Fit for the Field - Preview
Oh yes! This program is like no other. It's the ultimate conditioning system for the backcountry hunter and mountain athlete. An evicence-based approach guaranteed to help you get resultds, have fun, and avoid injury.
Fit for the Field - Getting Started
Welcome to Fit for the Field! This is the ultimate fitness program for the hunter who takes his/her sport, and the conditioning it requires...SERIOUSLY! Fit for the Field (FftF) is all about getting into great shape so that you can hunt most effectively.
In the sport science world, there are 5 well-recognized Capacities of Athleticism, or Human Performance. These are Strength, Speed, Power, Agility, and Endurance. All are important and they can be presented in any order. These qualities are also relatively easy to define. Strength is absolute force production. Speed is maximum velocity. Power is Force x Distance divided by Time. Agility is the combination of mobility, stability, reactivity, and fluidity. And endurance is cardiorespiratory and muscular fatigue resistance.
This program is incredibly effective at comprehensive conditioning using only simple and inexpensive equipment. The items below are required for FftF.
The FftF conditioning workout is comprised of 5 parts: warmup, sandbag exercises, bodyweight exercises, locomotion, and stretches. We’ll start out by going over some basic principles regarding the workout in general, and then we’ll progress into a specific section on each of the 4 components.
Each week you will perform two hikes...one short hike and one long(er) hike. These workouts are designed to get your body accustomed to walking in natural terrain with a loaded backpack. If possible, it’s a great idea to incorporate some time off-trail, on side-hills, practicing stream crossings, and going over deadfall as part of your hikes.
The Training Progression for the FftF program utilizes a specific plan for each of 12 weeks. Every week there is a different methodology for the Conditioning Workout as well as a corresponding plan for each of the hikes. This system is designed to progressively challenge you, and to allow for ongoing fitness adaptations. Here are some definitions of the terms we will be using in the Progression.
Nutrition is a popular subject and it can be an immense topic. For our purposes, in Fit for the Field, nutrition does not have to be too complicated. It comes down to two main considerations:
Recovery is one of the essential elements of peak performance. It is when and how you make the adaptations from your training stimuli. I like to remind myself, and all the athletes I coach, that recovery is more than just the passage of time, it’s a process.
It's not goodbye! Until our next "HELLO"...here are few tips and suggestions.