Sometimes age does catch up and even with all the cardio it is still difficult to maintain physical condition over a 5-7 day hunt. You just don't have the reserve you once had younger. But if you have the will to do it, do what you can while you still can. It might not be what a 45 year old can do but if you are in the mountains and walking what does it matter. Smell the air, take in the sights, laugh with your friends and guides/outfitter if you use one. I will be 70 shortly and still plan on going this fall but I know every year it gets more difficult to train let alone get your gear together. But I think of hearing a lone bugle once more and it gets me another mile or two in the walk. So my message is keep going if you have the will to do so and enjoy whatever the hunt may be. If you can go a mile, go, if you can go 5 miles, go, doesn't matter, you are still hunting and that is all that matters.
Getting in mountain shape with no mountains around?
- Thread starter KyleC
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Aoudad shooter1975
Well-Known Member
Bleachers, stairs, we have a elliptical that helps...I truly think your DNA has a lot to do..I have a friend of mine that is incredible shape and he struggled every day at above 11,000 in Kyrgyzstan.
Would not doubt DNA is factor but I also truly believe mental toughness comes to bear as well. If you can't catch a breath, that is one thing but if you don't have the will to get up and go after it is another which I have seen a few times in outfitter camps.
Ive got by getting it back during bow season.But if I go to hard first day Im down.I have to break in slower and this summer Im going scouting.I work construction and have bags on most days and guys I work with say we do 3-5 day,stairs,ladder etc.The fit-bit.My feet are pretty good and I wear ankle top boots and light one bow hunt.This is area that a lot fail. Also side hilling to long in one direction can take a toll.Bush busting verses trail are big differences.I trained my self fore long time to get by on little water.I no longer do,I hydrate well before big hunt,and pound as much water as I can.My son is all in fitness, he brings us supplements for water and good energy bars.Not knowing when to stop is not always a good thing.We've got in a few hairy situations. I never meet my limitations when I was younger,I could really go,long time skier and racer.But now, I hope I can make it out after a big day.Couple years back I packed my bull out of a hole about mile and 1/2,full 1/4 bone in solo.Im 170#,quartered the night before and rack out first trip at midnight.Was a long day...
Don A Parsons
Well-Known Member
Get at it 3 X's what you expect,,, you'll know if you got the conditioning you needed when you get to the hills...
Either your ready to steep out of your comfort zone or not...
Only you will able to find that out or not...
Cheers from the North
Either your ready to steep out of your comfort zone or not...
Only you will able to find that out or not...
Cheers from the North
Daves762
Well-Known Member
I strongly recommend anyone worried about being in shape research David Goggins. Listen to him speak.
You're in Oregon. Plenty of mountains around. Try growing up in flatland.
That said:
Sprint hills. You're looking for a minimum quarter mile at >8% slope. The steeper the better. If you haven't sprinted hills before, start with less slope. Once you get to the "big boys", don't do it with food in your stomach, you'll hurl.
Find a 10 story building, and run stairs
Concept II rowing ergometer.
KSB209
Well-Known Member
I second this. I got the audio book (Can't Hurt me) and listen to it a couple times a year when I start slacking on my workouts. Probably need to listen to it again. Sometimes I start halfway through the book when he is in his adult life training for SEALs.
nothing can prepare you for elevation except elevation. I'm in pretty good shape and have been above 14000 feet a few times. Mostly just went slower and once had a headache so bad I had to go back below 12000 feet in a hurry. Just could not handle it. If you do get altitude sickness go down and recover for a day.
also best advise is to get to elevation at least a day if not 2 days before and do some light hiking. Don't go over board with it because you will need your strength when the hunt is on
Westdreamer
Active Member
I agree with all of the above. The only other thing I would add is to do as much of your training as possible with your hunting boots on and a weighted backpack on (we use 40 pounds). Especially the inclined treadmill and step-ups onto a box or bench. Among the other benefits, this will help break in your boots, condition your feet and strengthen your balance muscles that you don't usually realize you are using.
Alex Wheeler
Well-Known Member
Your lungs are what will stop you. Do cardio, work on the lungs. Strength training is fine, but remember big muscles use more oxygen. So get your muscles in shape but I wouldn't try to bulk up.
Your lungs are just bags that transfer gases.
Stamina or endurance, whatever you want to call it, on a physiological level is improved by
1. Increasing capillary density in working muscles
2. Reducing the metabolic demand placed on working muscles
Increasing capillary density is simply a matter of progressively increasing the amount of time out moving through the course of a training or preparation phase.
This can be done all on one day a week or stretched out over the course of a few days with incomplete rest between training sessions.
The way to reduce metabolic demand is by increasing absolute strength, i.e. weight training.
Every physical movement you make requires a percentage of your absolute strength.
The stronger you are the easier everything else is.
What also is important to factor in here is relative strength, strength to weight ratio.
You want to be as strong as possible at as light a bodyweight as possible.
The average person, especially someone training for hunting has very little to fear when it comes to excessive hypertrophy. People need to stop listening to Joe Rogan LOL
Alex Wheeler
Well-Known Member
You want to be as strong as possible at as light a bodyweight as possible. Agree 100%
My point being, you see most guys focus on strength, because we like to lift weights. I stopped lifting a couple years ago but didn't stop running. I can hold my own with guys that squat 2-3 times what I can. At least in my experience cardio is far more important than strength in the mountains. Not that I was ever a fan, but I have not listened to Rogan since he said he was voting for Bernie.
"Cardio" is a marketing term.
Yes endurance is important. It's not more important than strength.
It's just a piece of the puzzle.
Someone who is just strength training isn't striving for their best performance in the mountains
Someone who is just doing endurance training also isn't striving for their best performance in the mountains.
High level of physical strength can overcome a lack of endurance.
High level of endurance can not overcome a lack of physical strength.
Alex Wheeler
Well-Known Member
I disagree.
