point just not sure I can get the same experience here in the many times glaciated part of the state (ie VERY flat). I too am looking forward to Feb. I'm thinking it'll be a great story to tell the boys so they don't think I am as lame as I am.

I spent several years on Army Special Forces A Detachments in the late 80’s and early 90’s, when the focus was on dismounted/guerrilla warfare. We expected that if things went bad, we’d be walking several hundred miles to get home, and our training regimen was based on a ruck weighing at least 60 pounds. I think those conditions pretty closely approximate packing out game.

Each team was allowed to create its own program. My last team had a reputation for being physical, and we often talked seasoned instructor-controllers into the ground during multi-week exercises. When we were not in the field, we did PT every morning Monday through Friday. The gym was optional but a boatload of body-weight calisthenics were not. We alternated running and rucking, with a minimum of three miles at 7-8 minute pace on runs. Some mornings we’d run 5 or 6 miles, and occasionally we’d work up to 12-18 mile runs. The run pace was always about 7-8 minutes per mile on anything over three miles, but sometimes we went on shorter runs at a faster pace. Rucksack pace topped out about 3 MPH, as anything faster would destroy knees and ankles. We also spent a lot of time stretching before and after. Most of the teams in my battalion did some variation of this, but the scuba teams had their own thing.

We occasionally carried loads over 60 pounds in the field, but it was widely regarded as being something to avoid at all costs. We never carried more than 60 pounds in training--it was just too hard on knees and ankles, and we were banned by the Group Surgeon from running with rucksacks.

It was a lot of work, but I could eat almost anything I wanted and I could drink as much beer as I could hold without gaining weight.


Okie John