Workouts! What are we doing to prepare?
- Thread starter Coop
- Start date
thusby
Well-known member
Hunting is such low intensity, long days. I feel like the only way to really prepare around northwest Wisconsin is to put on a pack and slog through the swamp looking for mushrooms. I usually hit the weights 3 times a week, focusing on muscular endurance. Doing high intensity or max reps is almost worse than doing nothing at all in my opinion. If you carry too much muscle on your frame, then you will eat up a lot of oxygen and release too much lactic acid.
Guy
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- Dec 5, 2018
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Have been bicycling like a madman. I'm 63 years old, just cycled 73 miles yesterday with 4,100' of climbing. Did the same distance a couple of days ago, but a different route with less climbing. Riding three days a week.
Haven't been in the gym much lately, just pushups & crunches here at home.
Like others have said, I gotta lose some weight. Apparently I "wintered well."
Haven't been in the gym much lately, just pushups & crunches here at home.
Like others have said, I gotta lose some weight. Apparently I "wintered well."
Coop
Well-known member
Man do I miss those mid summer salmonfly curls!
Today's workout to earn some of those treasured brews:
Warmup with dynamic stretching and 1000m row
3 rounds of each of the following:
- 20: Walking front rack lunge
- 10: pull ups (assisted if needed)
- 10 ea: Med Ball kneeling chop throw
- 10: 3 Sec. Pause front squat
- 50: Slide Board mountain climbers (regular mountain climbers if no slide boards are available)
- 1 min: Wall sit
- 20: weighted Step-ups
- 8 ea: Single Leg RDL
- 10: Swiss Ball Back Extension
Core!
- 15: Straight Leg Raise
- 15 ea: Oblique crunch
- 1 minute plank
Enjoy fellas!!
Run, Bike, Swim- All distance. HIIT/ max rep to failure with weights in between Triathlon training days. Cardio + weight training = stamina. Doesn't seem to matter how hard I push myself though; that altitude still hits me like a brick wall come October. Always need a few days to fully acclimate when I'm hunting past 8,000 ft and spend most of the rest of the year working close to sea level.
Greyman
Well-known member
I work in a chemical plant. I load all of my tools and a bunch of water bottles into a backpack and climb all the stairs and ladders on the towers as part of my normal work routines. On the weekends, I'm mowing a little more than an acre of grass with a push, non-propelled lawn mower. Splitting firewood as well. Awesome workout and I get my chores done too.
Actually, research contradicts this. Studies have shown endurance athletes benefit much more from low rep/high weight lifts than they do from high rep/low weight strength training. Even though your metabolic demands are greater, the increased power output makes for much higher efficiency.
In addition high intensity workouts are a huge benefit to you as you age.
npaden
Well-known member
I have a friend that doesn't do any formal work outs but he really enjoys gardening and woodworking and doesn't own a single power tool. Hand saw, pruning shears, shovel, rake, and a true push mower (you push it to make the blade spin). He stays in pretty good shape that way.
Probably takes me about the same time to go run 7 miles and then mow my yard with my riding lawn mower as it takes him to use his manual push mower to mow his yard and he probably gets a better overall workout. (His yard is quite a bit smaller than mine).
Probably takes me about the same time to go run 7 miles and then mow my yard with my riding lawn mower as it takes him to use his manual push mower to mow his yard and he probably gets a better overall workout. (His yard is quite a bit smaller than mine).
JdGoodhart
Member
Just started working out again on a somewhat regular basis after finishing up wrestling season. Right now I'm lifting two days a week and doing hot yoga two days a week. Hot yoga works wonders on my lower back. Some days I'll just use my lifting as my cardio and have very little rest time. Running is not kind on my knees and back so if I really want to hit the cardio I'll either do the airdine bike or the versa climber.
Greyman
Well-known member
Does anyone have any experience using altitude masks? Do you think they work?
Save your money. They don't do anything you can't accomplish by simply doing interval training.
Jape
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- Sep 26, 2017
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- 1,733
I have been doing the Spartan program the past couple years and it has been great. I do a dynamic warm-up, HIIT for 45 minutes, strength training for an hour, and finish with 30 minutes of cardio before stretching. I need to start incorporating some ruck sessions on Saturday's too because there is nothing like simulating the real thing.
Oh, and JLS is exactly right. Altitude masks provide very little benefit. Don't waste your money.
Oh, and JLS is exactly right. Altitude masks provide very little benefit. Don't waste your money.
timber_hunter
Active member
In my experience, the best way to get elk fit is tons of hiking with lots of elevation gain, i.e low intensity cardio. Well-conditioned legs and lungs are key, upper body strength less so. As the season gets closer, higher intensity workouts with weight up steep hills (something like 0.5 miles and 1,000 feet of elevation gain) build the strength needed to haul weight around the mountains. 98% of the time while hunting we're hiking around anyway. IMO, there's too much emphasis these days on CrossFit style workouts which really only get you fit for more CrossFit workouts. I don't want to be big and bulky by the time elk season rolls around, because extraneous upper body muscle is more weight I have to haul around. I come from a mountaineering background and there's a saying that goes something like, "the best way to train for mountaineering is mountaineering." The best way to train for hunting is by hunting, which to me means loading up the pack and hiking all day.
npaden
Well-known member
One other feature of getting in shape is getting your body used to recovery. Just about anyone can mentally force themselves to get out there and hit it hard on day 1 in the mountains. It takes a little more to hit it again on day 2 and by day 4 or 5 a lot of people are sitting around in camp. I tend to train 5, 6 or even 7 days a week when I'm really focused and I think your body learns to adapt to a "working" recovery. I don't hit it hard all 7 days, usually just 3 out of the 7 and the other 4 are "easy" days with anywhere from a 4 to 8 mile jog.
Schaaf
Well-known member
Afternoon beers because I deserve it after mowing the lawn.
MTHunter1321
Well-known member
Has anyone on here had any experience with the MtnTough program? I’ve been looking at it for a while but haven’t pulled the trigger on it yet. Would like to hear feedback from someone that’s done it or knows people who have, to help determine if its worth the price or if their marketing is just good.
I’ve been doing the Mtn Ops program and daily hikes in the hills. Most importantly I’m exercising the MOST important muscle- my brain!!! I’m a new guy to the game, so needless to say my brain is pretty flipping weak at the moment... but thanks to this forum and modern technology, there are plenty of “supplements” to aid in my growth of knowledge 
The past month:
Been hitting the gym for weights after work- dropped 2" from my waist and put on 10lbs.
Focusing on upper body, back, and core for now, but not ignoring legs. Max weight available is a pair of 50# dumbbells, but I'll do 3x8 incline bench, 4x12 squats with those on my shoulders, 4x10 straight-leg deadlifts, and then 3x45 calf raises (split between toes straight, pointed out, and pointed in). Lower weight for dumbbell hang cleans, curls, and overhead press. Dips and abs are body weight.
Turkey season has been 5 miles daily, for two days in a row, then back to chores at home when it rains. Put in 10 days of chasing birds and fishing in Missouri. Looking at 3-day summer hikes in the Beartooths to go fishing.
Been hitting the gym for weights after work- dropped 2" from my waist and put on 10lbs.
Focusing on upper body, back, and core for now, but not ignoring legs. Max weight available is a pair of 50# dumbbells, but I'll do 3x8 incline bench, 4x12 squats with those on my shoulders, 4x10 straight-leg deadlifts, and then 3x45 calf raises (split between toes straight, pointed out, and pointed in). Lower weight for dumbbell hang cleans, curls, and overhead press. Dips and abs are body weight.
Turkey season has been 5 miles daily, for two days in a row, then back to chores at home when it rains. Put in 10 days of chasing birds and fishing in Missouri. Looking at 3-day summer hikes in the Beartooths to go fishing.
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