Fitness Programming For Hunters

HPPM training programs develop two things for hunters:

General work capacity
Specific hunting work capacity

HPPM training programs develop

two things for hunters:

general work capacity
specific hunting work capacity

Optimizing Hunting Performance

Decoding the Design Philosophy Behind Human Predator Mulepack's Hunter Programming

Unveiling the Core Elements:

Work Capacity, Strength, and Endurance

At the heart of the Human Predator Mulepack Program lies a strategic approach designed to elevate your hunting prowess. Our programming revolves around enhancing your work capacity – the ability to sustain high effort over extended durations. This equation encompasses crucial physiological components:

The Core Elements: Work Capacity, Strength, and Endurance

Aerobic Capacity Training: Building the Foundation
This is low- to moderate-intensity type training (think heart rate Zones 1 to 3). It makes up the bulk of our conditioning because it has the biggest long-term, and short-term, impact. It also builds your recovery system so you can recovery from more intense training. Without sufficient aerobic capacity, you won’t recover from high intensity training.
Aerobic Power Training: Elevating Energy Efficiency
Pushes your aerobic energy system to its limits so that it learns to produce energy quickly. This saves you from relying on your anaerobic energy system, which is inefficient and causes you to quickly fatigue. For example, if you have a hard uphill climb, you want to rely on aerobic power to get you up the hill.
Relative Strength: Energy Conservation
Is the amount of force you can produce relative to your bodyweight. The stronger you are, the less each action costs you. So, being strong is an energy conservation strategy. Being strong also improves your resilience and resistance to injury.
Strength Endurance: Prolonged Performance
Allows you to use your strength over longer periods. Think of taking a break during a long pack out. Your pack tips the scales at 100 pounds. You sat down to have some water, now you have to get back up and carry on down the trail. If you don’t have sold strength endurance, getting up and going again will be harder than it should. And each step will cost you a lot more.

Aerobic Capacity Training:
Building the Foundation
Embracing low- to moderate-intensity training (Heart Rate Zones 1 to 3), aerobic capacity work constructs the very framework of your aerobic energy system. It underpins the majority of our conditioning regimen, delivering both enduring and immediate impact. Beyond boosting stamina, this facet fosters a robust recovery system, ensuring swift recuperation from intensive training. Without a robust aerobic foundation, high-intensity recovery remains elusive.
Aerobic Power Training:
Elevating Energy Efficiency
Aerobic power training serves as a catalyst, pushing your aerobic energy system to its zenith. By training it to generate energy swiftly, you reduce reliance on the less efficient anaerobic system, averting rapid fatigue. Picture conquering a challenging uphill climb – aerobic power propels you efficiently to the summit, preserving energy stores.
Relative Strength:
Unleashing Efficiency
The relationship between force and bodyweight, relative strength, unlocks efficient movement. Amplified strength translates to resourceful energy expenditure. This reservoir of strength acts as a safeguard against injury and bolsters resilience, reinforcing your physical foundation.
Strength Endurance:
Prolonged Performance
Imagine a taxing pack-out scenario – a 100-pound load, a brief respite, and then onward you go. The strength endurance component empowers sustained strength application. This ability to persevere amid taxing circumstances optimizes every movement, ensuring transitions from rest to activity remain seamless.

Training Block Layout

All of our training is planned in training blocks that emphasize the development of these qualities.

Each block is between 8 and 16 weeks.

Our Off-season Training Block focuses on aerobic capacity and strength endurance. It lays the foundation for the rest of your training.
Our Max Strength and Aerobic Power Training Block focuses on aerobic power and relative strength. It trains you to raise the ceiling on your fitness.
Our Preseason Training Block focuses on utilizing all of the qualities in hunting-specific ways and ramps up the intensity to get you in peak condition before hunting season.
Our In-season Training Block maintains all of your abilities so you don’t lose what you’ve gained during hunting season.

All of our training blocks are broken down into one-month training phases. Then, each training phase is broken into four training weeks. We wave volume and intensity so that you adapt to the training.

There are six planned training days during each training week.

If you can do all six, great! But that doesn’t mean that you have to do all six. We guarantee results if you train for at least four days per week. We’ll work with you based on your goals, schedule, and the outcome of your Backcountry Readiness Assessment to determine the right weekly training schedule for you.

Here’s an example training week from our Off-season Training block

Monday: Eustress training (builds strength endurance and mental skills)
Tuesday: Zone 2 conditioning or Rucking (each builds aerobic capacity)
Wednesday: Tempo strength training (builds strength endurance and grows slow-twitch muscle fibers)
Thursday: Blood Flow Restriction Conditioning or Rucking (each builds aerobic capacity)
Friday: High-intensity Continuous Training (HICT) (builds strength endurance and trains the aerobic capacity of fast-twitch muscle fibers)
Saturday: Rucking (builds aerobic capacity and efficiency under load)