For those who don’t already know, I have started a new job!!! I am an assistant coach at Bristol Bay Fitness working with Tana Grenda. We create custom fitness, nutrition and lifestyle programs and coach our clients to help them reach their goals. I absolutely love my job and the most amazing thing about it is my boss and I have a mutual passion, hunting. Tana and her husband live in Alaska and they are avid hunters and guides. We are both focused on our own fitness, nutrition and lifestyle as it pertains to being in the best shape for chasing the adventures that we love. This passion has led us to create something we know will enable others to also be able to chase their dreams in the outdoors!

I want to introduce you to “UNSTOPPABLE” the fully customized hunt prep program. This is unlike any program that has been created before. UNSTOPPABLE is fully customized to each individual client and for that reason we are only taking on a limited number of clients. This is a mentor-ship program where we teach you the why behind everything you are doing and help you walk step by step all along the way. This program will help you prepare your body and your mind for your hunts. When I have been successful in life it has been directly related to the times where I have considered everything that I might encounter and prepared myself for what was coming up to the best of my ability. I spent a month in the arctic in a survival situation with no tools…nothing but the clothes on my back. I made it out of that challenge having won in every way I could and I always point to the steps I took to prepare for it when trying to explain the reasons why I was able to outlast the two men who were with me.

Lack of preparation leaves everything to chance. If success isn’t important to you than preparation will seem mundane and unimportant. Understanding that success is directly proportional to levels of preparation is key. When we realize we are investing in our own success and truly believe that, we start living it. Preparation is both physical and mental. When I have already been in a situation in my mind and I then encounter it in person, I have already laid out a road to follow that comes back up in my mind and it helps me stay on track and quickly adjust to changing situations. Making a plan takes time up front but it saves time down the road because you don’t have to try to figure out where to go next. You already spent the time figuring out your steps and you are now free to simply implement them.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

― Abraham Lincoln

Preparation is everything but it will not create opportunity. When opportunity presents itself, preparation is the key that will provide you the ability to capitalize on it instead of watching it …walk…over…the mountain.

One of the main focuses of this program is nutrition. Often overlooked in hunting, nutrition is far more important than many people realize. In UNSTOPPABLE we teach you how, what and why to eat in your day-to-day life, surrounding training and in the field on your hunts. This is a completely custom nutrition program based on you, your life and what your body needs. Hunting, in the way we like to do it, is an athletic pursuit. Hunting requires physical strength, agility and stamina. Athletes take training seriously because it is vital to their success but they also take nutrition seriously and the hunting athlete should be no different. The nutrient requirements of the hunting athlete in the field are similar in principle to the nutrient needs of the long-distance endurance athlete. Hunters go for incredibly long distances day after day and then we carry incredibly heavy loads over rough terrain after having already pushed our bodies by hiking so far. If someone simply running a trail all day takes incredible care of how they are fueling themselves, pre, during and post event how much more important to performance is nutrition to the hunting athlete doing these incredible physical feats days on end?

Nutrition is so overlooked as hunters are a tough breed and we take pride in being resilient. Being tough doesn’t override the fact that our bodies will hit a wall and experience actual damage if we don’t take the time we need to fuel them properly and it isn’t even that difficult to do. If I understand what my nutritional requirements are at home, I can formulate what those requirements would be in the mountains and set myself up for successful performance during the hunt. Depending on the length of the trip, fueling begins in the days, or even up to a week, in advance of the hunt. Foods consumed the evening before and the day of the hunt should sit well and be tested out during training. New foods or beverages should never be consumed during a hunt. Figure out your fueling strategy well in advance of your hunt so that you can practice it during training. Begin fueling before you are depleted because your body will maintain pace and function better. This means you need to begin before you feel as if you need it. Here we are back at preparation. You need to make a fueling plan and then make yourself stick to your predetermined plan. You will greatly benefit from having a strategy you’ve practiced so that during hunting there’s no need to think about what you need to be eating and drinking and you can focus on other elements of the hunt instead.

We don’t offer cookie cutter programs. They do not provide long term results because you aren’t learning what you need to do every day. We take the time to build your program around you and teach you how to do it yourself so that when this program is over you are able to continue using what you learned for the rest of your life. What works for one person is not going to work for the next. Your life is unique and different than anyone else’s. Your program should be too. For example, my husband is an animal. I say that lovingly but he is ex-military, full of testosterone and there is absolutely no way that I can take his training plan and apply it to myself and expect it to work. I didn’t used to believe this but I have a story about the time I finally realized I was wrong. My husband had been going on weekly hikes up an incredibly steep mountain near our home in preparation for elk hunting. He always wore a 65lb pack on these hikes and one morning he invited me to come along. I had also been training for hunting season by packing around my own 65lb pack but my training had been on a less steep of a route and for longer distances. I was naive and thought that, “If my husband can do it I can too.” I grabbed my 65 lb pack and my husband cautioned me. He told me I might want to start out with 45lbs. I let my pride go against better judgement and said, “no” it would be ok.

We hit the hill in the dark and I did everything I could to follow his pace up the mountain. By about the halfway mark I was lagging behind. I started to feel ill but kept going. I was about ¾ of the way to the top and got physically ill. I was shaking, I had brought no water. I was weak. I sat down and took off my pack. I watched as my husband crested the top of the mountain and started back down in my direction. I waited for him to get to me and then pulled my pack back on and started down. I had to go down this steep mountain with 65lbs pulling down on my shaking legs and weakened body. It was dangerous. I made it to the bottom and I realized that in my mind I thought that will power could overcome weakness and it can….for a little while. There comes a time when reality overcomes willpower and that is when the wall goes up. When we hit that wall no amount of will power is going to stop the literal science-based processes taking over our bodies. Since that day I have conquered that mountain many times but I did it with a training plan that I formulated for me not the one that worked for my animal of a husband. I can do incredible things that a strong man can do but my road to that goal is going to look very different than the road that he takes to get there.

Have you ever thought any of these things?

My knees hurt

My feet hurt

I always get blisters

My lungs hurt

My cardio is bad

I need endurance

I can’t find time to train with a busy life

I have painful joints

I feel nauseous and sick (elevation sickness)

I get anxiety and struggle with mindset- hiking in the dark

I am uncomfortable being away from people/civilization

I waited too long to get in shape

I should have stayed in shape all year long

 am really sore and have bad flexibility

I pack too much, and I’m not sure what to pack

I want to hike further but can’t

I am dying on the mountain

I can’t keep up with my beast husband/partner/boyfriend

I wish I could do what I used to

I feel like I am dragging

the suck is real

I need more endurance

I feel terrible when I can’t keep up

I have tried so many things and failed

I am unmotivated

You are not alone! So many of our fellow hunters and outdoors focused clients have struggled with these same things. We can help you to feel good, to be unstoppable, to not feel like you’re dying, to climb mountain after mountain without crashing or hitting a wall, to be able to go into a hell hole spot and know that you can get out, to do this until you’re 80, to be motivated, to have a strong mind, to have all the endurance you need, to keep energy steady and not get drained, to know what to eat and how much, to find the time to train during a busy life and work schedule, to increase your cardio and lung capacity, to increase leg strength, to find the time to prepare and to stay in shape all year long.

If you are interested then hop on a call with us and we will help you get there! You can sign up for a call here!  www.bristolbayfitness.com We can’t wait to hear your story and get started helping you become UNSTOPPABLE!!