Article by: Todd Bumgardner, Packmule Training Co.

We have three more things to talk about, so I can help keep you in the whitetail woods until you’re an old codger. In part one of this series, we covered lifestyle factors, managing your mindset, focusing on moving well, and developing your aerobic system. Here in part 2, our three topics are strength training for performance instead of aesthetics, developing a seasonal training calendar, and managing your stress. 

Off we go. Let’s keep you in the woods until you’re old.

Strength Train for Performance, Not Aesthetics

I’ll preface everything I’m about to tell you in this section by saying there’s not a damn thing wrong with wanting to look good naked. In fact, it’d be odd if you didn’t at all care about how your body looks. We all want whoever we want to attract, or keep attracted, to look at us and think, “I’d like to climb that tree stand!” (That’s the first time I’ve ever used that euphemism for sex. I’m open to any and all feedback.) That said, focusing on aesthetics while strength training is not the best long-term play to keep you in the literal tree stand when you’re 80. It’s (mostly) about the mind, not about the muscle.

I’ve worked in gyms since I was 17 and trained people for 19 years. I’ve learned something while working with so many people for so long: The people who focus on aesthetics have the hardest time with training consistency. There are several reasons why.

First, when people focus on aesthetics, they focus mostly on lack instead of gain. They look at what they don’t like about themselves, it makes them feel worse about themselves, and when it doesn’t change fast enough, they give up. I’ve seen the cycle play out 1,000 times. Or, they see the gap between where they are and what they want to look like — usually someone else — and reaching that goal seems impossible, so they give up. Focusing on what you lack will always make you feel worse about yourself. And it’s increasingly difficult to do anything positive when you feel like shit. Performance, however, tells the story of incremental improvement, showing you how your actions change your capabilities.

Let’s recruit our old pal Socrates to help me make this point. He said the following quite a long time ago:

“What a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”

Capability — that’s what keeps the train rolling down the tracks. 

It begins with operant conditioning, which is getting reinforced or punished for a voluntary behavior. Choosing to strength train for performance offers way more reinforcement. You see changes faster when you focus on performance than when you focus on aesthetics. Some of those changes are quantitative, like measurable gains in strength and power. Others are qualitative, like just f**king feeling better. Not only do they happen faster, but you notice them because you’re focused on the gain (performance), not the gap (aesthetics). The reinforcement you get from those gains increases the likelihood that you’ll consistently strength train. And consistency is the most important training variable.

Then there is the strength of which your body is capable. Strength training to move well, to improve how long you have access to your strength, to be able to use your strength in any setting, is what truly improves your longevity — your capability for the rest of your life. Being big and strong is nice, but it won’t keep you in the deer woods when you’re 80 years old. First, because of the consistency piece we chatted about. Second, strength training for aesthetics often causes people to move like shit. When you move like shit, it starts a cascade of negative consequences.

Here’s the kicker: When you strength train for performance while also taking care of the lifestyle factors we discussed in part one, you start to look pretty damn good. Good and lasting aesthetics are a byproduct of strength training for performance and managing your lifestyle.

Strength training to perform will improve your capability and longevity and give you a better shot at liking how you look for a much longer time.

Follow a Seasonal Training Calendar

Think back to the previous late fall/early winter. The chill in the air had a little more bite to it. Seeing snowflakes in the air brought a little smile to your face and a nice, nostalgic feeling. You were happy for the change, you leaned into it, and put on an extra layer. Maybe you even said to yourself, “Welp, just that time of year!” and you accepted your lot. Then February rolled around, and after months of cold and dark, you were like, to hell with this shit! You were ready for spring. I imagine you even spent a little extra time on your porch every morning, hoping to hear a tom sound off from a tree.

Seasonality is part of being human. We need some degree of change throughout the year to keep us sane. The same goes for training. Changes every few months help bolster training consistency because the shift helps keep us interested in showing up. That’s the psychological component. There’s also an important physiological component.

Training seasonally allows us to develop certain aspects of our fitness while maintaining others. Following this cycle throughout the year keeps our fitness progressing year after year. If we’re training consistently, it also helps us avoid cycles of overuse or overtraining by changing exercises and methods. 

Here’s our year-round training calendar for Packmule programs:

• Early Offseason: January through March. Focus: aerobic capacity and strength endurance
• Late Offseason: April and May. Focus: aerobic power and maximal strength
• Pre-season: June through August. Focus: specific conditioning and strength endurance
• In-season: September through December. Focus: relative strength and hypertrophy

Each season’s training focus gets the most volume (amount of work) and intensity (difficulty of work). However, the other training qualities aren’t disregarded. They’re just toned back to a point where they are maintained but not lost. This type of planning is called Concurrent Training. 

We do it this way because hunting requires well-rounded fitness. It’s also the best way to train for health and longevity. You need all aspects of fitness for a body that functionally lasts into old age. The crux is getting the proportions of each type of training right throughout the year. That’s why you hire me. That’s my job. :) 

Your mind and body need changes throughout the year. The shifts keep you consistent while also developing well-rounded fitness that keeps you in the hills instead of at home.

Manage Your Stress, Or At Least Re-Frame It

We hear a lot about stress these days, don’t we? A lot of smart folks are saying that it kills people just as effectively as eating like an asshole for 40 years. You don’t have to be a scientist to realize that feeling a lot of stress decreases the quality of your life. But we also know…

• Chronic stress can knock a few years off your life.

• It speeds up the cellular aging process.

• It increases your risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune disorders.

Ain’t none of them good. 

In many instances, they make you dead faster. And they at least decrease your quality of life to the point where you can’t do the things you love. That makes managing and reframing your stress a really good idea.

Let’s recruit another ancient philosopher to help us do that. There’s something about old dead guys and knowing stuff.

Epictetus said:

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”

Maybe you’re thinking, “Oh, go suck a butt, Todd! That’s a nice thing to say, but it’s a lot easier said than done. Epictetus can suck a butt, too!”

I hear you, but let me ask you a question. 

Have you ever had a reactive dog that you trained out of being reactive? It could be that you’ve seen someone else do it with their dog. Reactivity is a stress and a fear response. It’s no different with humans. If you can train a dog out of it, you can train yourself out of it. (I also didn’t say it would be easy, but it will be worth it.)

Think about that for a second. 

Distress is based on feeling:

• Fear

• Lack of competence

• Lack of resources

• Uncertainty or lack of clarity

You could summarize it as follows: I’m afraid I don’t have what I need to deal with this situation, and I’m not sure what to do or what will happen next.

That need could be time, money, or skills. No matter what it is, stress comes from feeling like you don’t have enough of what you need to manage your environment.

So, you have to take a step back and look at the environment. To do that, I’m going to hand you a little mantra you can keep in your back pocket at all times:

Strategy beats stress.

When you have a strategy for dealing with a situation, what typically stresses you becomes either a challenge or an item on a checklist to be done. It’s a powerful reframe. Let’s go back to that reactive dog example. 

We’ll say that you have a reactive dog, and going to the park with them stresses you out. Your strategy could be to stay home and avoid the stress altogether. But then everyone’s life shrinks and gets worse. 

Or you could invest in some kind of dog training resource so that you know what to do to start training your dog out of the reactivity at the park. Now, instead of an overwhelming situation that leaves you stressed and at a loss, you have a strategy for overcoming a challenge. And the understanding you’ve gained from the dog training resource gives you realistic expectations, so you’re not left uncertain. That’s a strategy that reduces stress in the short-term and the long-term. 

You can do the same thing for yourself in any situation. Competence crushes doubt. It’s hard to be stressed when you don’t doubt what you’re doing.

Here’s another reframe to consider. Ask yourself, do I really need to give this situation so much weight? I’ll give you a topical example.

Say you have yourself a target buck. You want that sucker, bad. Let’s further say that you’ve been putting a ton of pressure on yourself to kill him. You’ve listened to some cock snot who says it has to feel like a grind or you’re not doing it right. Sure, maybe you have no choice but to be in the stand for 12 hours waiting for your opportunity, but does it have to feel like a grind? Of course, not.

You’re choosing to be there. You’re choosing to do something you love. Hell, you’re choosing to target that buck. There’s no one stopping you from slamming the first basket rack that walks past you. It’s a game; it’s a challenge; it’s fun, treat it that way.

Everyone is going to eat. You’re not dealing with missiles. Put it in the proper perspective and enjoy yourself. At the end of the day, you’re the only one who gives a shit.

This works for everything, not just deer hunting.

There are also proactive things you can do every day to manage and/or avoid stress. Here’s a non-exhaustive list:

• Walk more

• Meditate

• Have a 12-minute conversation with a friend

• Create predictable routines

• Sleep

• Eat like an adult

• Do something you love every day

• Practice gratitude

There is zero point in letting stress take you before you ought to go, or keep you from chasing whitetails when you could still be out doing it. Reframe stress into challenge by having a strategy. Do the little things every day that turn the dials back a bit.

Hunt ‘Em Until You’re 80

I truly hope you’ve enjoyed this article series and that you’ve gotten a lot out of reading it. If you practice the advice, from focusing on your lifestyle to developing your aerobic system to managing your stress, I promise you that you will give yourself a better shot of hunting bucks until you’re an old folk. But do me a favor. 

Don’t just read this shit, agree, and then never do a damn thing with it. Use the information and seek more. Take action. You’ll make your life better now, and you’ll give yourself the best shot of doing the thing you love for the rest of your life.

 

About the author: Todd Bumgardner is the head coach and founder of Packmule Training Co. He grew up hunting and playing sports in Central Pennsylvania. He went on to play college football and earn a master's degree in Exercise Science. He's been a strength and conditioning coach for the past 17 years, working with everyone from youth athletes and everyday folks to NFL veterans. Along with running the ship at HPPM, Todd also co-owns and operates Beyond Strength, a training gym in Northern Virginia, and is a human performance coach for a tier 1 unit. He travels all across North America to hunt.