The chest strap heart rate monitor is a great tool. I think every hunter who’s serious about improving their endurance should own one and use it during most conditioning sessions. But sometimes we head out the door and forget to toss it in the truck. And other times, it’s just not practical, like when we’re hunting but still want to keep tabs on how hard we’re working so we don’t gas ourselves out. Each of those scenarios requires us to learn how to dial in on how hard we’re training using feedback from our bodies instead of following the heart rate read out from our chest straps.

As a hunter, you’re a strength-endurance athlete. That means you need to eat and fuel more like an endurance athlete than a regular person who likes to go to the gym and workout. You’re training, not working out. Training requires a sound nutritional strategy.

April and May are transitional months in the world of hunting fitness. They bridge the gap between early offseason training done January through March, and preseason training done June through August or September. Planning these transitional months well, especially when it comes to strength training, makes a huge difference in your preparation for hunting season.