Top 3 Mistakes (Don't make these preparing for hunting season)

My body was shutting down.

I’m not going to lie: I didn’t train at all for that marathon, but there I was, running next to my wife with less than 10 miles to go.

It was her lifelong dream.

I encouraged her to sign up.  I thought I could handle it. I was young and naive. 

The miles crushed me that day and when we crossed the finish line, I swore I’d figure out this running thing.

And I did...

Later that year, we ran more marathons together. A few 50 mile ultra marathons. Pushing ourselves further than we ever thought we could go. We went on to run 12 marathons in 12 months. I was completely hooked on the mental side of pushing to the finish line.

It was great for our marriage, but to be honest: it made me weaker in the mountains.  

That hunting season I had lasting multi-day endurance.  But my strength was way down and I couldn’t handle a pack like I used to.  I struggled in the mountains.

So I hit the weights hard the next year, putting the weight back on that I lost from running.

That fall was awful.  

I was too bulky and slow this time.  My strength was back, but my endurance wasn’t there.

All my training was focused on the wrong things, making another hunting season miserable.

That was the year I realized becoming a mountain athlete required way more than just cardio or weights.

That was the year the seed was planted to build MTNTOUGH Fitness Labs and study what it takes to properly train for the mountains.  

And since then, I’ve seen many hunters make the same painful mistakes I did.
 

MISTAKE #1 - Too Much Cardio

So many guys come to work with us after the mountains crushed them and the first thing I ask them is how they’ve trained in the past.  

Usually it’s some form of “I went to the gym and hit the treadmill, I ran 4 days a week.”  

Or “I just went in and did the stairmaster for an hour every day.”

We’ve seen it over and over.  

Effective conditioning for the backcountry is about much more than just "cardio."

Once you put on a 50 pound pack and start climbing in elevation on uneven terrain with lower levels of oxygen for 10+ miles a day, your body needs so much more than cardio to be able to perform.

The bottom line is: Running or biking or the stairmaster just doesn’t translate well to the backcountry.
 

MISTAKE #2 - Too Much Bodybuilding

We see this all the time and it definitely has gotten me a few times. Some of my worst hunts ever have been when I got too big and bulky.  Strength is important but training glamour muscles will make you slow and miserable in the mountains.

What you want to strive for as a mountain athlete is the ideal strength to power ratio.  Meaning you want to be as strong as possible and as lean as possible. Lean muscle mass wins in the backcountry, not bulk.

Bodybuilding is not functional either.  Rarely in the real world do we isolate one body part.  This will bite you in the backcountry, you need to train your energy systems to function together, full body.
 

MISTAKE #3 - Following The Wrong Program

Not many people actually know how to properly train for the demands of the mountains.  Most guys end up doing things like bodybuilding to increase strength. Or they focus on cardio or HIIT workouts.

Running makes you a great endurance athlete.

Bodybuilding gives you strength.

They all have one thing in common: They each have huge positives and will put in you in great shape, but each will also have inherent weaknesses once in the mountains.

Meaning that person has worked hard to build up one area of their body and unknowingly put themselves at risk in the backcountry.  An ideal training program for the backcountry has a balance of things like strength, endurance, oxygen adaptation, stamina, and more.

Without that balance, they have more weaknesses than strengths.

That’s why we’ve developed the 6 Pillars of a Mountain Athlete.  To put a focus on training all the right things to prepare any hunter for the backcountry.  
 

The 6 Pillars of a MTNTOUGH Athlete

People often ask us:

“What are MTNTOUGH workouts? Is this Crossfit?  Is this HIIT training? ”

MTNTOUGH is focused on building a balanced athlete, one that incorporates the 6 Pillars of a Mountain Athlete.  Workouts like this are different than anything you’ve probably experienced before.

Without training all 6, a hunter will have weaknesses that the mountains will expose.  Weaknesses that could cost them the hunt of a lifetime.

Because of that, elite backcountry athletes have to do workouts that balance these 6 pillars:

1) Endurance - Mountain athletes need to work hard for multiple days, not one day or a few hours

2) Chassis - Building a solid foundation, like the chassis of your truck, everything is built and everything relies on a strong chassis

3) Oxygen Adaptation - Training your body to use all the oxygen you’re giving it, which is critical at high elevations. Teaching your heart to pump more blood each stroke.

4) Balance - The ability to handle uneven rugged terrain

5) Stamina - Similar to endurance yes, but we define stamina as training your heart rate to drop fast, so you can make critical decisions under extreme fatigue & stress

6) Mental Toughness - The ability to push your body beyond what most people are capable of.

Every sport, and hunting is no exception, requires multiple levels of training.

You can go on an high altitude hunt, but you’ll do better if you’ve trained your body to utilize oxygen more efficiently.

You can chase down a big bull, but you’ll chase him further if you’ve trained your muscles to move over long distances.

You can get a clean shot on your target, but you may not hit the shot if you have not trained your mind to settle down, lower your heart rate, and steady your body.

You might get a great kill…but it doesn’t do a whole lot of good if you don’t have the physical strength to carry it out.

And you can go on a multi-day mountain hunt, but it will be miserable if your body is not conditioned for the longer duration and steep terrain.

That is what these 6 Pillars will give you - not just one dimension… but all of them.  
 

How to Train For the Mountains

The hardest part of training the 6 pillars is that strengthening one can weaken another.

Too much endurance will weaken strength...  

Too much strength will weaken stamina...  

That’s why you have to train in phases.  

The MTNTOUGH Backcountry Hunter Preseason Program was designed to walk you through the training of all 6 pillars, step-by-step, so you’re improving in every area without creating more weaknesses.

Here’s how we do it...

Phase I: Neural Recruitment

We start with a high intensity, low weight, strict form introduction phase to dig deep into the neuromuscular recruitment and prepare them for the intensity of phase II and phase III.

Phase II: Strength

Here we build the solid foundation of strength upon which the dynamic exercises will grow.  This is where we pack on some muscle & size focusing on the key areas mountain hunters demand.  We build serious strength in this phase while carefully making sure you aren’t losing any stamina & endurance.  

Phase III: Dynamic Sports-specific

This phase is where we really build the machine. Having maximized neuromuscular recruitment as much as we could and having built intense strength we now transition to a high intensity, super-set format with dynamic and ballistic movements. This is where we really hammer in on those skills (agility, body control, symmetry (and asymmetry), mental toughness, endurance, confidence, and power) directly related to and necessary for elite level performance in the mountains.

Don’t wait until August to start training for hunting season!

Ask any top performer or professional athlete and they will tell you, “The secret of future success is found in today’s daily routine.”

Training to reach a goal requires time – you truly want to get stronger, faster, and better (and we want you to get there too) – but you want to do it in a way that doesn’t hurt you or force you to sacrifice other things you value, like spending time with your kids.

As you start doing this kind of work, your body composition is going to change. And that also requires time for your body to now adapt to the new oxygen requirements it needs.

You're going to have more muscle mass, more lean mass, and less fat mass. It's going to change how your body utilizes energy. All those systems now have to learn to adapt and this takes time. One of the biggest mistakes we see working with individuals in the Bozeman Lab is people starting too late!

Sure, any training is better than no training at all… but the mountains are unforgiving. Get 10% better each day starting now, not in August.
 

Are You Ready to Become a Mountain Athlete?

If you’re ready to join and transform your body into a backcountry athlete, we built a 4-month system just for you.

Your body will need to be prepared for altitude, rough terrain, and multi-day endurance. The mountain requires leg strength for steep descents and increased power for big climbs. It demands a strong chassis to handle heavy pack-outs, but most of all, your mind will need to develop greater mental toughness and self-confidence.

That’s why we created The MTNTOUGH Backcountry Hunter Preseason Program… to help you train the 6 pillars required to conquer any mountain… right from your phone.

It’s a complete 4-month training system & community to give you the mental and physical toughness you’ll need for the demands of the backcountry.

With this program, you can start training today and be completely ready for whatever the mountains throw at you during hunting season. Start now, so you are in the best shape of your life this upcoming hunting season!

Click the link below to read more about the program 

--> Click here to learn more about the online training program

My Best,
Dustin Diefenderfer

P.S. - This program has been tested for years in “The Lab” on some of the toughest backcountry hunters we know, here’s what they had to say about it: