



PackMule
An Unconventional Exercise We Love!
A few years back, I had my friend Doug Kechijian write my training program for a few months.
You might remember Doug from Michael Easter's popular book The Comfort Crisis.
Doug is a former Air Force Parajumper and a world-class physical therapist and performance coach.
(He was on our podcast a little while back. You can listen here.
In the final phase of my training, Doug included an exercise that set off alarms in my mind.
Don't get me wrong, I trust Doug. But I was a skeptical fella.
But, knowing that Doug knows his stuff as well as just about anyone in the world, I trusted him and I did the exercise.
My quads burned with the fury of Hades and my back was pretty smoked.
But, man, did I ever build some uphill endurance in my quads and bulletproof my back.
The exercise is the rounded back step up.

(Image is linked to a YouTube video.)
We're going to end up in disadvantaged positions in the mountains, so we might as well train for them.
Right now, our Backcountry Ready members on our pre-season program are doing these as a finisher at the end of their second strength workout each week.
Keep in mind that they've done a ton of work to build resiliency in their backs before doing these.
We didn't just jump into these.
In the program, we're doing 5 total minutes, getting as many GOOD reps as possible in those 5 minutes. We're switching legs every 10 reps.
Check 'em out.
(If you have a backcountry hunt, mountain hunt, or just want to be in the best physical condition you can be for hunting season, click HERE to checkout our flagship coaching program, Backcountry Ready.)
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Testing and Assessments
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The following is an excerpt from the upcoming The Hunter's Guide to Uphill and Downhill Training. I'll be releasing more excerpts in the coming weeks and opening up registration for a pre-sale list with sweet bonuses. Mobility, a.k.a. movement capacity, is misunderstood and under trained in the hunting fitness world. Good movement begins with understanding your current mobility needs. You have to test to get a handle on your current needs. Otherwise, you're firing blanks into the dark. Here's a rundown to how we approach movement testing straight from the book.

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The following is an excerpt from the upcoming The Hunter's Guide to Uphill and Downhill Training. I'll be releasing more excerpts in the coming weeks and opening up registration for a pre-sale list with sweet bonuses. Mobility, a.k.a. movement capacity, is misunderstood and under trained in the hunting fitness world. Good movement begins with understanding your current mobility needs. You have to test to get a handle on your current needs. Otherwise, you're firing blanks into the dark. Here's a rundown to how we approach movement testing straight from the book.

Testing and Assessments
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The following is an excerpt from the upcoming The Hunter's Guide to Uphill and Downhill Training. I'll be releasing more excerpts in the coming weeks and opening up registration for a pre-sale list with sweet bonuses. Mobility, a.k.a. movement capacity, is misunderstood and under trained in the hunting fitness world. Good movement begins with understanding your current mobility needs. You have to test to get a handle on your current needs. Otherwise, you're firing blanks into the dark. Here's a rundown to how we approach movement testing straight from the book.

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There’s a lot of biohacking nonsense floating around about training for longevity. The truth is simpler. Intelligently designed fitness training is longevity training. You don’t need to sun your butthole or face east while screaming into the wind, or whatever silly shit influencers would have you do. What you truly need to do is consistently train and eat in a way that’s sustainable while moving your fitness forward. It is simple, but it’s not always easy. And it begins with getting your head on straight.

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How to Train for Performance Now so You can Walk Mountains When You’re 85
There’s a lot of biohacking nonsense floating around about training for longevity. The truth is simpler. Intelligently designed fitness training is longevity training. You don’t need to sun your butthole or face east while screaming into the wind, or whatever silly shit influencers would have you do. What you truly need to do is consistently train and eat in a way that’s sustainable while moving your fitness forward. It is simple, but it’s not always easy. And it begins with getting your head on straight.

Fitness Tips
Feb 8, 2026
How to Train for Performance Now so You can Walk Mountains When You’re 85
There’s a lot of biohacking nonsense floating around about training for longevity. The truth is simpler. Intelligently designed fitness training is longevity training. You don’t need to sun your butthole or face east while screaming into the wind, or whatever silly shit influencers would have you do. What you truly need to do is consistently train and eat in a way that’s sustainable while moving your fitness forward. It is simple, but it’s not always easy. And it begins with getting your head on straight.

Testing and Assessments
Feb 18, 2026
Do You Know How Much Weight You Should Carry? Determining Your Safe Pack Weight in 10 Minutes
Picture this: You’ve just finished skinning and quartering a bull elk you’ve worked just about every part of your ass off to kill. Now, you have some roller coaster miles ahead of you. The first stretch of that roller coaster is a steep uphill stretch. Then you have yourself a spicy descent before you hit another long uphill, march. You grab your pack and have a look at the meat as it hangs in game bags; you want to get it all back to the truck as quickly and in as few trips as possible. But there’s a problem — you don’t know how much you should load into your pack at one time.

Testing and Assessments
Feb 10, 2026
How Hunters Should Test Their Mobility
The following is an excerpt from the upcoming The Hunter's Guide to Uphill and Downhill Training. I'll be releasing more excerpts in the coming weeks and opening up registration for a pre-sale list with sweet bonuses. Mobility, a.k.a. movement capacity, is misunderstood and under trained in the hunting fitness world. Good movement begins with understanding your current mobility needs. You have to test to get a handle on your current needs. Otherwise, you're firing blanks into the dark. Here's a rundown to how we approach movement testing straight from the book.


