Friday How-To: a Hunt-prep Workout that Really Works

If you're an athlete or fitness buff, you already know what to do. But if you're at a loss about how keep that first month of hunting each year from being agony, this will help.

Today’s post is straight-up how-to: detailed instructions for a workout that made a substantial difference this year in my readiness for hunting season.

To learn more about the failure last year that prompted me to develop this routine, read this story. My postscript to that piece, now that I’m five weeks into rigorous bird hunting as I write this, is that I have been 100% ready for the demands of my hunts, so I know this works.

What I’m going to do below is tell you the key elements of what I do, and how specifically they benefit me.

Also, for context: I had a decent baseline level of fitness before I started this that included 1) weekly 6-mile walks in low rolling hills, 2) either a 20-minute rowing machine session or 3- to 4-mile walk another two or three days a week, and 3) regular trips into the mountains to hunt mushrooms or scout for quail.

It was pretty good, but not good enough to handle rigorous early-season hunts without some pain and some failure.

If you’re starting from a different place, this workout may not get you exactly where I am, but it will absolutely get you in better shape for your next hunting season than you were in for your last.

The Chicken Walk

I call my workout the Chicken Walk because I did it specifically to get ready for six days of chasing “chickens” (various grouse) in Wyoming. I like it so much I’m going to do it every year, regardless of my plans. And the name stays, because it’s dorky and makes me laugh.

The core of the workout is this (more detail to follow):

• For eight weeks before my Wyoming hunt, I did this once a week, in place of that day’s normal cardio.

• The walk route has hills that require varying intensity of effort, and it involves repetitions of walking up and down the same mostly uphill stretch repeatedly.

• For the entire walk, I try to maintain the same steps per minute (quick, like I’m trying to get someplace fast without breaking into a run), and the same breaths per step (breathe in two steps, breath out two steps - enough to sustain a faster-than-comfortable speed). My actual minutes-per-mile pace varies depending on a number of factors, and I don’t worry about it at all.

• The walk gets progressively longer. I started with four reps of my hilly stretch, which I did for two consecutive walks, then added two more reps every two weeks, maxing out at ten before hunting began.

Here’s what this particular workout did for me - and because it’s the only thing I changed in my workout this year, I can say confidently that this is the cause of the improvement:

• My legs are really strong: The only thing that made them sore the next day once hunting started was some steeper slopes than I was used to. And they look better than they ever have, even during my brief stint at distance running 2001 through 2004. Yep, still vain at 57.

• When I need to move fast for whatever reason (racing to get a good spot, powering up a hill), I immediately fall into that fast pace - quick steps, 2:2 breathing - without thinking about it, because I trained myself to do that. I don’t even notice I’m doing it. But literally all of my hunting partners so far have noticed it.

• When I’m really tired and resting sure would feel good, I never consider stopping. That’s because I spent weeks conditioning myself to assume I was going to keep adding miles even when I didn’t feel like walking more miles, no exceptions.

Details

Now, here is some more detail about what I do. It’s important to understand this is a framework to follow, and how fast/far you start out depends on your baseline fitness. If your goal is to be in better shape at the start of the next hunting season than you were at the start of the last one, this will do it, regardless of speed and miles.

Plan to do this routine for six to eight weeks before your first rigorous hunt. If you’re not doing any walking at all in the off-season, I’d start four weeks earlier with a weekly 3- to 6-mile walk at a pace somewhere between comfortable and brisk.

If you have no place to do the workout described below, you could simulate it on a treadmill. But it wouldn’t be as pleasant.

Warm-up

My walk starts with a 0.86-mile stretch that goes uphill gently. I didn’t really choose the distance - it’s just how far it is from the parking lot to my serious uphill stretch. Something in the neighborhood of a mile is good. Flat would be fine. Downhill is less ideal, because it turns into an uphill on the return trip, when you will be tired.

I start at a fast clip, which to me is taking quick steps, going as fast as I can go for several miles without breaking into a run. My breathing rate is breathe in for two steps, breathe out for two steps. If this is too much, try breathing in two steps, then out three - that will slow you down to something more sustainable.

Since I aim to keep my step and breathing rates the same throughout my walk, what makes this a warmup is the fact that the slope is gentle.

I do observe my actual pace (minutes per mile) using my Fitbit, but I don’t worry about it, because pace can vary based on how much you slept, what’s on your mind or whether you’ve been exerting yourself a lot. I stay focused on the quickness of my steps, which keeps me at the best I can do on any given day. That’s because my goal is to do the best I can any given day, not win a gold medal.

The ‘rep’ stretch

After the warmup stretch, I have a 0.4 mile, mostly uphill stretch that I go up, then turn around and go back down, and call that a rep. Something in a half-mile range is ideal; 0.4 is just what works on my route.

Sure, I could just keep walking one way on a hilly route. But choosing a stretch to repeat means that you have unlimited repetitions available to you, and should you get injured, you can cut the walk short without being horribly far from your car (assuming you had to drive to your start point).

When you are going up a particularly steep section, maintain your step pace, but shorten your steps. It’s not reasonable to go the same minutes-per-mile pace when charging up a hill, because you have to work a lot harder. Shorter steps are a smart accommodation.

Here’s what’s even harder (counterintuitively), and arguably more important: When you crest that hill and start going down, maintain your step pace, and resume your normal step length. If you’re on autopilot, you will find yourself slowing down out of relief once you’ve finished powering over a hill. The point of this exercise is to condition yourself to walk quickly, no matter what.

How many reps

For my first Chicken Walk, I guessed that I would start with four reps, and I knew it was a good choice when on the uphill part of the fourth rep, I broke into breathing faster than 2:2. I’d let that be your guide - when 2:2 breathing is no longer enough oxygen to sustain the pace on your first walk, make that your last rep. This means you’ve pushed yourself, and pushing yourself means getting stronger.

On your second walk, do the same number of reps. Ideally, you’ll be able to stay in 2:2 breathing for all the reps on the second time out. On the third walk, add two reps. Continue adding two reps every other walk.

Return trip

When you’ve finished your reps, do your best to maintain the same step/breathing pace for the return to your starting point. At this point, you should be tired, and your actual minutes-per-mile pace will likely slow, but don’t give yourself permission to dawdle. Consciously pushing now means you won’t have to think about it when you’re on a hunt that’s really important to you.

How I Came Up with This

I was already pretty fit when I started dating Hank at the age of 36, but he added running to my fitness menu. Because I’m neither fast nor a gifted runner, I focused on distance, and attempted my first marathon two years later.*

What I loved about marathon training was that there was a formula for it, and anyone who can stay healthy and avoid injuries can run a marathon if they follow the formula - the only real issue is whether you want to. The Chicken Walk borrows somewhat from that formula, which progressively increases your distance while building in recovery time for your body.

One of the most important parts of this particular marathon formula is that you never run a full 26.2 miles in your training: You max out at 22 a couple weeks before the race. The reason you can handle the extra 4.2 miles on race day is because you’ve been conditioning yourself to increase the distance of your longest run of the week every two weeks.

That's what the Chicken Walk does. The repetition, in addition to building strong muscles and strong bones, builds habits that work on autopilot, and the expectation that you can and will handle more.

Questions?

Ask me anything!

*Because someone will ask: I didn’t finish my first marathon. My conditioning was good, but I had an issue with my lungs: Periodically, they’d gunk up and I wouldn’t be able to run for three weeks. Unfortunately, that happened on race day. The next year I tried again and finished at 4:31:33.