Hunters Strength & Conditioning Blog

Sheep Hunting

5 Musts for Pre-Season Hunting Fitness Training

May 28, 202410 min read

(Pictured is Backcountry Ready member Rush Simpson on his 2023 sheep hunt in the Northwest Territories)

The pre-season is just about upon us. That means more shooting, more scouting, and more planning. It also means that it’stime to dial in your fitness plan for the summer. 


The problem is, it’s easy to mess up pre-season fitness training – especially with all of the bad fitness info floating around the hunting industry. Well, I’m going to help you out. I’ve outlined the 5 Must-do things to dial in your pre-season hunting fitness.


Expect to learn what kind of strength training you need to do, what kind of strength training exercises are best during the summer, and what kind of conditioning sessions are most impactful. You’ll also learn why heavy-pack training is a bad idea and what to do instead.

Let’s party.


Focus on Strength-Endurance and Muscular Endurance Training


All forms of Western and backcountry hunting are strength-endurance events. The ability to crush uphill climbs while carrying weight is an expression of strength-endurance. Hell, doing anything while carrying weight is an expression of strength-endurance. That means you must have the ability to express strength over long periods. That further means that you need to use training methods that develop strength-endurance – especially during pre-season training. Doing so develops and improves your work capacity, and your ability to conserve energy as you move about the hills, make camp, break down camp, pack in, pack out, etc.


Muscular endurance is also an attribute important for hunters. It also helps you sustain work for long periods. The two qualities are just different, so you must train differently for each. Folks run into a big problem when they don’t separate them and individually develop them.


The difference between strength-endurance and muscular endurance comes down to which muscle fibers and motor units we’re targeting. Strength-endurance training targets your fast-twitch muscle fibers and motor units. Muscular endurance training targets your slow-twitch muscle fibers and motor units. Each is pivotal for backcountry performance.


To build strength-endurance, we use eustress training and high-intensity continuous training (HICT). Eustress training asks you to lift relatively heavy weight for more volume than you typically would over a longer set than you usually would. HICT uses less weight but at a faster pace while accruing more total volume. Both methods recruit fast-twitch muscle motor units over and over again, aerobically improving their endurance. Both methods also avoid fatigue so you don’t start recruiting slow-twitch units instead of fast-twitch units. We include at least one strength-endurance session per week throughout our pre-season training block.


Muscular endurance, however, requires fatigue or long-duration training. We don’t get fancy with this stuff. In the gym, we use high rep sets with little rest. We also spend entire days accruing reps with calisthenic exercises like squats, push-ups, pull-ups, and lunges. Depending on the training phase, we’ll do one or two muscular endurance strength training sessions per week.

Keep in mind that aerobic training also develops muscular endurance because your slow-twitch fibers do most of the work to move you around when you’re taxing your aerobic system.


Use Strength Movements That are Close to Field Movements and Positions


I could say a lot of nerdy stuff about joint angles, joint vectors, and such, but I won’t. Well, other than just saying it. WhatI will say, and describe in detail, is that some of your strength training movements must get more specific for the next few months. You will end up in awkward positions. You’ll (hopefully) bend over a critter or two for quite some time while skinning it. You’ll also step over logs, sidehill your way up and down the mountain, hold a deep squat for multiple reasons, etc.


With all this in mind, it makes sense to do some strength training that prepares your body for the field. For example, high-volume bent-over rows (we do them HICT style) to prep your back to handle the stress of bending over for long periods. It’s also smart to do movements like cross-over step-ups and lunges to replicate stepping over logs and to get yourself out of awkward positions while hiking uphill and downhill. You won’t replicate every possible scenario, nor should you try. But a little specific strength goes a long way toward helping you perform and keeping you safe in the backcountry.


There are two more things we do for specific strength that other hunting fitness and uphill training programs miss: rounded back step-ups and slow balance work.


Rounded-back step-ups train your lower back and quads to deal with the stress of marching uphill for a long ass time. We do them either weightless or with a very light vest/pack on. I’m talking like 10 pounds. Most folks, however, don’t need any weight.


We also do slow “predator circuits” that train us to move slowly and with control. It’s all well and good to have the gas to get up the mountain, but it doesn’t much matter if you blow it because you can’t control your body while stalking. We do slow balance beam walking, crawling, kneeling, squatting, duck walking, etc. Consistency with this kind of work in the pre-season gives you the joint range of motion and strength necessary to stalk with confidence.


Get on Terrain or Replicate it


It’s time for your conditioning to get specific, too. You’ll spend long days walking uphill, downhill, across hills, back downhill, and uphill again. It’s time to replicate that as much as possible.

The best way to do that is to get out on terrain and hike or ruck. Cut back the volume of your gym conditioning and running, and get you out among the hills, child!


I know you flatlanders are scowling at me after reading the previous paragraph. It’s all good. I got you. If you don’t have terrain, you’ll need to replicate. You’ll do that by doing a ton of incline treadmill walking and/or stairclimber work. It’s boring and monotonous, but there’s no way around it if you don’t have terrain but you want to be as prepared as possible for terrain.


A smart thing to do is look up the elevation change on the trails you’ll use while hunting and replicate it during your summer training. For example, say a trail has around 200 feet of elevation gain per mile. You’d aim to replicate that in the gym or on trails you access near home. If you have a big climb to get to where your hunting spot, you’d accrue the total volume of the climb during your final big training week before leaving on your hunt – typically about two weeks out.


The key here is to not try to totally light your lungs on fire during these sessions. More on that in the next section.


Long Training Sessions at a Sustainable Pace


If you want all-day and multiple-day stamina, it’s necessary to train your body to move for a long time. While I’ll always advocate getting in what you have time for, at some point you need to prioritize and make more time to get in longer sessions if you want to be fully prepared. Longer sessions are also the best way to approach your terrain training.


Now, how long is long? I’m talking about a 60-90 minute session during the week and a 90-minute to 120-minute+ session on the weekend. Move at a sustainable pace during these sessions. That means you don’t really ever get out of breath. That’ll put you somewhere at the edge of your Zone 2 into your Zone 3. I’m not saying that you have to obsess about your heart rate during these sessions; I’m just giving you a barometer.


It’s best if you can move at a steady pace. But if you’re on some very gnarly terrain, that might not be possible. That’s okay. Think about how you hike when you hunt. You cover some ground, and then you take a break. You cover some ground, and then you take a break. It’s fine to orchestrate these sessions in the same way. That being said, the more continuous movement the better, so pace yourself accordingly. Trust me, it will pay dividends on the mountain because your body will improve at sustainably producing energy (provided that you stay hydrated and fueled).


Day Pack+ Training


Training with too heavy of a pack is one of the biggest pre-season training mistakes that I see hunters make. Instead of building fitness, they build inefficiency in how they move under load. This engrains poor movement strategies that suck energy rather than efficient strategies that conserve energy. So, please remember that you don’t need ultra-heavy pack training to prep for pack-ins, pack-outs, and everyday hunting. But you do need consistent day pack+ ruck training.

Most day packs weigh between 20 and 30 pounds. That puts them at about 15% body weight of most people. That’s a little too light to train for efficiency under load. Research says that starts around 20% of body weight and carries on up to 30% of body weight. Get consistently on the north side of 30% and you set yourself up for engrained inefficiencies and unnecessary joint stress.


So, we follow the day pack+ plan. We do most of our rucking with about 20% of our body weight. This puts us in the sweet spot to build efficiency underload without over-taxing our joints or engraining bad postural habits. For a 200-pound fella, 20% would be about a day pack + 10 to 15 pounds, depending on how heavy of a day pack they carry.


The common pushback I hear is, “That’s not enough weight to prep for a heavy pack in or out.” Yes, it is. If you accrue enough volume with 20% to 25% and you are consistently strength training, you will handle heavier weights just fine when it’s game time. The key is to engrain good posture, good movement, and good breathing habits while rucking. You can’t do that by constantly hammering yourself with heavy loads.


If you’re on the lighter side, you likely need to creep the weight up to closer to 30% by the end of the summer. But that’s only if you have a solid base of strength training and have done enough lighter rucking. There are also other methods for acclimating to heavy packs without getting out on the trail.

We use HICT step-ups to meet this end. Experienced Backcountry Ready members might get on the north side of 40% body weight while doing HICT step-ups. It gets them used to heavy packs in a controlled environment, rather than taking a silly risk and hitting the trail with 80 pounds on their backs. Yes, you might have to do that during a hunt. But save game day for game day and do the necessary prep work ahead of time and you’ll be more than fine.


Follow the daypack+ plan and strength train consistently and you’ll crush heavy pack ins and outs.


Bonus Must: Consistency


No training is worth a damn if you aren’t consistent. Sorry, kids. There’s no way around doing the work day in and day out, week in and week out. This is the “must” that I’ll say the least about because you already know how important it is. You don’t need me beating you over the head with it. Show up and be consistent. Don’t think that doing one or two ball buster sessions per week will get you ready, because, dear friend, they will not.


5 Musts to Help You Avoid Pre-season Fitness Mistakes


Mind the musts, folks. Strength-endurance and muscular endurance are necessary to save you energy and keep you resilient on the mountain. And you need to train in awkward positions that prep your body to deal with similar movements in the field. Otherwise, you end up wasting energy or getting injured.


Find a way to get on terrain or spend a lot of time replicating it. Those long sessions might sound monotonous if you don’t have trails to hike, but trust me, they’ll pay big dividends in the fall. And for the love of Christ, follow the day pack+ plan and be consistent.


That’s how you’ll nail your pre-season training and kick ass on the mountain this fall.

--

Want to avoid more of the biggest backcountry training mistakes and get free tips from us every week? Click HERE to download the 5 Biggest Backcountry Training Mistakes: And How to Avoid Them


elk huntingsheep huntinghunting fitnesspre-season fitnesssummer hunting training
blog author image

Todd Bumgardner

Todd Bumgardner, the renowned strength and conditioning coach specializing in fitness tailored for hunters, has an exceptional background rooted in Central Pennsylvania's hunting culture and sports. Having honed his skills through both hunting and collegiate football, Todd pursued his passion by obtaining a master's degree in Exercise Science. With an impressive 17-year tenure as a dedicated strength and conditioning coach, he has catered to a diverse clientele ranging from aspiring young athletes to seasoned NFL veterans. Aside from his pivotal role at HPPM, Todd is a proud co-owner of Beyond Strength, a prominent training gym nestled in Northern Virginia. Notably, he also serves as a human performance coach for a prestigious tier 1 unit. His adventurous spirit extends beyond fitness, as he traverses North America in pursuit of hunting endeavors. Todd Bumgardner truly embodies a harmonious blend of expertise, experience, and a deep-seated passion for optimizing the physical prowess of hunters.

Back to Blog

© Copyright 2025. Human Predator Packmule. All rights reserved.