Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting 2014 Fitness/Workout Thread

I understand that, and don't disagree with any of it.

EdT has probably hauled out more elk than most will ever see.

I just don't get the other associated BS.

I know smokepole to be a damn fine hunter and one worth his salt. He's put a helluva lot of game on the ground and carried it all out. He ain't not gimp, and he ain't no fool. He's an opinionated SOB, but there's a bunch of those.

I don't doubt what you're saying about Rippetoe a whit. Neither, too, do I doubt that there's more than one way to do something.

I know I'm an obstinate bastard at times and won't see through the bravado (my own) on certain issues, but GD this spat is just dumb, and neither party in it is that themselves.

Hilarious. You have it exactly backward. Squats are a means to an end. In this case, backpack hunting in the mountains. I do that every year, and successfully. Meaning I pack out meat.

The fact that arthritis in my knee prevents me from squatting with a barbell just means I have to work out a little differently and deal with it. I did lower body and some core today, three sets each on two different squat machines, hamstring curls, glute machine, straight-leg and bent-leg calf raises, body weight squats on a bosu ball, ankle rotations on the bosu ball, two-legged box jumps, and one-legged box jumps. Back extensions and obliques.

The fact that you place more importance on the means than the end just confirms that you don't do much backpack hunting.

In other words, the fact that you do squats doesn't mean jack.

Yes, it does. It means I have a functional capacity that you lack, a capacity that is the hallmark of health and fitness. Healthy people can squat, period.

You've stated that several trainers you've hired have advised you to squat. Any advised you to get your damn knee scoped and fixed? I'm curious as to what caused your knee issues in the first place.

Now, now fellas... Everybody play nice... At least we aren't doing Crossfit... Oh schit, sorry pointer, buddy...grin

Tanner

lol.... This is almost as good as the optics forum!

When I want advice on "X", I generally know who to listen to here as a subject matter expert. J is one I take seriously on the matter of fitness....others, not so much.

George

Tanner, I'm surprised you're out of jail so soon?? I heard a young man from the Vail Valley fitting your description was apprehended after hijacking a milk truck. But that was only after he'd kidnapped a local woman with large mammaries.....

Wow, you can not only determine the ONLY workout for someone sight unseen, now you've determined that I'm not healthy and need to see a doctor about my knee. I'm not sure how I made it all these years without your sage advice.

But what makes you think I haven't seen a doctor about my knee? And what makes you think it hasn't been scoped? And why would I rely on the advice of a trainer for a medical issue when my orthopedic surgeon is one of the best in the country?

I tell you what though, I'm really pissed at my doctor right now. He not only told me I'm in excellent health, he completely missed the fact that I need to have my knee fixed. Can you send me your cell #, he's no doubt gonna want to consult with you.

Just wait until I get hold of him. And just wait until the Denver Broncos Football Club gets wind of his ineptitude. He's their team physician, they'll no doubt fire him.

That's because your MD/ortho guy is a "lifeguard". He probably can't squat either. You need a "swim-coach".

I also inquired about your knee, I offered no diagnosis, beyond the fact that if you are unable to squat BECAUSE of your knee, then something is WRONG with said knee.

Since you are an old gray-headed [bleep] now, they will "miss" a lot of health issues in the future, especially when you are too ignorant to realize their importance. Its called geezerville.

Do you also go by "Sherlock?" As in, no s-h-i-t Sherlock?

You have no clue about my doctor, and no clue about me. You don't even know the doctor's name, yet you deride him and call him a "lifeguard" when his job is to get NFL players back on the field as soon as possible, and purport to know what I need.

If you were half as smart as you think you are, you'd be twice as smart as you are.

You have no clue on the conversations I've had with my doctor regarding what I want to be able to do, and what he and his staff have done to help me achieve those goals.

You're a f---ing idiot.

I believe I've said the knee is slightly arthritic; the meniscus was torn as the result of taking a fall on skis and having the binding on one fail to release. Parts of the meniscus had to be removed. My ACL was ruptured and every other major ligament was partially torn; the doctor said the knee was almost dislocated. In fact, he couldn't use the patella tendon as the ACL graft like he normally does because it was "like spaghetti." He had to grab a tendon from the other knee.

I'm probably lucky to still be doing what I'm doing, and good medical care with good training and advice is a huge part of that. I can't do squats with a barbell because that causes pain, but I can do all the stuff I listed earlier, with more weight than most guys half my age. I can do goblet squats with a good amount of weight. I can do box jumps higher than most guys half my age. Given that, only a moron would dwell on the fact that I don't squat with a barbell. Congratulations.

I'm going on a sheep hunt in Alaska this fall, arthritic knee on one side and arthritic ankle on the other. WTF will you be doing?

I'll tell you what you'll be doing. You'll be posting videos of bad-ass tactical dudes with shaved heads and tatoos, and dispensing medical advice over the internet to people you've never seen.

You're f---ing awesome.

But pardon me, I need to go reload some .260 rounds, that's what I'll be shooting on my hunt.

What will you be shooting? Besides your mouth?

Nothing more pathetic than a grown man (glocktard) running around acting like a fool on this forum. Take A Knee, did you get booted off and that's why are you back as glocktard?

Good luck on the sheep hunt smokepole.

I think I hit his knee nerve. TFF. Good luck on your hunt Smoke. Seriously.

Tanner - GFY!

For time

100 Squats
90 Pull ups
80 Push-ups
70 Sit-ups
60 Walking Lunges
50 Chest to bar Pull ups
40 Ring Dips
30 med ball Abmat Sit-ups, 20#/14#
20 Handstand Push Ups (from the floor)
10 Muscle-ups

37:40. Lots of movements modified...

Thanks Calvin, looking forward to it. It's a motivator for all this stuff, for certain.

They best hide their women until Smokepole leaves.

....and good luck.

Joel,

It's tough to replace squats, or work around them. Without knowing what your garage, yard, driveway, lawn, street, basement, shed, barn or greenhouse looks like, or if you have any physical limitations, I'd start with something like this:

Timing: 3 months or more before your charter season starts.

Diet: as much as you can eat for reasonable cost, as often through the day as you can stand. 6 decent meals or so. No particular foods - you'll get enough of what you need for growth (calories, protein, nutrients) so long as you eat relatively normal food. Living where you live and doing what you do, I'd be eating an awful lot of king salmon and mashed potatoes.

Equipment: Barbell and iron weights. Barbell should have raw (non-chromed) finish, light knurling, and ends which are bushed and turn freely with load on them. Weights can be plain iron or fancy rubberized bumpers - doesn't matter. You will eventually need over 300 lbs.

List of no-squat-rack lifts that are worthwhile:
1. Deadlifts
2. Power Cleans
3. Standing Press (clean it up to your shoulders)
4. Front Squat (clean it up to your shoulders)
5. Back squat (up to the weight that you can clean to your shoulders and then herft up over your head, and reverse the process to set down, if you hurt yourself in the process you're using too much weight...)
6. Lunges (see disclaimer for #5 above)
7. Chins (palms toward you)

Start with two alternating routines, and lift three times a week.

Routine 1:
Squat 3x5: Start with something you can do easy (45, 65, 95 or 135 lbs) and increase by 5-10 lbs next workout.
Deadlift 3x5: Start with something easy (95, 105 or 135 lbs) and increase by 5-10 lbs per workout.
Standing press, 3x5: start with something easy and increase 5lb per workout
Chins 3x5, add reps as allowed by your strength

Routine 2:
Front squat 3x5: (because you'll need to know how to do these once your back squat gets too heavy to lift into position)
Deadlift 3x5
Standing press 3x5

In a few weeks or months' time, you will stall out on squats becuase you'll be heavy enough to need a rack. If you don't want to make one or buy one, change routine #1 as follows:

Front squat 3x5
Power Clean 3x5 (start with something easy, increase weight 5 lb per workout)
Lunge 3x5 (step forward with weight, and push yourself back to your rear foot, ten reps total per set; five reps per forward leg, alternate forward legs)
Standing press 3x5
Chins 3x5

Don't do any other exercise, and get lots of rest. You'll probably have to shift mindset to maintenance once your fishing season starts. Workouts the same, but don't expect any weight increases.

You won't get strong nearly as fast when you remove back squats from the equation. Cleans are started earlier than rippetoe recommends because you need to know how to do them to get your barbell in position for front squats, presses and lunges.

You might find a cheap chi-com barbell with collars that spin well enough to live with. It might break in a month or it might last for many years IF you keep the allen bolts snug in the ends of the collars. The power clean is the only major (non-oly) lift that you need a bar to be able to spin. If the bar doesn't try to spin in your hand when you do a power clean then it'll do. You'll know if it won't post haste.

Iron only can be a problem for a new lifter as only 45lb plates are regulation height (bar aprox nine in off the floor). This creates a dilemma that needlessly places strain on your back bending lower to lift the bar. All bumper plates are the same height regardless of weight

The best value in bumpers are those made by Hi-Temp in Tuscumbia AL from recycled rubber. Damn near indestructable. Even the 10# hold up they say. Last I checked they were $1.80/# plus shipping. Their only downside is they are thicker for a given weight, as such you can run out of room on the bar when and if you reach farm animal status like Vek. You can always mix iron and bumpers for deads as the drop force isn't too severe. I'm using a cheap chinese set of bumpers from Wright but my 10lb er's are about shot.

A happily-spinning bar is pretty necessary for a guy with no squat rack or stands. Every lift that involves taking the bar from the floor to the shoulders or back involves a clean.

The good Lord created lumber scraps for the sole purpose of making small platforms for floor-based lifts using non-regulation-height weights. Or you could just do the lifts with odd-height iron 10s and 25s and not worry about it. I highly doubt a grown man will suffer injury lifting less than 135 lbs from a deeper deadlift position.

I do my cleaning these days with bumper plates because they are available to me, but they are absolutely unnecessary unless you are finding a 1-rep clean or snatch max and are at risk of dropping lots of weight in a place where noise is not welcome. The bulk of my clean and snatch work the last 20 years has been with iron plates. The noise of a couple of 45s on either end freaks people out at the gym, and they stay safely far away by the dumbbells and benches, leaving the squat rack and all the floor space behind it to me. I've not missed and dropped a clean in 16 or so years - at a time where low-rep sets near max weight was needed for training.

I think Crossfit invented bar-dropping from the clean and snatch catch positions at sub-maximal weights, hence the recent interest in such. You used to only see bumper plates at a college athletics gym.

In most cases you are probably right but I'd strongly urge caution. What bar(s) do you prefer? I've had a Pendlay bushing bar for several years that I like. I've seen Yorks in military gyms that were ancient and still spun nicely.

Wow, miss a day and the drama really hits.

Been working and lurking but not posting. Not really following any established program but mixing it up with the weights and cardio. Kinda what works for me and my schedule and its better than just watching the tube with a pack of oreos. IMO, reasonable shape, mental toughness, and good attitude can make up for some lack of fitness.