Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting advice on workouts - preparations for a flatlander

hey guys -

i'm from michigan - don't get to see much in the way of elevations. though i'm planning an elk hunt in wyoming for 2010.

so.. i'm just looking for suggestions on how to prepare.

i've been jogging 3 miles a day, for 5-6 days a week, for years. this past fall, i added in a stairs workout twice a week, instead of the jog.

30 minutes at lunch - i get in about 80-90 stories. i started with no extra weight. i've built up to about 20 lbs in a backpack, and would like to get it up to 50 lbs.

i jog stairs in the office building i work at. it's 16 stories. my method is to go up 2 stories, and come back down one, up two, down one, etc.. when i make it to the top, i go down two stories, and come back up one. gets me a really consistent cardio workout.

got to thinking today - maybe i should add some more continuous climbs? do all 16 stories, come back down, go all the way back up, etc.?

i lift weights for 20-30 minutes, about 3 times a week for my upper body as well.

guess i could add in weights for the legs as well, but i figure between stairs and jogging i'm getting some exercise there?

anyway, i've got a year and a half, and i understand that a sea level guy is going to be sucking air at 7000-9000 feet regardless of the shape he's in, but just looking for any other advice for a flatlander to prepare.. thanks..

If you can do all that, it sounds like you will be in good shape.
Keep upping the ante, add weight time, etc.
I would also add lunges to the routine as it builds leg muscle and some core strength. Look rather silly at work, but easy laps around the office can be lunged and turn more difficult.

I have been doing some core workouts recently and found them greatly helpful. It adds to your center strength, increasing balance which will translate into less muscle required when carrying out your elk on uneven terrain. The stronger the core, the easier the pack is to manage.
Not sure if you can do this at work, but you might try doing some hard cardio workouts and then try sighting in a rifle at 100 yds.
Hopefully on your hunt, you will see them at 300 yds, sneak within 100, drop 'em dead, but you might crest a large hill, see the herd right before they see you and have to manage a quick sight picture while breathing heavy.

Keep up the good workouts and let us know in a year or so how it turns out.

Coming from 900', I know what you mean. Continue to bust your tail and acquire quality, gear. Are you a DIY hunter or have a guide picked out yet? Backpack type hunt, horses or car camp and day hike in?

Expect to have your tail kicked by the elevation and try to get there a day or two before the season to acclimate to the elevation. In my experience, the hard work will help you recover quicker from a hard day on the mountain and allow you to stay focused / persistent throughout your hunt. Too easy on day 4 or 5 to mail it in for a day if you haven't done your part to get in shape.

Good luck on your hunt and the preparations. You seem to be preparing well physically. Have you ever listened to podcasts on bowcast.com? They've had discussions on this very topic.

Run, climb hills, lunges and squats. As stated get there a day early to adjust!

Sounds like you are way ahead of most. Keep it up and you'll be fine.

Your goal should be to improve your cardio/pulmonary system and to strengthen your leg muscles. You are on the right track because climbing stairs is one of the best exercises that you can do to build strength in your lungs/heart and legs. Pumping iron is not necessarily one of the best exercises for improving heart/lung system because the breathing is not as sustained as it is when doing some other exercises. Pumping iron might make you a better marksman so don't abandon the weights, but don't let that substitute for building your heart/lungs/legs.

When you get to the mountains you need to be able to function while "pressure breathing", sometimes called alpine breathing. That's a process where you start breathing before you need the air. If you wait until your lungs call for more air, it's too late and you are always out of breath. In order to become proficient at pressure breathing, you should practice a rythm between several body functions. You match your energy output to your breathing so that you don't get out of breath. It generally means that you hike slower and breathe more than you normally do, and that you breathe even when your lungs are not calling for more air.

There's another technique called the "rest step", that you should practice. Here's a rythm that you can practice which will help you learn the rest step and pressure breathing;
1) take one step and stop
2) take two breaths while standing still
3) take another step and simultaneously take one breath while you take that step
4) stop and take two more breaths while standing still
5) take another step and breathe simultaneously
6) stop and take two more breaths while standing still
7) and so on.

This rythm forces you to breathe before your lungs call for the air. Be careful while you practice, because this rythm can make you hyperventilate at low altitude. Just the same, you should practive this rythm enough that it becomes habitual. I've climbed over 100 mountains in North America including Mount McKinley (20,320') using that technique. It sounds like you are young and strong, so it's going to be hard to force yourself to use a technique like the rest step and pressure breathing. But if you can habituate yourself to that discipline now, you will be thankful when you get to the mountains.

Swimming laps is another good exercise to build cardio/pulmonary system, because you have to hold your breath while your head is under water and while simultaneously exercising.

Swimming is exactly the opposite of pressure breathing, so don't get confused. You practice pressure breathing so that it becomes habitual at high altitude and you swim laps to build your cardio/pulmonary system.

One should be exhaling when their face is in the water. 50 meter sprints excepted.

ironbender:

So that's what I've been doing wrong. Thanks

KC

thanks for all the advice guys. hadn't thought about breathing techniques and i'll definitely check out the podcasts on bowcast.com

little more about my hunt.

DIY. bowhunt in september. this is my first western hunt, though i'm going with a partner that's been on a few. when the time comes, i'm sure he'll be in better shape than i will be in.

i'll be 35 when we go. my ideal plan would be to hire some horses to get us to a base camp. if we kill an elk, we pack it to the base camp, and have horses pack it out. but i don't want to take care of horses while hunting - just want to hire some to get me in and out.

after quite a bit of searching this past fall, i settled on the cabelas alaska hunter for boots. kifaru longhunter with cargo chair for backpack. carrying my kelty lightyear 15 down bag, a thermarest 4 pad, t3 quarterdome tent.

i've also made a significant investment this past season to convert my wardrobe from 28 oz wool that i wear on the stand in michigan to lightweight synthetics that can be layered.

my definition of success will be to make it off the mountain in good health with my partner, and hopefully get to chase a few elk. if we kill one, that's just icing on the cake.

i hope this marks the first of many annual jaunts "somewhere". i can't afford not to be in shape cause i can't afford many services..;-)

thanks again for the advice - guess i've gotta include some of those squats and lunges i've been skipping...

Wear your hunting boots a LOT before you go.

mbuck:

What you are talking about is a "drop hunt" with horses. Not a drop camp, but a drop hunt. I agree with you that tending to horses takes a lot of time and I would rather spend that time hunting. I've rented horses and realized that quickly. It's going to be difficult to find an outfitter that will agree to do a drop hunt with horses in Colorado. The number of clients that they can have is limited by the USFS and so they prefer drop camps and fully guided hunts because there's more money in that. So if you want to use horses, you'll probably have to buy a drop camp or rent horses and take care of them yourself.

sounds like a plan coming together always a beautiful thang!


good advice on here and as stated you're ahead of the curve, kudos to you for being there.

have a great hunt

You must get to the area you are going to hunt a few days before, because you must aclimate to the elevation (takes about two days). When you arrive keep hiking running etc.

Very good, KC. I'll repeat it. Watch your breathing. Slow down particularly when going up hill. But keep moving. When I use the rest step technique, I do just one full breath between steps. But if you need two, then by all means, take two.
It's a technique that tends to drive people nuts. Doesn't seem to allow you to rest much, and, of course, it slows you down. But do it anyway. I do lots of mountains in my area and this trick is one I use regularly.
Wear your hunting boots when doing your stairwells with your pack. Don't get weight happy with the pack. Ligaments and tendions take a long time to get tough. Muscles get stronger far more quickly. So go easy with the extra pack weight.
You are going to have two problems when you get to the high country.
One of them is that your ankles aren't going to be used to uneven ground. Particularly with a pack. So keep that in mind and don't push too hard. Injure an ankle and you are out of the hunt.
The second is that getting there a day early isn't going to do much in the way of getting yopu used to the altitude. That can take a couple of weeks. But a few days at at least 5000-6000 ft. will help. In other words, get there a few days early and stay at 5-6000 ft. for a few days. Do some fishing or something. Then go to the 8-9000 ft. levels. Again, while you are aclimating, do some trail walking in your boots.
You may take to the high country like a duck to water. Or it may kick your a$$. Go slow but steady and drink lots of water. If you try to push it much, you are asking for trouble.
I'm not as phyically fit as you are. But I once guided a New York Marathon Runner up the trail to the top of one of our 9200 ft. mountains. I had to stop and rest him. He was surprised at this. I wasn't. I was surprised he did as well as he did. When I found out about his long distance running, I showed him the rest step technique. He shortly discovered that it works well for him. Much better than trying to tough it out.
The difference is that I live in and near these places. I work out on a fairly steep trail all year and get into the high country regularly.
I've noted you are working out now and have been for some time. That's another thing that will help alot. Starting your workout routine two months before the season opens is not a good idea. Too many try to push too hard to make up for the lost time. That's not a good idea.
Best of luck to you. Sounds like a very high quality experience. E

Your doing more than enough. How's your joints holding up with the 6 day a week routine? I'm 52 and try to keep the running to 3 (5 mile) times a week and do high rep low weight squat sets maybe twice a week. You sometimes don't realize how much stronger you are with a 1 or 2 day recovery. Going uphill you'll be fine if you pace yourself and you'll learn to dread sidehilling or going down cause thats where the pain comes from. Find a steep hiking trail even if you have to travel on the weekend and make sure your well broken in boots don't tear your feet up or mash your toes. I change socks halfway through the day and hang the damp ones on my pack to dry. Go to your local yuppie hippy hiking store like EMS or REI and get a blister kit that has a jelly like second skin to repair your feet and powdered electrolite additive for your water bottle. It's also fun to tell them you're going hunting just to mess with their heads.

LostArra is on it!!! Not just your boots, but as much of your gear as possible.

I would also do a few juming jacks before shooting your weapon of choice at the practice range.

I bowhunt, so there are a few times when I will sprint from the pin to the target, back to the pin and then take the shot.

It is difficult, but it helped me in "The Bob" last year.

this is great info guys!

boomhand - joints are doing fine so far.. i'm very cautious about this - i pulled a hamstring in august - first time i'd done such a thing, and i honestly thought to myself that i was done running. i took a week off - didn't do anything but stretch lightly. then i walked for a week. then started some short jogs - probably a mile. after the third week i felt great again, but it was a big lesson - i'm always "listening" to what my body is telling me.

to be honest, after doing stairs for a few months, the 3 mile jog on off days is like a rest!

i've been thinking i should get my pack weight up quick; sounds like i should take it easy. maybe plan on getting it to max weight by the end of the summer or into the fall.

eremicus - should i be wearing my hunting boots in the stairwell for the purposes of "boot weight" on my feet, or for breaking in the boots, or both? my boots are not light - 4 lbs - so i was planning on wearing 4 lbs of ankle weights (2 lb/leg) over my running shoes.

i'm hoping to take a few camping trips this summer. i'd love to take a trip to isle royale (lake superior); i could hike for miles and miles and the highest elevation is 1400 foot, but my son would never let me go without him. he's going to be seven this summer and i promised him we'd go when he's eight - the summer before my wyoming trip. course, he might be sitting in my cargo chair while i'm hiking!

leg joint and core stability is one key. I don't think you need to ramp up the cardio work. I do think you need to do some squats and lunges as mentioned here. Is there a crossfit gym in your neck of the woods? Join for a little while to learn how to do the olympic lifts (snatch, clean, jerk), then quit the membership and do those lifts on your own. The power clean is the best overall lift for hunt prep, in my book.

The other key is overall lower leg toughness. This only comes by walking with weight on hills. Uphill will harden your heels and toughen your calves. Downhill will get the shin flexors. Sidehill will work ankles. All of the above will break in your boots (and feet).

What your doing is great. Better then most I know. I just got back from a DIY in WY for ten days and it was hard. I was in great shape but the elevation is tough to acimate to. If I would do it again I would Find the steepest hill and load a weighted pack and hike it as many times as able, every other day for endurance. I would also on off days run wind sprints(suicides) on the local field to build lung capacity. Layoff the weights a month before you go and quit every thing about a week to 5 days before you leave. Hike in your hunting boots and try out your gear to be sure it works. Push your self hard and the results will pay off. I had a 1/4 mile scramble up a STEEP hill to just get within 300 yards of the muley I shoot. Good luck!!

I would say your doing very, very well already.

I would plan on getting out there a few days ahead of time to aclimate to the altitue. Getting used to the altitude is different for everyone as well, it's usually very quick for me, but takes my wife 2-3 days.

Other than that keep doing what your doing.

When I'm home my route is about 2.25 miles of walking/hiking on mix of a paved road and a snow mobile trail. I have about 1300 foot of evelvation change in that loop. When I'm on the road traveling, I'm usually on the treadmill everyday and fluxuate the incline between 4 and 11% throughout my workout and try to wear my backpack with my files and stuff in it.

As always, everyone else has already posted great ideas too.

Keep it up and you'll have a great trip.

Good luck.

Mike.

Edited for typo