Ep. 46: The Legend of Puke Ridge and Summer Training Tips for Mountain Fitness
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As a guide and hunter, I've spent thousands of days in the field. This show is about translating my hard-won experiences into tips and tactics that'll get you closer to your ultimate goal, success in the field. I'm Remy Warren. This is Cutting the Distance. Hey, everyone. Welcome back. Hope everybody's doing well. This week, we're going to be continuing what I kind of dubbed our summer prep series, and it's going to be about fitness.

Hunting in the mountains is extremely physical. And I've found that over the years, whether it's guiding, hunting myself, whatever, having consistent success and the ability to just go that extra mile really go hand in hand.

And with everything that's been going on, you know, the quarantines, the restrictions, there's probably some people out there that are not as ready as they want to be. And I myself am included. So I'm going to be giving you some out-of-the-box and actionable training tips to help you push up the mountain this season. But first, we're going to take a hike up a little place I call Puke Ridge.

Puke Ridge is one of my favorite places to hunt, but it got its name for a reason. Now over the years as a guide, I've hunted this particular spot many times. And just to lay out the topography, it's essentially a mountain you start at the bottom of that goes straight up. Now,

Of course, it'd be nice to start at the top of the mountain, which you can do, but you lose your visibility of where the animals are at. There's a lot of fingers in this particular spot. So depending on where the elk are, I like to spot from the bottom and then work my way up.

Many years ago, when I started guiding, I was working for this outfitter and, you know, it was opening day. And before this, this was just an area that I hunt myself a lot as well. And I'd hunted it during the archery season. There was a pretty nice mule deer in there. I don't know why I decided to pass the buck up with my bow and then decided later on in the season, I really wanted to get that buck and ended up not finding him again.

So as I was scouting between the archery and the rifle season, I relocated this buck that I'd lost in September. Now it's like mid-October. And this is before opening day. So the outfitter that I worked for happened to – there were two-on-one hunts. So I had two clients and myself as the guide. And I figured, okay –

I've been watching this deer for the kind of the week before the season. I thought that'd be a really, it's a really nice buck for a general area. We should probably try and go get that buck because most of the people that showed up came hunting were really looking for elk, but they had combo tags, elk and deer tags. So it was just kind of a cool opportunity to get a nicer buck than average.

And as I'm watching him right before the season, this group of elk actually moved down off the mountain into this pocket where the buck had been hanging out. And in that group was like two little raghorn bulls. So,

It's the night before the opener, the hunters come in and I'm talking to the two guys that I'm going with. One of them was a little bit older, well, quite a bit older than the other guy. He was like in his late sixties, maybe even 70, but he was in pretty decent shape. This is his first elk hunt. He'd been kind of like hiking and preparing and doing all this stuff. And then the other guy was like in his mid thirties, but overweight really hadn't done much.

And so the, both of them, they, this was their first elk hunt, first trip out West. Didn't really know what to expect. We're just looking for any bull, any legal bull. So they just had to have brow tines, you know, as a general elk area. So, you know, kind of just getting a bull was the hard part. So just like brow tine bull, if we found that we're going to be down. And then they had deer tags, which if they got elk, we would hunt deer. So I'm like, sweet. Okay. I've got the setup. We've got some bulls in this Canyon.

And I know that there's a couple good deer that have been living in there because I've been watching them all archery season and now before rifle season. So our plan is we're going to start heading up. We're going to get to a glassing spot because I can't

I don't know exactly where, like, you know, the elk are going to be moving in the night. It happened to be a full moon too. So I figured the elk aren't going to be where I last saw them. The deer probably won't be where I last saw them. So we're just going to get into a glassing position at first light, figure out where they are, and then try to get close. We get in and also like opening day, there's a lot of other hunters around. So it's just kind of one of those things. You got to spot them and make your move fast before they get really blown out of there or spooked.

So we're sitting there before daylight, just as it starts to get light, I glass around where I think they might be. Sure enough, I spot that group of elk. There's maybe 15, 20 cows and a couple of bulls in there and they're moving up the mountain. So these elk tend to just like be down lower in the morning, like feed down in the evening and then they feed back up in the morning. The trouble is, is I know that we're going to have to be chasing them because once they get into this timber patch at the top,

It's really hard to get on them. They bed up in there and with other people moving around, they're probably just going to get deeper into the timber. And so it's just like this first in the morning, we got to get on these elk. And I explained this to him ahead of time. I'm like, okay, cool.

So I spot the elk moving up. I mean, it's just like in the dark almost, and I can see them moving up one of the guts and I know exactly where they're going. So I'm like, all right, guys, we got to go up this ridge and try to cut these elk off. They're just going to keep moving until they get to the top. But I wasn't sure, you know, there's a couple of different ways they could go. So once I saw the direction they're going, I'm like, all right, we just got to keep going. So

We start hiking, hiking. I'm like, is this going to be a matter of timing? If we can get there in time, we will probably get both those elk. Otherwise we might not get any. So we start going up the mountain, going up the mountain and the older guy is keeping up pretty good. And I just tell him, look, I'm going to put us at a pace that I know we can get there in time and just try to keep up if you can. I know it's going to be tough, but this is going to be our chance.

So we're, we're cruising up there. The older guy, I mean, he's obviously like, I'm keeping a pace far enough forward where I can just keep pushing him a little bit. Cause I know how long it's going to take to get up there.

and we're pushing pushing and then the other guy i'd say quite a bit out of shape was started falling behind falling behind he was giving it his all he could see those elk now and was like all right we just got to get up to that ridge they started feeding and we just got to get up there where we can get into position for a shot and he's falling behind i look back and he just he looks like he's hurting

I'm like, all right. So I tell the other guy, I'm like, Hey, just keep on this course. I'm going to go check with the other dude and make sure he's alive and make sure he's okay. And I'll catch up. Just keep working toward that rock up at the top of the ridge. All right. I was like, just, you know, keep going, keep a nice, easy pace and just keep moving. Okay. I go back. And as I get back to the other guy, I mean, he is like hunched over just calling dinosaurs. Yeah.

just puking like crazy. I mean, he exerted himself to a point where he is now just like throwing up and not in good position. I come down, he looks, he just like, looks like this is not for me. He's like, why don't you two go up there and try to, you know, get those elk? And I'm like, okay. He's like, I'll just keep, I was like, all right. You know, normally I don't like to leave somebody, but

This is going to happen if we can get up there. So I tell him, look, take your time, get up to that rock, however long it takes you. We'll meet you back there at some point. He's like, perfect. Sounds good. So I catch up to the other guy. We get up to the ridge. Sure enough, the elk are feeding in this little basin right before the timber patch. He lines up a shot. Boom. Shoots a bull. I'm like, sweet.

So we go over, we tag the elk. I'm like, I'm going to check on the other guy, go over the ridge, but I take a little bit different route down to where I can glass and see if I can find him. And as I'm going on the opposite ridge of where we were, I look down and sure enough, there's that good mule deer buck. So I go back to the guy that just shot the elk and I'm like, Hey man, let's, let's get over here. That buck is just right below this other ridge.

We get over there, sneak over, and the buck is now just bedded in like this little bit of a burn area. So we get into position right across the canyon. Buck's bedded there, 200 yards, takes the shot. Boom. He just filled both his elk and his deer tag. Meanwhile, the guy that wasn't in very good shape,

struggling up the hill and at this point had heard the shot I think he now got to the rock where we're gonna meet so we go down we tag the deer got that one just because I'm like all right now we've got two animals we got a process but let this one cool down it's on the nice shady side we'll go back up grab the other guy take care of the elk I'll hang it up

And then we'll come back and take care of this deer and pack it out. You know, the guy that was not in very good shape, you know, you meet up with him and it was just one of those deals where had he been there and able to just push up to that Ridge, he probably would have shot it.

shot an elk with the other elk because once we shot that one bull the other bull just kind of stayed there for a while and with the buck that the other guy shot there were two bucks so I'm like look man you know now we've got four more days to hunt when we could have tagged out if he was in just a little bit better shape and it didn't have to be in marathon shape but just better shape good enough shape to push up the ridge and get into position in time before those elk moved over

actually, you know, we continued to hunt for the rest of the week. And, uh, after that first day, he really had an eyeopening awakening of like, man, this is pretty tough stuff, but he got his head around it. And we ended up finding a small five point bull on the last evening of the last day, got into position and he took a shot. I actually think he missed the first shot. And then the elk just ran into the timber, but

That really opened his eyes to, wow, this is very difficult. And he was like, man, I'm really sorry I was in bad shape. I wasn't prepared for this. He's like, I promise I'm going to come back. I'm going to get an elk and I'm going to be in better shape.

The second year he came back, he's like, man, that first trip really changed his life. He lost like 90 pounds. He was in a lot better shape. He knew what to expect. The first day he's like, are we going up Puke Ridge again? I was like, yeah, we're going up Puke Ridge again. I actually can't remember if he peaked that second year or not, but either way, maybe I was pushing him too hard. Either way, he ended up getting an elk on like the second day of the trip and a mule deer on the fourth day.

And just had an overall way better experience because he was in better shape to enjoy what was going on as well as push himself to be successful.

If you know me, you probably have understood by now that my style of hunting is mountain type hunting. I think that I put a lot of importance on being physically fit and able to do the task at hand. Now, I will preface this that I am definitely not a personal trainer of any sort. Like the things that I'm going to talk about this week are just things that I do, things that I've found. And it's very just specific to hunting.

hunting in the mountains. Everybody's at a different place. And my goal here is just wherever you're at, whether you're somebody that's in extremely good shape or somebody that's like, Hey, I'm going to go on my first Western hunt. I don't know what to expect. And I haven't worked out in 20 years. I just want to make you a little bit better because the difference between being prepared and being unprepared, that ability to say,

I see an elk over there and going, oh, that's too far or saying like, yeah, I'm going to go over there and get it. And if you don't get it, getting up the next day and being able to do the same thing. I just want to be able to get you in a mindset and a place where you can do that. And I think the summer is a great time to prepare. Now, there is no replication for just doing carrying a pack through the mountains, hiking all day for days on end.

I do this full time for a living. I'm out there all the time. So I don't really have to train outside of that because I just train by doing. I completely understand that that is definitely not possible for everyone. So what I've done is thought of things that I do or have done on years that I'm not out there as much, as well as things that I've recommended to people that come on hunts with me that maybe are coming from somewhere that don't have mountains or

and other stuff. So I want this to be something that can pertain to your lives wherever you're at and try to build up mountain strength and mountain endurance from home before you come out here or before you start your hunt this season. And that can really be done during the summer. Now, I've talked a lot about this in the Q&As, but I really wanted to form just like some actionable plans and maybe some things that

I just think are important for Western style hunting. There's a lot of things that are a little bit different. So I just want to key in on those things. You know, as hunters, if I were to break it down into the four key components of just like going further and hunting harder, I would say that it's endurance, your wind, like you're breathing, carrying weight and climbing strength.

So if you just think about like your standard Western hunt, especially elk and elk seem to be the thing that people want to chase the most. And I think it's one of the more physical Western hunts out there. So you just think about like, if I'm going to talk about fitness, I'm going to break down the hunt and the things, the parts that are physical, right?

Nearly every Western hunt involves something along these lines. You spot an animal, I would say 90% of the time, it's going to be an uphill climb to it. Wherever you're at, the animals normally involve an uphill climb, whether it's an uphill climb to them or an uphill climb out.

you know, you're going to start pursuing them. So you throw on a pack, you know, you're going to start going up the mountain, whatever you probably get there or close to, and they've moved. So you got to keep going a little bit further. So you got to just, you know, push onto the next ridge, get into position. Then let's say you get into position. You make that shot. Awesome. Great job. Pat yourself on the back.

what's next? The real work begins. Now you got to pack that animal back out. And that's maybe in the case of an elk, a few hundred pounds of meat on your back that you have to carry who knows how far. So we need to figure out ways that really focus on preparing us for that style of hunting.

What we're going to do is we're going to just start talking about stuff that translates to the hunting experience. So we're going to break it down. The first one, let's talk about leg strength. Like I said earlier, Western or mountain hunting or wherever you're at. I mean, I call it Western hunting, but just like spot and stock style hunting, big country hunting. There's a lot of uphill climbing. And if you aren't used to that,

That right there can be the hardest thing to be ready for. And really it comes down to the strength of your legs. Your legs are your engine in the mountains. They are your quad and they are going to get you to where you need to go. And really I think that building up that leg strength comes through pushing through that burn. If you talk about anybody that I've taken out, whether on a trip or whatever, they're

It's these complaints, the things that you run into, the problems, like your legs are burning as you're going up the hill. So you need something that can build your legs. And then you have to also realize, you know, we aren't talking about like sprinting. We aren't talking about short bursts of strength. We're talking about prolonged day in, day out strength and movement.

So you really need to do something that replicates that uphill. Honestly, if you have some form of hill, that is going to be the best. Like I like to replicate what I'm doing by doing what I'm going to do. I hike all the time with a pack and hunting guide and whatever. When I jump on a bike,

I get sore and tired really fast because my muscles are trained to do one specific task really well. And so what we're trying to do is trying to find things that help build that leg strength in a way that works for hiking, carrying a pack and hunting. And really, you know, if you don't have a hill, what you want to do is you want to replicate that uphill climb. So if you've got a hill, use a hill, no hill, use stairs, real or fake stairs.

If you don't have real or fake stairs, then even though I said, you know, it's a little bit different muscles, but it builds it in the same way. You know, maybe jump on a bike and use it on a harder setting. Because what we're going to try to do is you're going to try to build up your leg strength, but leg strength that works really well with lots of movement, you know, prolonged period of time. So if you got a hill, and I've said this on some of the Q&As and other things, but I just want to elaborate a little bit on it.

One of the things when I was starting out realized, man, I got to get in better shape for these mountains. Like I, I would start hiking up the hill at the beginning and then kind of get tired. You know, it's just, it's normal.

But one thing that I started to do was the idea of just like being able to keep moving, kind of push through that burn. And my whole philosophy was like, I just don't want to feel it burn when I walk uphill. Like I just want to see something and just not even think about it. And now I've gotten to a point over the years where honestly, I'd prefer to walk uphill. Like I've

developed it enough to where it really doesn't make a difference whether I'm going uphill, downhill, flatland. I get bored walking on flat. I think I'd rather just walk uphill most time. So to do that, kind of started out with this idea of like constantly moving where I trick my muscles into keep working even after I'm completely tired. And you can do this at home. You can do this on stairs, like I said, or if you've got a hill, whatever.

What you want to do is pick a steep hill if you've got one and just like try to be able to walk up it without stopping. It doesn't matter how long it takes you. It doesn't matter if you have to start sidestepping, walking backwards, whatever. You want to be able to move up it without stopping because the ability to push through getting tired is actually, in my opinion, I'm no expert, but what I've noticed in my life is

is it allows me to continue to push through those times when I start to get tired, my body starts to readjust and understand that, okay, I can push through it in this way. And that's just through that constant movement. And doing that helps build that leg strength. So I'll do like whatever it takes to keep going.

Now, when you're starting out, here's the way that I suggest to do it. And you're going to just like set a baseline. So let's say it's a day one, whether you've got a flight of tall stairs, you've got a stair master, you've got a stationary bike, set it on like maybe a hard setting and give yourself say a certain amount of time or distance. If you can track it on that, or you've got just like a natural hill that's uphill, right?

It should be something that you could not do without stopping. So whatever that is. So if you just crush it the first time, you have to find that balance of where it's going to push you a little bit. And like I said, I want these tips to be just like some out-of-the-box tips that if you go to a personal trainer, maybe they aren't thinking of these kind of things. These are things that have helped me for hunting and mountain hiking.

So you're going to set that baseline. So it's going to be something that at this point you cannot do without stopping or maybe taking a while. Okay. So you're going to do that. That's going to be your mountain. That's going to be your training center. That's going to be where you're going to keep on working because you want to be able to see the progress over time. And that's how you're really going to build that strength and be able to learn to push through things.

So you set that baseline and I'm talking like, you know, it doesn't matter how good a shape you're in. You just want to make sure that you're going to be pushed throughout the course of the summer doing this. Every time you do it, whether it's every other day, however often, once, whatever, it doesn't really matter. And, you know, the more, the better, you know, the more you do it, the better you're going to get at it.

But you're just going to also record that and track your progress. So you're going to go and you're just going to see how long it takes you to do it. If you have to stop, great. If you have to take a break, great. But just keep going until you get to the top of whatever it is. Then you're going to keep doing it and record that progress. There's going to come a point where you're like, okay, it's difficult, but you've pretty much like got it to a place where you're going to start trying to make it without stopping.

And that might mean you are going at a snail's pace in that point where you need to slow down. But your goal is going to be to make it up the thing that you couldn't go up without stopping to like constantly keep moving without stopping. Even if it's the slowest step, the like, I've talked about this before, but it's like,

Where I'm just like, I know I can't keep going, but I almost like I turn around and start walking backwards because the muscles used to go forwards are no longer walking or I like sidestep real slow or I'm just like,

Just whatever it takes, keep moving to the top. And at some point you're going to be able to do that. And then that's where now you're going to record this and say like, when I record things, I'm like, all right, here's how long it took me. Here's how I felt. I was breathing super heavy. It was super hard. I had to do this to get up at, uh, at this point, my legs started to burn and like really start to record that because the cool part is you're

Then, you know, you're going to get to a point where you're just like one day you're just like, okay, I can get up it without moving. And then you're going to kind of work on making that time a little bit better, a little bit better. And by the end of the summer, you're going to have built that leg strength and you have kind of taught your legs like how to start pushing through things. And what that's going to help with is your recovery times, the ability to, when you see an animal need to get somewhere, right?

that's the times that you're going to have to push through that. And it's as much training and building your leg strength as training your mind and your body to say, hey, this is what it feels like when I'm tired, but I know that I can get over that hump. I can get past that. And so building that strength I've found really helps with that mountain endurance and that uphill climbing.

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And if you're so focused entirely on going uphill, you're going to lose a lot of energy when you go downhill. And I really think that in the mountains, you know, as much uphill as you do, you do just as much downhill. And often the downhill is when you've got the heavier packs and other things. That kind of strength doesn't necessarily come from your legs, but more your core. So you want to do two things in your whatever your exercise regimen is going to be.

Add in abdominal exercises. I do like a little circuit of laying down sit-ups in different forms, like try to get all abs. So I'll do like leg lifts or like lay on my back, hold my legs up, then do, you know, 50 sit-ups on one side, 50 crunches, side crunches left and right, turn it over on my stomach and lift my torso. So I try to get like all the areas of my abdominal area to strengthen. So

But also when I'm doing those uphill climbs, there's two ways you can walk downhill. You can just bumble downhill and let gravity take you. That tends to be very hard on your joints and very dangerous when you have a lot of weight. And if you don't practice like controlling your descent, you're

When it actually comes to hunting time, you're going to get used to just walking like that. Your body's going to hurt. Your knees are going to hurt. You're going to complain about that. After I do my uphill, I'm now like controlling my descent, isolating my core, trying to stabilize my body and really use my muscles and legs as shock absorbers. As I walk, it's almost like my knees are bent and I'm using my muscles downhill as much as I am uphill and getting used to using, controlling your muscles as you go downhill and

is going to help build that endurance as well. So you aren't trying to take it easy on the downhill, but you're building that strength and the muscles for balance and downhill walking. So when you throw that heavy pack on, when you're in the mountains all day, you know, you've got the leg strength for the uphill, but then you've got that core strength and stability for the downhill.

Now we're going to talk about endurance. So I just like picking exercises that promote endurance. For me, if I could hike all day, you know, on weekends or whatever, that's the one that I'm going to pick. But obviously that may not fit into all kinds of schedules. So any kind of repetitive long hold to get your muscles to be able to work for longer periods of time.

For more home gym type stuff, I pick things like jogging, cycling, just anything where you're constantly working. Like I said, this is trying to get you fit and mountain fit for a specific task. And that specific task is just being able to move for long periods of time. So anything like horseback riding,

Holding a chair squat, lots of lunges, lightweight, but just a lot of repetitions over a longer period of time. You know, building your leg strength is great with heavier weights. I don't do a lot of weight training type stuff.

Only because one, it just bores me. Two, it's just not my thing. And three, I just find that I want to keep that repetition of long, long repetition. So when I'm out there hiking, I don't get tired. And that's just what I'm looking for. You know, so if I'm thinking of some kind of exercise, I go with the three R's. It's repetition, repetition, repetition. That's really what it comes down to.

You know, hunting is hiking all day at hiking speed. In that hiking speed, you're throwing in mountains, you're throwing in a lot of deadfall and things you got to step up and over and all this. So you're constantly working, you're constantly moving, and you want something at home that kind of complements that.

And doing something like a little bit each day is really good. And then if you have time on the weekends, you know, do something a little bit longer that's going to help build that endurance. Whether it's a slow, like, jog for an hour, a weekend hike, maybe go do some shed antler hunting or something that's very, like...

Throw on that pack, go in the mountains or the woods or whatever, and do that hiking and do those movements in an activity that's going to keep you occupied that very well mimics what you've been training during the weekdays for.

Now we're going to move on to one thing that I think a lot of people forget about. They might be prepared. They're working out. They're doing all this stuff. Then they get into the mountains or on their hunt. They throw their backpack on. They start walking and they go, this pack sucks. It's because they aren't prepared to carry weight. Even before the pack out, wearing a backpack and having some weight in it

is really something that you need to be training for. And honestly, I suggest doing it with the backpack that you're going to be hunting with. You also have to think about the other forms of weight that you're carrying on your body.

A lot of people train, they jog, they do all their stuff. And then when they go out hunting, they throw on their hunting boots, which are a couple pounds a piece, and they throw on their pack and they're immediately gassed and feel unprepared. And mentally, they're like, man, I worked out a lot. And then they get in on the hunt and they realize like that extra bit of weight slows them down. And mentally, it kind of beats you down.

So I suggest, you know, adding into your training something that incorporates that pack weight as well as that boot weight. Obviously, you need to break those boots in. So if you can wear your boots on some of this stuff, great. If you're doing stairs, put those boots on, put your pack on and get used to wearing that and wearing that weight. Or if you're just doing a jog, maybe it's your normal jog.

It might sound super 80s, whatever, some ankle weights or some kind of weight on your feet. So you can, you still got that comfort of the shoe, but your legs are used to lifting a little bit more weight. So when you go out into the field, you know, it's not a surprise. Your body's like, yep, I'm used to lifting a little bit more weight down there. Great.

One thing that I've found, one thing that I do a lot is I just start carrying a weighted pack around on all my hikes or all my stuff. I found like I use those 40 pound Morton salt bags. They just fit in like my pack real well. You know, you want to prevent injury and other things, but having like a good amount of weight where you're used to it and it's not going to kill your back and

is good to do. Start out with lighter weight. If this is new for you, just start wearing that pack and maybe put some waters in it that you're going to take, maybe a full two liter Nalgene or something like that. It's not a lot of weight, but you just start out at one spot and start working up to something else. Also, I mean, I learned this from my dad was

I mean, there's guys that are bigger guys that can just kill it in the mountains. You don't have to be the leanest, meanest dude out there to be successful, but you also have to have that attitude and mentality of keep going.

And you also have to be able to carry some stuff and you're just going to make your, your whole experience more enjoyable when it's easier for you. You know, my dad was like fairly overweight and then decided for hunting. He's like, I'm going to get in shape. And he has worked out every day for the last, I don't even know, 11 years, maybe something like that. But, you know, he realized when he lost that weight on his body, you know, you think about carrying a 40 pound pack seems heavy, but if you have 40 pounds to lose, you're

You know, you could lose that and replace it with that pack weight. And you're just going to have a much more enjoyable experience on the hunt in the mountains. Now, this last one, not many people talk about this, or at least I don't think. And this is something that I find, I think is one of the more important factors when it comes to hunting shape. And I'm going to call it your wind, like just your breathing.

If you think about going uphill or whatever, people that hunt with me when I'm guiding, even guys that have been training a long time or whatever, they walk behind and I'll be stopped. And I'm like, man, you aren't even breathing hard. And the thing is, the fact of getting winded. Yes, I still get winded, but I don't know if other people do this or what, but this is just what I do. I've got a way that I breathe to help control my heart rate and relax.

really slow my breathing and use the oxygen that I'm taking in. It's so easy to just start going up the mountain and start breathing hard and heavy. And I do that same thing. And a long time ago, I just decided I'm just going to try to control my breathing. So try to keep my breathing the same.

when I'm like hitting that max heart rate, when my heart rate's getting higher, I breathe in slow and breathe out, breathe in, breathe out and use my controlled breathing to control my heart rate. And over the years of doing that, I have found that I use my oxygen better than a lot of other people. And it's taken a long time to be able to control my heart rate like that and control my breathing like that. But

It's something that I've used in many different places, many different ways of just like using breath holds and controlling my breath to make me use oxygen better. It's like tricking my body to use the oxygen that's available and to slow my heart rate down. And because of that, I have faster recovery time. So when I walk up a steep hill, I can stop for a few seconds, get

get my breath back under me and keep going. And it helps me with my endurance and with just going in hard stuff longer.

one of the exercises that you can do at home that I really enjoy doing, this is something I do a lot. Like if I can't get out and get on the mountain or whatever, especially if I don't have a lot of time is just practice this recovery, breathing and heart rate. So it could be like a treadmill or just outside. And what I'll do is I'll do any exercises I can do to just get that heart rate, like maxed out, get that heart rate high. So like

jump on the treadmill on the fastest speed that I can run and run it until, you know, maybe it's like 30 seconds or whatever, doing like wind sprints in the yard. So I'm breathing hard, fast, heavy. And then I try to control my breathing during that recovery period. So it's just like deep breath in,

hold slow breath out and just like keep that controlled breathing. Then I jump back on, do that sprint or whatever, and then have that rest period. So I have like a set workout period where I'm going to bump that heart rate up and then a set rest period. And during that rest period, I'm working on controlling my breathing.

One thing that I also do, I've done this for like spearfishing and other things, but just like practicing breath holds when I'm not working out, breathing in, holding my breath for a little while, breathing out, and then like recuperating. But it's just kind of trained my body to lower my heart rate and utilize those breaths. So while I'm hiking, when I'm feeling out of breath and feeling tired, I can just stop

I can breathe. I can try to slow my heart rate and then keep going. And that plays into hunting really well when those times where you're climbing up the mountain and you know, as soon as I get over this mountain, I need to maybe make a shot. I need to make a good shot or I'm getting into that zone where I got to start stalking, but I had to get here fast. So being able to control your heart rate, control your breathing and slow everything back down and recover really fast is key into that as well as

helping you recover and just keep going further, harder, longer. Now, I think one of the last things that I believe gets overlooked is just this idea of balance exercise. If you're thinking about walking in the mountains, everything's unstable. You're side-hilling. You're using all these little muscles while trying to balance a heavy pack, a lot of weight, and stay upright and keep going for a long time.

you know, working on stability and balance I've found over the years has really helped me in the mountains, not get fatigued as easily. It's all those little muscles that start to go out first, the ones that you feel like you don't use doing anything else. You know, you get stronger by doing what you're going to do, but really isolating the things that you use in the mountains, building that up before you ever get there is going to help in the long run.

mean, I say this and it's not really my thing, but I've noticed that

When I do like yoga type exercises, I actually build up a lot more endurance and flexibility. And I've seen it working and like helping me during a hunt or in the mountains. And I completely understand, you know, most dudes are like, I'm not that flexible just from hiking uphill a lot. I never really thought about flexibility and being able to, you know, do exercises that involve balance. So,

Some tips as far as like balance exercise, you know, like if you can do a pistol squat, that's great. Stuff like that. Or just like one foot exercises, balance boards, doing things where you're working little muscles to stabilize yourself while working out is awesome. You know, if you want to give it a try, the whole yoga thing works really well. And I constantly say like, I need to do more yoga.

And, you know, personally, and this might, I don't know, maybe you're on the same boat as me, maybe not. There's like stuff about the yoga. I'm like, okay, I don't want to hear about, you know, like visualize this, focus on your intention. I just do it for the workout portion. When they say like, focus internally on your intentions. All my intention is like, I am doing this to go shoot a big bull elk in a couple months.

But honestly, that is one thing that I've decided I want to do a little bit more of now, especially because I feel like having not been out as much with COVID and everything, I personally need to work on a lot of this stuff myself. So I've been instituting all these things that I'm talking about

Some of this I've took for granted over the years of just because I'm always out guiding and hiking and doing all this and then having this time where I haven't done it and go out on a hike and I'm like, dang, man, I'm getting winded. My legs are getting tired. And so I'm just reinstating all this stuff. This is all stuff that I'm going to be doing to make me better for this fall season. I have personally some awesome hunts coming up.

So long as things open up, but I've got a sheep tag in my pocket that starts in August. And it's like, I might be hunting that for 20 days. And in a year that I think I feel like,

probably the most out of shape. So I've got some time and I'm going to be really hammering home all these things that I just talked about. So when I get out there on that mountain, that first hunt of the year is always the hardest for me. And especially maybe on this time where I'm not as prepared as I have been in years past where I haven't had to think about it this year, I'm really thinking about it. So along with you guys, I'm going to be doing this exact same stuff

as a person that has always done it just by doing it, just by going out and hunting. Like the best way to stay in hunting shape is hunting. I am the type of person that needs those motivations, those goals. And like, I'm not, I'm not a gym guy really. So I like to do the things that build that strength by doing something that keeps my mind active or something that's, you know, fun for me. And that's something to think about.

You know, I'm really bad at gyms, but I'm really good at activities. So I pick activities that can also build these strengths as well. Things that I've done in the past, I love rock climbing gyms and other things to help build some of that endurance and leg strength, you know, shed hunting, hiking on the weekends, like really doing activities that are fun and parallel what my goals are for hunting.

And then another thing that I found is a really good motivator right now. Actually, this just happens to coincide with this fitness talk because I didn't realize this until I checked my email yesterday and I was like, oh man, this started again.

The Backcountry Hunters and Anglers has a hike to hunt challenge. This has been something that I've done like every year and it's been a lot of fun because it gives me motivation to get out there. We kind of have like this little thing between my family, my mom, my dad, my brothers, my wife, we all did it. Like a couple of years ago, I was actually in last place of this hike to hunt challenge out of my family. Like my, I think both my parents did 500 miles over the summer and

I'm like, dang, man, that's dedication. I wish that I did those 500 miles. But it's a pretty sweet deal, and it's a good little motivation because you can win prizes. I just do it as like a personal goals and try to meet certain levels. But they use it as a fundraising. So it uses –

the map, my fitness app. And you can go on there, you can log in. And then it's just like, it's essentially a hiking fun run. And then they've got other challenges as well. Like social media challenges where it's like who hikes the most creative pattern and you like draw something as you're hiking and stuff like that. But for me,

I'm the type of person that is really motivated by having little goals and little tasks and can see that progress. That's part of the reason why I said, you know, track those uphill hikes in the leg strength and other things. Cause I like to be able to see that progress. And that gives me those, those little goals, um,

The big goal is being ready for the season, but having something that kind of occupies your mind is fun to do and kind of pushes you in the same way is awesome. And I think that, I mean, I like talking about this one because there's a fundraising aspect to it. You can kind of do like a fun run style thing with it where you like raise money based on the miles that you hike and other stuff. So

I mean, if that interests you, I think it's pretty sweet. Something to check out. I Google searched hike to hunt challenge BHA that should come up. So stuff like that, thinking about ways to, you know, really get motivated for the hunting season and things that you can do that, that attack endurance, leg strength, your breathing and carrying weight, um,

while being fun and entertaining and really motivates you. I think that a combination of those things is really going to help you get into that place where when the season rolls around, maybe you've got one hunt, one tag, whatever, you can make the most out of it. I always get questions, people asking like, well, how far is too far? This, that, and the other thing.

For me, I like to think of it as like when I go hunting, I don't think about how far I'm going, how far I'm going to have to pack something out. I just like to be in a place where I can just give it my all on every trip. And because of that, have found, I think that in many, many instances, that alone has been my success factor. Back in one of the Christmas, actually New Year's episode, I was talking about fitness and this is

I think it should be a theme that comes up a lot. You know, I would say I'm not a fitness guru, but I am a person that uses physical fitness for hunting. And I think that it is extremely important.

When I talked about it back around New Year's, you know, we talked about setting some goals. And I think one of them was like, just plan on hiking or walking or whatever, a hundred miles before the season. And that's not a lot spread out over time. And if you haven't started that or missed that or whatever, do that over the summer, you know, build out of that plan and really just make something that's actionable and go for it.

I truly believe that you're going to have a better experience. It's funny because last week I was taking a guy out hunting that I've hunted with in the past. And over the years, he's seen a lot of changes in his physical ability. And he, you know, on this last time we went out, he's like, man, that hike, I actually enjoyed it. Like he's like, I was looking around, I was enjoying and noticing things as opposed to just in my head, struggling, just trying to get through it.

And that is one of like the awesome things about being in better shape, wherever you're at, just helping yourself get in better shape. And I think that over the summer, now's the time to prep to make you more successful in the fall. Now, next week, last week, we talked about rifle shooting. This week, we talked about fitness. Next week, I want to cover some bow practice, archery for the bow hunters out there or the people getting into bow hunting.

You can go out and shoot at a target all you want. I think that that's awesome and being accurate is great, but I think that there's things that people forget to practice that happen in hunting scenarios. So I want to talk about the kind of practice of like practicing certain types of things for hunting scenarios. And that means maybe shooting an inclement weather like wind,

stuff like obstructions and other things. I've been doing some of these little how-tos on that kind of stuff over on my Instagram, and people have loved it. It's been going over really well. So really what I'm going to be doing is talking about that kind of stuff, and then I'll definitely be showing some more of that throughout the summer on my at remywarren Instagram as well.

Also, you know, start sending in your questions. I've been getting a lot of questions, lots of feedback. We're going to, after that, probably be doing a Q&A again. So I like to kind of prep them out a couple of weeks ahead of time. So if you've got those questions about anything we've talked about in the summer prep stuff, please shoot me those messages, either Instagram or remyatthemeateater.com. So until next week, keep grinding.

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