Are you physically ready for hunting season?

[Gunner46]

I am, for this year. Doesn't take much to drive to w/i 300 yds from a tree stand and sit for hours......beside I walk about 20 miles a week anyway.

Next year is a different story.

 

[bigdonniebrasco]

Sounds perfect!! I too was a wrestler, and MMA trainer.

The slow unweighted walks are considered "active recovery" and it's a great way to keep moving while still recovering from the training.

*good call!

 

[TimeOnTarget]

From your avatar, you're a beast! As for your shoulder... does it "feel" internal to the socket or more external muscle? One way to help pinpoint this is to reach back like you were going to pull a wallet out of your back pocket, raising your elbow high as you do it.... gingerly. If that "ZINGS" in the socket it's likely to be a rotator cuff concern. There are some very easy rotator cuff exercises you can find online... high reps VERY low weight! A good practive for all of us bow hunters in fact!
If the pain is external (deltoid muscle) and there is no bruising you likely just strained it. *** Obviously take this with a HUGE block of salt. Rest it, anti inflammatory, ice/heat.

Thanks, I try and stay in the best shape i can year around. The gym has become a passion of mine for sure.

It's been very frustrating not being able to do things. I can do the motion you describe with no pain. There are certain motions that make me wince though. I just reached for a kleenex a little bit ago. Youch! But i just did what seemed like the exact same motion again with little or no pain.

I have noticed that raising my arm with my elbow bent causes a good bit more pain than doing the same motion with my arm straight.

 

[npaden]

I missed my goal of running a marathon fast enough to qualify for Boston this year (qualifying time for my age is 3 hours and 25 minutes and I ran mine in 3 hours and 36 minutes), but I think I am in good enough shape for elk season. I just need to decide on if I am going to do an over the counter tag since I didn't draw an elk tag this year.

I'm adding a climbing wall to my swimming pool and when the weather cools down going to add a rope climb and monkey bar setup to work more on upper body strength. My wife and 9 year old son both watch American Ninja Warrior and we are going to start adding obstacles slowly as they work into them.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I know when I wrestled in college we talked about peaking at the right time, before a tournament. So I was curious about when people start to dial it back to ensure their legs are still in good shape, but not dead and sore.
I usually hit it pretty hard until the week before I leave, the week leading up to the hunt I try to hike the same distance but without a weighted pack. Not sure if this is correct so I wondered what others did before their hunts.

I do about the same as you, The week leading up to the hunt is more of a recovery week than anything. Light weight and walking is about it.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

I missed my goal of running a marathon fast enough to qualify for Boston this year (qualifying time for my age is 3 hours and 25 minutes and I ran mine in 3 hours and 36 minutes), but I think I am in good enough shape for elk season. I just need to decide on if I am going to do an over the counter tag since I didn't draw an elk tag this year.

I'm adding a climbing wall to my swimming pool and when the weather cools down going to add a rope climb and monkey bar setup to work more on upper body strength. My wife and 9 year old son both watch American Ninja Warrior and we are going to start adding obstacles slowly as they work into them.

Thats still an awesome marathon time! Congrats on that time for sure.

I enjoy watching ANW. I always think "I can do that" but in reality it looks like Im about 80-100lbs heavier than most of those guys.

 

[bigdonniebrasco]

I "ran" a marathon once just so I could say I did it ! .... lets just say that with YOUR time... you could have been back home, showered and ready for ice cream before I ever even SAW the finish !!

 

[Speeddmn]

I know I am not ready, thus is life. Granted I sit at my desk at work most of the time and I'm drinking a mt dew and eating chocolate doughnuts... I have been battling knee pain and lower back pain for a few years. I need to just man up and get back to the gym, I'm sure with proper diet, exercise, and strength training I can relieve most of the pain.

BTW loved the link on the food prep!

 

[bigdonniebrasco]

I know I am not ready, thus is life. Granted I sit at my desk at work most of the time and I'm drinking a mt dew and eating chocolate doughnuts... I have been battling knee pain and lower back pain for a few years. I need to just man up and get back to the gym, I'm sure with proper diet, exercise, and strength training I can relieve most of the pain.

BTW loved the link on the food prep!

Thanks speed demon, I really like her blog, she does a great job.

I will be 50 next year and due to some injuries when I was 45 I just "gave up"!

Back issues, knee issues, and a hip that was so bad I thought about replacement.

All I did was sit on my ass and drink beer and eat crap!

Then one night I drank WAY WAY too much and a week log hangover made me rethink what I was doing to myself and my family!

I've got before and after picts, but all that is to say... I stopped the booze because I was SOO hungover, and after a week I figured, why not shoot for 10 days... then 2 weeks, then maybe take a stroll around the neighborhood.
One thing led to another and after 18 mos no booze, eating right and moderate working out I was better than when I was 21 !! And after several years of just assuming that I'd never get out west to hunt, in 71 days, I'm headed to WY to put the smackdown on a few speedgoats!

I know it's NOT easy and everyone has different "demons" and real-life reasons why maybe today isn't the day. It's finding what works to get any given individual to decide to work toward being healthier.

I'm the LAST person to judge!!

Take care my friend!

 

[zachthebowhunter]

I know I am not quite ready yet but I also know it doesn't take me long to get back into shap when the season rolls around. The last couple years I have been very lazy and saying ill get to the gym next week or on the 1st or bla bla bla. well recently I decided to sack up and start SOMETHING! So the last couple weeks I started doing two things. 50 push-ups and 50 squats every night. Basically I just wanted to get my will power back and work back into going to the gym and getting in shape because I lost my motivation to do so. I also started eating better, such as one ingredient meals like you discussed. I don't know if I've lost any weight or even made much of a difference but I do know I"m getting relatively stronger. When I started I could hardly do a measly 10 pushups in a row without being dead. now I can do a full 20-25 in a row!

I know its not much or all that impressive but its a start! I love this thread and will keep following it.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I've been working out pretty regularly since I retired 2 years ago. When I was working it was very difficult to get motivated to work out when I worked 8 hours 5 days a week with a round trip driving time of 2.5 hours. Getting up at 1:45am to be at work by 4am left me pretty tired.
3 days a week of cardio and weights made quite a difference while hunting last year. I figure at 54 I have at least 10 of good mountain hunting left but I better keep working out because I do like to eat.
Also I want to be ready when I draw my NV Mtn goat or desert bighorn tag which should be any year now.

 

[The Hedgehog]

This woman, if she wanted to, could run down an elk and kill it with a pocket knife, leaving all beast mode hunters in a trail of dust.

This article was based on something that happened in 1998, and I noticed this tough woman is signed up for next months annual Bridger ridge run again.
http://www.outsidebozeman.com/summer-2001/viking-mom

I would guess she doesn't drink much IPA, but I like to tell myself that is her secret to training/toughness.

 

[----]

I was doing pretty good up until a 3-4 weeks ago, then shit came unraveled. Right now walking up the stairs at work is an accomplishment. It's going to be a mad scramble to get back in any sort of shape the couple weeks before season starts, otherwise critters are safe unless they're roadside.

 

[MThuntr]

Not even close to ready. The last couple summers were spent backpacking for work which made transitioning into archery season quite easy. This year we don't have any of that type of work so the push to go up and down hills just isn't there and it's bad!

 

[bigdonniebrasco]

I heat with wood, so when I am feeling my fitness slip, I start chopping wood with an axe. Always gets the blood flowing!

 

[TimeOnTarget]

I heat with wood, so when I am feeling my fitness slip, I start chopping wood with an axe. Always gets the blood flowing!

That will do it!

 

[Sawtooth]

I heat with wood, so when I am feeling my fitness slip, I start chopping wood with an axe. Always gets the blood flowing!

Same deal for me. Splitting and stacking wood and a daily bike ride is about it for me during the weekdays. Then scouting for critters and cutting said wood on the weekends.

 

[npaden]

This woman, if she wanted to, could run down an elk and kill it with a pocket knife, leaving all beast mode hunters in a trail of dust.

This article was based on something that happened in 1998, and I noticed this tough woman is signed up for next months annual Bridger ridge run again.
http://www.outsidebozeman.com/summer-2001/viking-mom

I would guess she doesn't drink much IPA, but I like to tell myself that is her secret to training/toughness.

I would like to do the Bridger Ridge run sometime. Being from the flatland I just can't prepare adequately for the continual climbs and descents. Last year I finished a flat 50 mile trail run down by Houston over an hour quicker than I finished the Elkhorn Endurance 52K over in Helena. With 8,000' of climb and 8,000' of descent in essentially 3 big climbs and 3 big descents it pretty much ate my lunch. The trail was a bit more technical too, but it seems crazy that it took over an hour longer to run 18 miles less distance.

There really isn't a good way to prepare for the big ups and downs other than going up and down. My longest hill I can run here drops about 200 feet in about a 1/2 mile. The big elevation changes on that run were something like 2,500' in 3 miles. Lugging 215 pounds up and down those will wear on a person!

 

[TimeOnTarget]

Just an update, Got shoulder appointment for both shoulders a week from today. NOTHING will be done to either of them if need be until December but i want to know what im up against. I can still shoot my bow, maybe not as many arrows a day but i've still been shooting 10-12 per day with tolerable pain and accuracy being good.

We will see how cutting a couple trees down tonight goes.

A guy has to have his priorities straight and for me, hunting beats shoulder every time.

 

[maxx]

I went from 272 about 3 weeks ago down to 255 this morning. I was 250 at lunch after a few games of basketball today but that was all water weight. I am not training for hunting as it is pretty easy around here but I am doing an 5k obstacle race in a week and a half. My goal was to get to 250 for the race. I should be close. I would like to get there by this weekend because I want to take it a little easier next week.

I play a lot of basketball, I am 38 and I bet I haven't gone more than 3-4 weeks without playing in 25 plus years. The only reason I wont play is injury. A guy I work with talked me into this race. It motivated me to lose some weight, I didn't want to try to climb with the weight I was at. I realized I was in shape but fat. I could no longer outwork a bad diet.

Eating healthy is pretty easy for me because I like healthy food. The hard part is the discipline of making lunches instead of going out. I cut carbs way down but not out. I eat a ton of salad's because they are easy. I have become hooked on Avocado's. I also eat lean meats and veggies.

If I go out to lunch I try to eat a salad, sushi or I go to this burrito place and I get a bowl eat the meat and veggies instead of the burrito.

We went on vacation last week and I was able to maintain my weight. I ate somewhat healthy and I tried to stay active. I still really love beer and whiskey. Whiskey has no carbs but beer is loaded. I really have limited my drinking.

I would like to stay between 235 and 245. I a bigger framed guy. I was 6'1" 215 as a freshman in high school with little fat. I played college football at 265.