Single Best Workout to Prepare For Elk Hunting?

midwestwi

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Jan 11, 2018
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Western Wisconsin
What do you think? Single best workout to get ready for elk hunting if you could choose only one?

I would vote for hiking with a weighted pack, followed closely by as many stairs as you can do with some kind of weight, either in a pack or just carrying kettle bells. I actually think the stairs with weight might edge out the hiking now that I've done it more the last few weeks, I have not decided for sure.

I have not been home as much as I'd like since April and have been stuck at work long odd hours. Last year I was doing long hikes with my pack but this year have not been able to do that due to lack of time (only home long enough to sleep).

A bunch of us like to workout a bit on our lunch breaks so we've been hitting the stairs in one of the main buildings going from basement to the 12th Floor, either with vest and duty gear (15-20 lbs ) or adding a 25-lb kettle bell in each hand (with same duty gear) for a rough total of 65-70 lbs added weight.

My legs are in better shape this year (even without the kettle bells) having done the stairs compared to the long hikes last year. I guess this could be dependent on the terrain. In my area it would be hard to get 600 vertical feet in a couple miles of hiking but with 4 full stair climbs I'm at that in under a half hour.

Being 41 it has been a little struggle and the gains have been slow. One of my team just got out of the Marine Corp and is doing a full stair climb in 1:15. The best I've done so far is 3:00 but I think I can knock that down to 2:30 in the next week or so. Having someone to keep up with can be both a blessing and a curse!
 
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In someone's favorite spot
Running bleachers is the best I've found. Thankfully even small town TX high school stadiums have some serious bleachers. Running them works both your lungs and your legs. I've added up to 30 lbs on a weighted pack before. Once I tried 50 and hurt my knee and set myself back two months. But just running them without weight is better than anything you can do on flat ground IMO.
 

bozeman

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I'll second the running bleachers or walking with a pack on @ 40lbs........the up/down will work legs and lungs.......
 
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In my opinion, the single best workout... isn't a single workout! Everyone has mentioned some of my favorite workouts already, and I do love/hate step ups with a heavy pack. But I think it's useful to train more than one motion pattern. I like jump lunges, jump squats, bulgarian split squats, and even kettle bell swings in addition to stairs.

If you really want mind numbing and leg busting, do sets of 100 step ups onto a chair with 55-60 lbs on your back. By the 4th set your mind will be shot, and you'll get to practice your self discipline! Win-win!
 

5MilesBack

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Feb 27, 2012
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Nothing gets you ready for carrying heavy stuff up and down steep hills better than carrying heavy stuff up and down steep hills.
That's why I wait until that's absolutely needed to do any of that. And that's not absolutely needed until I have an animal down and it's time to pack it out. My knees thank me.
 

KHNC

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Jul 11, 2013
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NC
Long walks on the beach at midnight are typically the best go to workout for elk hunting. Along the way, I will stop by the gym at least 4 days a week and do the mtn tough program. Its a 16 week program, but I will do other programming the rest of the year. But if you just now starting, the long walks on the beach at midnight daily are the way to go.
 

Poser

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Dec 27, 2013
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Durango CO
If you want to hike uphill efficiently with a pack on, then You are going to need to hike uphill with a pack on. Conditioning is a very specific adaptation, so if you were only going to do one thing, put on a pack and go rucking.
 

UWneptune308

Lil-Rokslider
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Apr 2, 2021
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Rucking with a weighted pack. It’ll make you a better runner too. If you live on the coast you can hit the beach. I do three times a week before work.


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Joined
Aug 20, 2021
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This probably doesn't quite follow the rules of the OP - my Fiance convinced me to try CrossFit this spring. I went into it thinking I would hate it, but we only had 2 months together before she left for 13 months of residency in the neighboring state. I didn't want to spend all day apart while we work and then another 2 hours in the evening to work out separate.

Now I love it. It touches on a comment above how the best single workout is likely not a single work out. Its all over the place from 2 mile runs to heavy squats, intense lung capacity workouts to slow strength work. Its not a single activity, but it was a single decision to make!
 

rclouse79

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Dec 10, 2019
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The best training for hiking around the mountains with a heavy pack is hiking around the mountains with a heavy pack. A friend of a friend swears by dragging a tire behind you around the neighborhood. I bet you would get some funny looks.
 

Poser

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Jumping Jacks and arm circles

Since most everyone these days seems to want to find any excuse to do anything but the two things that are actually matter for hunting shape: get strong and ruck, I’m gonna say, why not do jumping jacks and arm circles? They aren’t any less relevant to heavy rucking than running, that’s for sure.
 
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