Train To Hunt/Mountain Fit

[MontanaHunter222]

There is nobody who has inspired my hunting endeavors more than Randy Newberg. His inspiration has taken my hunting to a whole new level, and this year I had 3 successful "on my own adventures." But being totally honest, I also "drive a desk for a living" and have let me health slide. I've gained a lot of weight too. This last season I packed all of my animals out of the mountains of Montana by myself, but it was much more difficult than it should've been. And I knew that something needed to change.

I randomly found out about a program called "Train To Hunt" while watching hunting videos on YouTube. The video was a testimony from Kristy Titus about how she pressed through injuries to train, and it rocked me pretty hard about all of my lame excuses. So since December, I've been training for one of the challenge events. I decided to bite the bullet and even hired one of their trainers to help me with nutrition and getting fit for the mountains. Is anybody else getting ready for a Train To Hunt event? I'd love to hear from you. (I'm planning to compete in the Idaho event.) And if you've previously been involved, I'd love to hear any tips you have. I'm looking for buddies on the road to healthy hunting.

It's my hope that by taking my health seriously, I'll never have to give up on a hunt simply because I got too tired. And more importantly, I want to be in the best shape possible so that I can come home safely to my family from every hunt. And maybe someday Bigfin will take me hunting with him...and I'll be able to keep up.

 

[duckhunt]

Good for you. Let us know how the event goes.

 

[pabearhunter]

It is never to early or late to get in shape. Good luck.

 

[WestT]

Congratulations on making the decision to a healthy hunting lifestyle! Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

 

[COEngineer]

Investing in your health is the best investment you will ever make. When you see an elk on the next ridge and only have a few minutes before dark, no amount of wealth or fame is going to get you over there for a shot. That's what keeps me motivated to stay in shape.

Keep it up and let us know how it goes.

 

[el unit]

Good for you! Exercise and healthy living are key to enjoyable western hunting. There is no off season- just continuous training and preparation.

 

[MontanaHunter222]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. The trainer I'm working with is kicking my butt. But it's been great, and regardless of how I do competing at the event, I know I will be in so much better shape for hunting season this fall.

 

[huntertx]

I plan to compete in the Texas TTH Challenge. I'm very excited. Are your workouts geared toward the event or just fitness overall?

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

A buddy and I have been toying with idea of doing one of these. He lives in PA and I in ID so we just haven't been able to matchup up travel wise. Let us know how it goes.
I also thought about trying to talk my wife into doing one with me. Congrats to you for taking the steps and putting in the work to protect your hunting health.

 

[EYJONAS!]

I have dabbled in a huge variety of workouts, running, hiking, diets, "trying to do the month before hunting season program." Each year feels a little better and better come opener. Last summer I had a buddy take me to his gym and participated in the Mountain Tough program. Well I thought I was something till I did that and the next thing I know i'm walking out of that gym literally on my face with no feeling in my body what so ever and hurt in places I didn't know existed. After that I knew I had to change it all up I read some articles and talked with Dustin the creater of the program and the way he discribes being fit is an eye opener. It's your single most important piece of gear you can have in your arsenal and guess what it's pretty much free. Just as long as you come to the party. It's gonna make or break you or anyone in the woods. Now nine weeks into one of his programs I am better then I have been going into any opener and we will have 5 months to go.

Good luck to you on your training program it'll make all of the difference in the world for you next season and many more to
come.

 

[JLS]

Congratulations on investing in your health. I contemplated doing a TTH when they were new. Unfortunately, I don’t own knee high compression socks and a flat brim, so I opted out.

 

[MontanaHunter222]

A buddy and I have been toying with idea of doing one of these. He lives in PA and I in ID so we just haven't been able to matchup up travel wise. Let us know how it goes.
I also thought about trying to talk my wife into doing one with me. Congrats to you for taking the steps and putting in the work to protect your hunting health.

I hope to compete in the Idaho event next year. And by "compete" I really mean, "I hope I don't die."

 

[MontanaHunter222]

Last summer I had a buddy take me to his gym and participated in the Mountain Tough program....Good luck to you on your training program it'll make all of the difference in the world for you next season and many more to come.

Hey there, are you doing Mountain Tough in Bozeman or through the app? I've been watching their social media for quite a while now. They're a bit expensive, so I've been somewhat reluctant to join. (Everything about hunting is expensive. So I gotta pick my battles.)

 

[MontanaHunter222]

Thanks to everyone who has posted encouragement. I've been working on my health now for over a year and a half! Super proud of myself. Last hunting season was night and day different because of training. Packing out my animals was so much easier, and I was able to go places that I *never* would have attempted to go before.

This year I started in January with the Wilderness Athlete 28 Day Challenge. I highly recommend it! (You can buy just the workout guide and book for roughly $30 if you're not interested in their supplements, and the videos are free.) I'm on my second round of it, interspersed with hiking with my pack, and it's been a great thing for me.

 

[EYJONAS!]

Hey there, are you doing Mountain Tough in Bozeman or through the app? I've been watching their social media for quite a while now. They're a bit expensive, so I've been somewhat reluctant to join. (Everything about hunting is expensive. So I gotta pick my battles.)

Through the app then when i'm working in Bozeman I'll go jump in on a workout. Without a doubt one of the best decisions I've made in the off season. Totally worth the investment as long as your invested yourself. Always blows my mind how many folks buy everything under the sun to "make"them a better hunter but lots of guys don't put any effort or time into getting in shape before the season kicks off. Doesn't workout out to well when a guy can't get himself more then a mile from camp and he's spent...... good luck and get ready those workouts suck just saying

 

[MT_Chad]

On top of working out, I highly recommend making diet changes if you haven't already. Diet alone has done more for me in the last two years than the previous 10 of working out. I've lost 60 pounds over the last two years and my diet was the only change. A year ago my wife and I decided to go strict paleo for 6 months to see how our bodies reacted to different foods as we added things back in and found a bunch of things our bodies didnt like. Now we eat about 80% paleo and have no plans of changing, best thing we ever did, for us and our kids.