Getting in mountain shape with no mountains around?

Cardio is HUGE. I used to live at sea level and come up to Colorado and be at 8000 ft and above. Being in good cardio health helped alot. What I found works well is get to altitude a few days early and start working out. Push through the lack of oxygen. But don't overdo it. I found that after a couple days of doing cardio at altitude I got acclimated faster. Now I was in my late 30s... I live at Altitude now in Colorado so I can get lots of training in now....
 
One trick I started to do years ago is bike riding. Yeah, I know everybody does that. BUT I added a different "spin" by riding in gear 21 on my mountain bike no matter incline etc. Wow does that get your quads burning!

Check local larger high schools football stadiums for climbing the steps there.
 
Brother, Something to think about. When I was hunting out west I never had a problem climbing. It was getting down. I was plagued with shin splints. Going downhill with your toes lower than your heels are an issue for us flatlanders. You never extend your foot this way at home, and it doesn't take much of it to make you really sore and miserable out west. Find a way to train for this. You will have to have a ramp or hill to do it. there's always the roof on your house, LOL. A treadmill blocked up so you are going downhill might be an option. Stairs are not. This was my biggest source of misery on my first trip, and I started training for it before the next one. It is never talked about, but the effects on flatlanders can be devastating.
 
Find a lake Dam. And walk up and down with heavy pack. Walking down steep hills is important and different than going up and can't be replicated on stair master. Also walk across the grade to replicate side hilling uses different stabilizer muscles
 
Something else. While there may be no hills in your area, I'll bet there is a river. Along that river is a levee. Chances are its pretty high too. go to it. Walk up, down, across the side and zig zag. Take it easy at first going down either straight or at an angle.
 
Rick Richard said:
Cardio, strength training and hike with pack. Keep in mind, no matter how well you get in shape the altitude WILL get you.
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The absolute inescapable truth.
I know of no way to train for high altitudes other than training in high altitudes being in as good a shape as you can be will absolutely help but IMO you will never be in good enough shape to escape the affects of high altitudes when you are a lifelong flatlander and live and train at sub 1k' elevations
Fortunately for me my last 3 elk trips I was working on new 30-50+ story high-rises that were going up and every morning before work I did at least a 4-5 15-30 story climbs with a 40lb pack spent my entire 45 minute lunch doing the same thing
Had a reclaimed sanitary landfill not far enough from my home that had a pretty high and surprisingly very steep hill and I built up to no BS 1.5-2 hours solid walking up and down and side Hilling with a 50lb pack 3-5x a week and swam 75-80 lengths 3-5× a week in an Olympic size pool at my local YMCA if I couldn't do the hill.
Best advice I can offer is what ever exercise you do if it won't affect your hip and knee joints or your spine do it with a heavy pack on
I constantly added weight as soon I felt the exercise session was getting the least bit easy
Cheapest weight to use I found was 5lb bags of sugar or flower I would put in a gallon ziplock bag and tape the bag tight
They fit in my packs very well and didn't move around much.
But if at all humanly possible do mostly exercises that as closely as possible mimic going up and down steep grades
Stairs are your best bet
See if there is a high-school or college stadium close by you can use the grand stands to climb up and down
At the end of my block is the local high-school's football soccer and track stadium and they allow people to use the track to jog on so I can use the quite large series of bench seats to walk up and down as an endless free stair step trainer.
I am 6'2" and weigh when in shape 220-225 and my hunting partner is 5'-9" maybe 165 and I was not only in better shape for all our out west trips but what shocked me was how my endurance was significantly greater than his and he is a HUGE joger an exercise I utterly LOATH and will not do as it tares up my hips
Best of luck
 
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I live at 1100 feet (AZ) and 8750 (CO). I don't have too much trouble in CO; I am there now. In Phoenix I run four miles every other day. I used to ride a bike but haven't since I hit a coyote doing about 35 mph and busted 7 ribs, my clavicle, and scapula on Oct 4, 2020. But I would say a bike is the best at getting your quads in shape. IMO there is no substitute for running; if you are not sucking wind at sea level you certainly will be sucking at high altitude. I don't enjoy running but there is no substitute for it. If walking with a pack is a cardio exercise for you, you will suck big time at higher altitudes (I hate the term "at altitude" - even sea level is an altitude.

Acclimation is great if you have time. I climbed Kilimanjaro taking the long route (I think it was a five day circuitous route designed to allow acclimation) but I still barfed at around 18,500 feet. In 2010 we were in the Himalayas; due to the flooding of the Indus in Ladakh, our original itinerary was put on hold. We spent two weeks in Leh (altitude of 9950) and then we decided to climb Stok Kangri, which is a little over 20k. At about 19500 we had to turn around for safety reasons, but I felt fine and never dizzy or out of breath.

Getting the weight down is a no brainer; we have a friend who is over 300 lbs; last summer he had trouble walking to our BBQ pit, which is about 100 yards and 50 feet higher than our house.
 
Orange Dust mentioned downhill problems. The first time I backpacked into the Grand Canyon, I mashed my toes into the toe of my boots. My toenails turned black and fell off a few months later. I've learned to buy a size larger boot, and lace them tight when going downhill. I've never hunted anywhere where I did as much steep downhill as the Canyon. I find that a larger toe box keeps your toes warmer because they have a little more room to move. The rule of thumb is a pound on your feet is like 5 lbs. on your back. I use lightweight Merrel Goretex boots with gaiters for the snow and mud (if needed).
 
mnoland30 said:
Orange Dust mentioned downhill problems. The first time I backpacked into the Grand Canyon, I mashed my toes into the toe of my boots. My toenails turned black and fell off a few months later. I've learned to buy a size larger boot, and lace them tight when going downhill. I've never hunted anywhere where I did as much steep downhill as the Canyon. I find that a larger toe box keeps your toes warmer because they have a little more room to move. The rule of thumb is a pound on your feet is like 5 lbs. on your back. I use lightweight Merrel Goretex boots with gaiters for the snow and mud (if needed).
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Ouch!!!

I'll second this. I live in Saskatchewan and therefore know basically nothing about mountains or altitude haha, but do know all too well that taking proper care of your feet is priority number one, no question, on any serious hunt/outdoor excursion. If your feet don't work you're done. Not an ideal plan BUT I've experienced for myself enough crappy sweaters can do the job of a nice jacket 🤣 but your footwear either sucks or doesn't. If I ever end up spending any serious money on my hunting apparel it'll be on boots.
 
While a wider toe box is necessary for many, please dont forget about ankle support and 'side hilling'.......to me, this caused more issues than down hill......I hiked halfway down Grand Canyon and it was phenomenal, but my last hike out of NW Co wilderness takes the cake!!
 
mnoland30 said:
Orange Dust mentioned downhill problems. The first time I backpacked into the Grand Canyon, I mashed my toes into the toe of my boots. My toenails turned black and fell off a few months later. I've learned to buy a size larger boot, and lace them tight when going downhill. I've never hunted anywhere where I did as much steep downhill as the Canyon. I find that a larger toe box keeps your toes warmer because they have a little more room to move. The rule of thumb is a pound on your feet is like 5 lbs. on your back. I use lightweight Merrel Goretex boots with gaiters for the snow and mud (if needed).
Click to expand...
I would say there are plenty of mountains steeper than the GC, esp Bright Angel trail. I used to use Merrill's a lot but if you walk over a lot of rocks, the soft sole kills your feet. Going steeply downhill kills your quads, esp with a heavy load of meat.

Yesterday I went to paint my gongs; right now I have two at 720 and 910, not in a line. Once I got to the 910 gong, I climbed 800 vertical feet as fast as I could. I was breathing pretty hard by the time I got to the top. I am going to do that daily, rather than run every other day, at least while I am in CO.
 

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