Do Hunters Need to Run?

I’ve changed my mind about a lot of things over the years. That’s a good thing. It demonstrates growth, evolution. To retain your principles while acquiring and using new information that helps you live out those principles is what it’s all about. Retain the spine; grow the limbs.

Running is something I’ve changed my mind on. 

When I was 18, I did a lot of running. My plan was to enter the military via Army ROTC after I was finished playing college football. I spent the summer between high school and my freshman year of college running…a lot. Then football practice started. I thought college football practices were too easy when compared to the brutal high school football practices I survived. I’d run three days per week with my ROTC unit. Then, after football practice, dinner, and meetings, a buddy and I would run back up to our practice facility, run a mile around the field, run stairs until we got sick of them, run another mile, and then run back down to campus. That felt appropriately hard. I also ended up losing nearly 30 pounds during the first semester of freshman year. No bueno.

I decided not to join the military and to focus on football. And someone talked some sense into me about my exercise habits; I was doing too much. A back injury at football practice helped the person in convincing me. Running fell out of favor. I focused on lifting and football conditioning. Then after college, I got back into powerlifting before I got into western hunting. 

For years, then, I poo poo’d running. It would make you weak. It wasn’t necessary. Consider a million derogatory statements about running, I likely said them all.

But things have changed. I want to remain in outstanding condition for hunting for the rest of my life. And I want to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.

Do I think hunters need to run to do that? I’ll spend the balance of this article answering that question.

Running for Hunting: How I’ve Approached It

Yes, running is currently part of my training plan and has been for about the past year. Before that, I was a staunch believer that all I needed to do was ruck and hike to be prep for hunting. But my gym business partner, Chris Merritt, inspired me to start. I watched him train for The Georgia Death Race, a 75-mile jaunt through the mountains of Northern Georgia, and kick its ass. I saw the fitness gains he made through running and how it positively impacted the rest of his training. So, I started running.

Now, not with any kind of crazy, ultramarathon-prep volumes. My highest accrued weekly volume during 2023 was 12 miles. And I did very little high-intensity running. I mostly compiled easy runs and run-walk intervals. Even with such little volume and so low intensity, I’ve seen dramatic changes in my fitness and in my body composition.

I’m running two to three days per week, still at low intensity. I’ll do some higher-intensity running in the coming months. But the main goal is to use running as a tool to continue to build my aerobic capacity. That means increasing volumes of low-intensity work.

The next question:

Should YOU run?

Which Hunters Should Run?

I think my distaste for running grew out of hearing and seeing other trainers and coaches give clients bad advice. They’d arbitrarily tell all of their clients that running was the best way to get in shape and lose weight. That is not true. Yes, it is true that running is a great tool and can have a dramatic effect on fitness and body composition. But not everyone should run. There are, however, plenty of folks that can successfully run.

Let’s start with who shouldn’t run.

If you’re deconditioned, don’t try to get back into shape by running. Your body needs other adaptations before you’re ready to run. You’ll need strength, joint and core stability, base plyometric training, and aerobic capacity training via lower-impact means. How do you know if you’re deconditioned? Well, you haven’t trained in months or years. 

If you’re significantly overweight, don’t run. It will be too hard on your body. Start with consistent strength training, mobility training, walking, and aerobic exercise on low-impact machines. Once you’ve dropped a significant amount of weight and gained fitness, you can start to consider running.

If you have persistent, unresolved joint issues in your ankles, knees, and hips, don’t run. That doesn’t mean you can’t run in the future. But if the impact has a detrimental effect on your joints, you need to get that resolved before you start running. See a qualified rehab-focused physical therapist or chiropractor. If you need recommendations on who to see, shoot me an email. I’m sure I can use my network to help you find someone. (humanpredatorpackmule@gmail.com)

Now, how about who should run? It’s a little more complicated.

The word should implies a degree of need. And need, well, that’s a weird word. I guess we have to get right down to this article’s big question, do hunters need to run?

Do Hunters Need to Run?

I’ll give you the short answer first. No, I don’t believe that hunters need to run to be in great hunting condition. It is true, however, that running improves aerobic development a great deal, and likely more effectively than any other aerobic conditioning method. So, while running isn’t necessary, it could take you farther than other conditioning methods. I’ll explain myself starting with the aerobic improvements of HPPM clients over the past few years.

Throughout the year, we do a ruck assessment at regular intervals. The assessment is three miles on relatively flat ground with 20 percent of body weight in the pack. With 20 percent of body weight, we can assess efficiency under load. The flat ground controls for variations in heart rate due to going uphill and downhill. Our baseline is holding at least a 15:00 mile pace while maintaining an average heart rate in the low to mid 150s – the top of most folks’ Zone 2.

We’ve run the assessment now for a handful of years, and something awesome has happened for the clients that have trained with us consistently over a long period – they have a hard time getting their heart rate up during the assessment. They are covering the three miles while maintaining faster than a 15:00 mile pace and their heart rates are staying in the 140s. Now, this isn’t true for all clients, but this happening for a great many of them. It’s evidence that rucking and hiking for aerobic development takes you pretty dang far. But it has an upper limit.

We know that accruing rucking volume with 30 percent or more of body weight starts to create diminishing returns. This happens because of wear and tear on joints, and also because it creates movement inefficiency. Posture goes to shit, and with it goes gait and breathing. Folks train themselves into some bad habits. So, just adding weight isn’t always the answer. Yes, you can make progress by staying in the 20 percent to 30 percent range of body weight and accruing volume. I think that’s a good idea for most hunters. But once you're efficient under load a bunch more rucking doesn’t make you better at rucking. You need to just do enough to maintain the skill and your structural integrity. Now, if you love rucking, I won’t tell you not to do it a couple days per week. You do, however, need to think about the outcome you want to produce. We often need to do the things we aren’t good at to make progress. If you’re good at rucking, if you can load up and go all day, it’s likely not the best tool to take you to the next level of fitness. 

You might be thinking, hold up, what about rucking on terrain? That’s a great question. Yes, rucking on terrain with light to moderate weights while maintaining low to moderate heart rates will develop your aerobic capacity. It is a natural progression from rucking on flatter ground, and I think you should do it. We do a lot of it in the summer for hunting fitness specificity. You could do it year-round if you have access and would enjoy it. But keep in mind that even mountaineers – folks that not only hike with weight but also climb with it – use running as an aerobic base-building tool. It’s also best to spend some time out of our packs. There’s something else to note. Running generally makes us better at rucking whereas the reverse is true only in limited circumstances.

Let’s start with those limited circumstances. If you have a gait imbalance, especially while running at higher intensities, rucking can help to strengthen your hips to alleviate the gait imbalance. The results are better running form, improved efficiency, and less wasted energy. But that’s about as far as it goes.

Running, however, does a lot to improve rucking. This happens because running lowers the relative intensity of rucking. That means rucking comes at a decreased cost to your body and how much energy you must spend to do it. Here’s how.

First, running is more reactive, meaning that each foot strike has more force compared to rucking. That force means more relative intensity, or load on your body. Since your body adapts to absorbing, gathering, and redirecting that force, each foot strike, or step, made while rucking costs you less energy. Yes, that’s even true despite having weight on your back. Forces encountered during running are greater than those encountered while rucking. That’s not a good thing for people who aren’t prepared to run. But those that are see an added fitness benefit when they run at appropriate volumes and intensities.

Second, you move faster while you run. Moving faster while maintaining the same heart rate trains your aerobic system, namely the parts in your muscles, to produce energy faster. This makes your aerobic system more efficient. Then, when you return to an activity like rucking, you’re able to move faster at lower cost to your body because you’ve adapted to training that makes you better at aerobically producing energy. 

Running does a lot to improve rucking. But rucking only does a little to improve running.

As you read this, I’m sure you’re noting my case to add running into your training program if you’re ready for it. It is my observed experience that running, even at low volumes and intensities, does wonders for improving overall fitness and helping us prepare for specific hunting fitness training. That being said…

I don’t think you have to run to be fit to hunt. Rucking, hiking, lifting, jumping, throwing, and training mobility take you a long way. You could do just those things and feel great in the mountains. Running, however, can improve your rucking and your hiking, taking your fitness to the next level.

You don’t need to run. But it will help you progress if your body is ready for it.

Let’s get on with answering the question: which hunters should run?

Which Hunters Should Run? Part 2

Many hunters could benefit from some running. But I think hunters that have built efficiency under load with rucking, have appreciable relative strength, and none of the issues mentioned in the first “which hunters should run” section, should add in some running volume. 

The great part is that you don’t have to do a ton of running to see a lot of benefits. Twelve miles – that’s the most running volume I accrued in one week during 2023, and I saw dramatic benefits in my ruck performance and my stamina on the trail and in the mountains. Even a couple 20 - 30 minute runs per week can help a ton. Now, that’s not at the expense of overall aerobic capacity training volume. You still need to get the time in. But a little running goes a long way. 

We start off with run/walk intervals that keep our heart rate under maximum aerobic function (MAF). That number is 180 - your age. It’s an approximation, but one that works pretty well. As it gets easier to keep your heart rate under MAF, do more running and less walking until you’re able to steadily run at or around MAF. Staying in Zone 2 is also a good barometer.

The Current Word on Running for Hunters

My mind is always subject to change with new information. As it stands now, I don’t think a hunter needs to run but can greatly benefit from even a small volume of running if their body is ready for it.

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