Getting in sheep hunt shape?

[EastMT]

Squats and lunges helped me a lot. I think a lot of people fail on the down hill part, uphill seems to be easier for me than downhill, if you can find a steep incline or some stadium stairs and go up and down with weight. My training didn’t focus on downhill much and I could feel it more than uphill.

Lungs and cardio obviously, weight loss would be a huge help as well but not drastic that you lose a bunch muscle mass.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Same here ... have you tracked how many vertical feet you are doing over the course of a sheep hunt ?

Very casually, I don't really track much data anymore, I just enjoy being out there. Back when I was a competitive athlete, I was constantly pouring over data, looking at powertaps, heart rate monitors, tracking miles and all sorts of other stuff. When I look back, I think I really missed out on a lot of the joy of sports because I was so obsessed with numbers. I can remember just being flat out pissed off when I wasn't getting my heart rate where I wanted it to be or getting the watts up on my bike, going out into snow storms to get an extra 80 meters of running in to round things up (like 8o meters makes one bit of difference lol). I ended up getting burned out pretty badly.

Now I just enjoy being out, I have a GPS to track mileage and I do look at elevation gain and loss but really only for what I'm doing right then in order to pace myself, for example, if I can see that I have an 1800 foot climb I can sort of pace my self better so I'm not smoked at the top, If I can look and see that the climb is 600 feet, I might move faster, thats about it though.

I'm not really the right guy to ask though, theres a lot of guys here who are much more serious sheep hunters than I am (not that I dont want to be, but I've only been doing it a few years compared to some of these guys who have grand slammed and do hard sheep hunts yearly).

 

[Outdoorsman12b]

I would focus on your lifestyle primarily. Changing regular foods to healthy choices and eating a reasonable amount will be your biggest gain to getting the keg off your gut. Put some focus on fixing nagging injuries. Fitness does not work the same for everyone so do what your body lets you. Fitness is an asset in the hills but you don’t have to be a special forces hunter like others would lead you to believe.

 

[mtnbiker208]

check out sean t's, t25 dvd series.. you can do them in your home and they work.

 

[7layerburrito]

I would focus on your lifestyle primarily. Changing regular foods to healthy choices and eating a reasonable amount will be your biggest gain to getting the keg off your gut. Put some focus on fixing nagging injuries. Fitness does not work the same for everyone so do what your body lets you. Fitness is an asset in the hills but you don’t have to be a special forces hunter like others would lead you to believe.

I agree with all of this -- especially the bit about nagging injuries.

I've luckily been in pretty decent shape but had a nagging injury from a broken leg/ankle in a motorcycle ankle. I was on a backcountry trip a couple years ago and it was killing me (as usual) so I finally decided to go to physical therapy. Four months later the pain was almost entirely gone and there was this wonderful side-effect of a drastic improvement in my balance and small-movement strength.

I've always thought I should write up my entire PT exercise routine and label it "how to be quieter in the woods," because that's exactly what happened. And I don't mean in subtle ways, I mean in going from Sasquatch the woods clomper to a weightless ghost. (Not that being quiet is super pertinent to sheep hunting.)

Over five or six months I did a mix of heavy weight ultra-slow squats, about ten-million different types of dynamic lunges, a bunch of mobility exercises and calisthenics based around flexibility and it felt like I'd unlocked a cheat-code for moving through the woods.

 

[back country]

Check out MTNTOUGH. Some may poke fun at it but those workouts are just plain hard and you WILL be in great shape if you do them as prescribed and stick to their program. They aren't specifically geared to sheep hunters persay, but mountain hunters in general. They've got all sorts of programs like preseason training, post season strength, no gear programs, and a few others I'm forgetting. They've also got nutrition plans too.

From my personal experience, squats and lunges are huge. But an interesting twist on them is to focus on doing one-legged movements, both weighted and un-weighted, and not with two legs at the same time (ex: single leg squats vs using both legs at the same time). The rationale behind this is because (almost) everything you're doing in the mountains you do one leg at a time. The exception may be standing up after putting on a heavy pack.

Also, as others have mentioned, simply losing excess weight off your frame is one of the best things you can do for you knees. And don't push yourself too hard to the point it's causing excessive discomfort or injury. I think way too many people cause themselves unncessary pain by trying to put up more weight than they should to look cool for the crowd at the gym.

But to sum it best in 3 words, as has been said: lungs and legs

 

[adventure907]

As many have already said, Legs and Lungs!!!

Just don't forget to mentally prepare and have realistic expectations as what is to come. You can be in the best physical shape in the world, but unless you are mentally "in shape" for your hunt, that physical condition will mean nothing.

 

[IDNate]

Check out this blog post from Exo - https://exomtngear.com/blogs/article/5-exercises-to-train-for-backcountry-hunting.

I made a tire drag setup this summer and with some weight it is the closest thing I have found to climbing a mountain. I also do heavy pack (80#) hikes at least once a week through the summer. Like others have said, you also need to toughen up your feet and ankles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[stvnshnn]

Just here to echo some of what has already been said.
First, diet--I use and recommend Renaissance Periodization. You can buy the templates, an app for your phone (which I use), or even 1 on 1 coaching. This isn't simply "we make fat people skinny" the plans help you lose fat and keep lean tissue. Losing the extra weight you mentioned will help you feel better and avoid injury when your workouts become more intense. Seeing body composition changes is super motivating.
Next, start slow to go far. Get an old exercise bike, swim, or do lots of light pack walking. I really like that tire drag idea. I made one with a tow strap I found on the side of the road and a tire I found at the dump. The eye bolt I used cost me $5 with the washer and nut. Getting your cardio up before any serious weight training will also help with avoiding injury and staying consistent from now until August. The name of the game is periodized training--build up and taper off volume and intensity according to how much time you have, and how conditioned you are.
Get coaching. Squats and lunges are great. They are also a great way to get hurt if you're not sure you're doing them correctly. Ego is the enemy, especially starting out. Do it right, start light--you have 8 months to work. A basic linear progression plan could carry you well into summer with plenty of light repetitions to hammer home technique.
Find ways to get uncomfortable now. Do things like winter camping, wait for bad weather to hike, take long, cold showers. Find things that suck and would be easy to quit doing to test and build your ability to "not quit." Also, if you have a hunting buddy, do these kinds of things with him or her. Working on communication and building morale will also pay off.
Have fun! Let us know how things are progressing.

 

[recurveman]

Well I would start off slow. Let's just call you fat and out of shape. The worst thing you can do is to get after it really hard the first few months. Start off slow. You can get your cardio and muscles back in shape fairly fast but it is all the other soft tissue that will get damaged if you really try and crush it to fast. give it 3-6 months. This is a marathon not a sprint. You need to be healthy at the end of training. Wearing a pack and walking in your hunting boots is also a great idea. Getting your feet in shape is one of the most overlooked aspects and might be the most important. Once you get in shape try and get on side hills, rocky areas, water crossings (you will find out if you boots do well on wet rocks) ect. to really test the fit of your boots and to make your ankles stronger. It is very important.

Have a good time with it!!!!!!

 

[tdot]

Don't forget your core and back. If you can't support a heavy pack, then it won't matter how strong your legs are.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

Endurance.
Seems like most workouts focus on strength, not so much on endurance.
Tougher feet also is a byproduct of endurance training.

The days are long....20+ hours in some locations in early August hunts.
With good endurance, even at 1 mile per hour, lots of miles can be covered in a couple days.