Team Back 40's Hunting Workouts
Have you ever been on a long hike into your treestand, a long stalk, or at the tail end of a mountain hunt and felt extremely fatigued, or even ready to quit? At the very moment this fatigue takes over, would you be able to take advantage of an opportunity to harvest an animal? Wouldn’t it be great if you had prepared hard enough in the off-season so you were prepared for any opportunity at any point during your hunt, beginning or end? Follow the Back 40 guide to conditioning for hunting and you’ll never have to question your physical preparedness again.
First off, let me tell you a bit about myself. My name is Jerod Fink, member of Back 40 Outdoors. From kindergarten through five years of college, I was a wrestler. Training for and competing in the sport of wrestling, also I majored in exercise physiology for 3 years (a change in priorities changed my major and career path, but that’s another story). Over this time I learned how to condition everything from my neck to my ankles for maximum physical performance. Trust me, if you can handle the advanced workouts in this article, you can handle most everything thrown at you during the course of a hunt.
The workouts listed, at least for the beginner and intermediate, are nothing new. If you have been involved in physical fitness at all, you have probably done some variation of these workouts. But the difference is for most people, the intermediate workouts are as intense as they ever get. While these will be quality workouts, they will not push you to your limits. In order to perform to your fullest, they are just a pre-cursor to the good stuff. My personal workouts listed at the end of the document will push you physically and mentally.
Of course, everyone has to start somewhere. If you have never worked out before, or are coming off a lay off. The best place to start is at your doctor’s office. Once you get the go ahead to begin working out, dive in to my program and see where it takes you. When you first start, trust me, take it EASY for the first couple weeks. If you don’t, you will be so sore that the consequences will outweigh the benefits. A good starting point is this:
Walk one block, run one block for twenty minutes. Do this 3x per week for two weeks. If you feel you can run more than one block at a time, go ahead. Maybe run all twenty minutes, but just limit it to twenty minutes. It may seem easy or hard, but keep it there.
At week three, it’s time to incorporate some weight work into your routine. I’m assuming you will have access to a gym or home gym. Also, I don’t have the space to include a description of each exercise. I am always available by e-mail at jerod.fink@baldwin-telecom.net if you have questions. Here is a sample routine for a week of a beginner’s fitness routine once weight training and aerobic activity are incorporated together.
Monday:
20-30 minutes aerobic activity
2x10 dumbbell press
2x10 lat pull down
1x10 shoulder press
1x10 dumbbell curls
1x10 tricep extensions
Wednesday:
20-30 minutes of aerobic activity
2x10 leg press
2x10 step-ups
2x10 lunges
Friday:
30 minutes aerobic activity
Note: After every workout, perform 100-150 crunches
This program is easy, simple, and fast. If you stick to it for 4-5 weeks, you will be ready to move on to the next level.
Hunts this will keep you in shape for:
Tree stand whitetail hunting and blind hunting for animals like antelope.
Most turkey hunting
Upland
This program is where we step up the beginner program in intensity and frequency. The basic format stays the same, but the workouts are longer and another workout or two per week is added. We will be doing about 10-20 minutes more of cardio per session, and add a few more exercises and lifts to our weightlifting sessions. These workouts should take you about 1-1.5 hours.
Monday:
30-40 minutes of cardio
3x10 incline dumbbell press
2x10 flat dumbbell flyes
2x10 dumbbell shoulder press
2x10 tricep extensions
Tuesday:
30-40 minutes of cardio
30 pull-ups (however many sets it takes)
2x10 sitting rows
2x10 back extensions
Thursday: 40 minutes of cardio
Friday:
20 minutes of cardio
3x10 leg press or squats
2x10 weighted lunges
2x10 weighted step-ups
Saturday or Sunday: 40 minute nice long, easy run
All cardio should be done at conversation pace, except one day step it up so it’s above conversation pace.
This program will get you in shape for most of the hunting any of us will encounter. But if you plan on doing some real hardcore hunts, including sheep, or DIY moose, elk, or mule deer deep in the backcountry, read on.
Now to the good stuff. After a couple months of beginner work, a couple months of intermediate work, you will be ready to step up to some of the workouts henceforth. These workouts are tough, and will push you physically and mentally.
As a guideline, replace two of the intermediate workouts with two of these workouts per week. You should also up your cardio to an hour once you reach this stage. An hour or more of aerobic work 4x per week plus two of these workouts will get you in awesome shape.
Here is a list of some hard core workouts that in addition to the aerobic work, will prepare you for most anything the wilderness can throw at you.
#1
6x6 upper body plate workout
Equipment needed (45 pound plate)
Do six sets of six reps of each exercise, take a one minute break and do it again for a total of six revolutions through.
-lower plate to chest and press six times
-bend over and row it six times
-overhead press it six times
-upright row six times
-curl six times
-tricep extensions six times
#2
6x6 lower body plate workout
Same as upper body workout
Hold 45 pound plate to chest and perform these exercises
-squat six times
-lunge six times per leg
-step-up six times per leg
-hold plate overhead and do six squats
#3
200 pull-ups
Doesn’t matter how long it takes or how many sets, just get it done.
#4
20 minute Smoker (be warned, you might puke if you go hard enough)
Set timer for 20 minutes
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 air squats
Do as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes
#5
400 meter run. This is best when done with a partner, but if you don’t have one, a stopwatch will suffice.
Run 400 meters as hard as you can, when you cross the finish line, your partner goes. When he crosses the finish line, you go. Do this for a mile and a half. If you only have a stopwatch, rest for the same amount of time it took you to run the previous 400.
#6
25 pound plate or equivalent
Hold object above your head and run 200 meters. Rest the same amount of time is takes you to run, and do again for 5 reps, or a total of 1000 meters.
#7
Pick your 3 favorite exercises
Set a timer for 20 seconds
Do as many reps as you can of each exercise in 20 seconds
Do 5 revolutions.
#8
50 Dumbbell or KettleBell Swings
50 pull-ups
More to come in the future. |
