Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting 2020 Fitness-Workout thread

another year, another thread, more sweat and tears

Just trying to get back to it. Ran a 1/2 marathon in early Nov. Well ran and walked a 1/2 marathon. Chugging a PBR between miles 9 and 10 didn't give me the boost I was hoping for. This years goal is to just be a better example for my two boys. First run this morning since in almost 2 months. Hoping to get some lungs back before heading to NM in Feb.

The PBR mid-race refuel! Funny!

Walked 3 miles yesterday. I'm on a yo-yo with the Achilles at this point. Inactivity makes it feel really good. Activity makes it sore; however it's a type of sore that I can work with (because it's no longer shutting down my calf), and activity is, well, gonna happen. So I'm yo-yo'ing between feeling pretty normal and limping a bit but it's progress.

I used to do a mountain race- at the halfway point (after a $hit ton of climbing) they had an aid station, along w/ water, snacks, etc they had a little stand w/ margaritas- if you drank one they put a lei around your neck; just the thought made me gag- one time I saw a guy that had three around his neck- WTF?

to the gym today
deadlifts 5/3/1+/10
overhead press 5/3/1+/10
lunges 3x30 yds
chin-ups 3x12
core

got out this afternoon with Tiny E for 4 miles; picked a loop that kept us out of the worst of the wind

5 miles on the trails w/ Tiny E; made me laugh- he likes to roll in the snow when we get started out, he was rolling on the downside of the trail and then took about an unexpected 10 foot tumble down the hill

23 mile road ride, 1500' elevation gain

Another jog in the books with the dog. Wish I had the trails/scenery/elevation that mtwarden has. I know Hank is mucho jealous of Tiny E

no doubt, we are truly blessed with a ton of good trails almost right out our door

6 mile run (haven't ran in a long time :)) w/ Tiny E, TE found a heck of a treat, but got sick of packing it

51 pushups today.

Finally getting back at it. Hoping 2020 goes better than 2019.
Short run on treadmill last week, short hike over the weekend, and 30min on bike trainer this morning after stretching and pushups. Gonna keep it light for a week or two then increase.

42 k gravel bike ride yesterday. Not hurting so far, today :-)

I'm not as hard core as you fellas but I'm walking 5 miles a day at 3mph. Three miles of it at 5% with a 45 pound weight vest. Also 100 curls on each arm with a 10 pound weight. At 60 I don't want to screw up anything by trying to lift too much. Just want to keep the arm strength I have. I cut out refined sugar and have greatly reduced carb intake.

not much hardcore stuff here

4 miles on the trails w/ my wife and Tiny E- finally no need for a headlamp!

You getting daylight already?

a little more than we were two weeks ago, but I'm sure it's a heck of lot more than you're getting

No doubt. 1Feb is when the increase really is noticeable to me. We are starting to get to the steep part of the increase, at just over 3 min per day.

4 miles on the trails for Tiny E and I; this persistent ice we've had keeps a guy on his toes!

4 mile hill workout w/ Tiny E

4x6 bent over row / 4x6 deadlifts / 4x6 lat pull downs and some sprint intervals with a nice easy cool down run.

I do a 15 mile dirt road and trails bike ride on a 40 lb mountain bike about 3 times a week and ride 2-5 miles nearly all other days. I only miss for extreme cold or rain and do 5 miles on the elliptical when I can't ride.

I started this high volume week about 4-5 months ago- I have it between Wendler's 5/3/1+ week (week 3) and the recovery week (week 4), it's for time: ten sets of descending reps 10/9/8/7/6....../1 w/ 70% of your 1RM for squats/bench and 10/9/8/7/6....../1 for pull-ups, while my times haven't really improved, my 70% 1RM #'s have gone up pretty significantly, so I'm lifting more weight each cycle

when I went out the door of the gym today I had to look behind me as something was dragging- it was just my a$$

Easy day. 20mins stairmaster (10min at level 8/1min intervals at 12 for the next 10mins).

4 miles with my wife and Tiny Elvis- snowing like the dickens!

Walked 4 miles yesterday. I'm in a weird part of the "recovery". Couldn't really perceive pain from the Achilles per se but the ankle and foot are working through some "issues", presumably from walking funny on them. But I'll take it. Told my buddy I'd start riding dirt again with him so that'll open up some opportunities as the winter drags on.

^ progress!

a crisp (10 degrees w/ a breeze) 6 miles and ~ 1500' gain on the trails with Tiny E

Translation:

"His kghunt hurts."

You're too fugking stupid to perceive pain.

5 mile out and back with my wife and Tiny E; ~ 1500' of gain

Tiny E discovered another tasty treat

Saw a bald eagle on my walk today, fairly rare around here.

Saw a magnificent pair of female glutes on the gym stair master yesterday at the gym. Not rare, but a magnificent example of the species.

Film at eleven??

Wapner at 6??

Pa is not liberal Colorado. Here, taking videos of nubile nymphs exercising, would most assuredly have one arrested for voyeurism.

Yesterday: Cardio


Treadmill at 15 degree





Stairmaster:

I was wondering why you hadn't posted for a while.

Once again you have shown a unique trait of quickly finding the essence of a situation.

It was a long enduring and difficult time. However, after consideration and taking advise of my counsel, she understands these things, I decided not to pursue charges against the assemblage of young nubile nymphs and milfs, and their I phones. My wearing slightly looser fitting gym clothes for the most part has solved the issue.

Wow, it's worse than I thought.....hallucinations.

No need for jealousy, not after your stash.

I prefer them much more flexible.

Understood, flexibility is key

5 miles on the trails w/ my wife and Tiny E- wind is shifting out of the north, we got some a$$ weather coming soon

Treadmill: 30minutes
Stairmaster:30minutes
Core and weights
Stairmaster: 10minutes

good work everyone; starting the New Year on the right foot!

part 2 of my high volume week
deadlifts 10/9/8/7......2/1 @ 70% of 1RM
overhead press 10/9/8/7......2/1 @ 70% of 1RM
chin-ups 10/9/8/7......2/1

Hour on the hills with Merlot....

Squat 5x5, leg press 5x5, kb lunges 5x5, 20mins on the stairmaster.

I took a walk in the park with a couple of IPAs, does that count?

Most definitely. That is a scary workout. You could fall and cut an artery. Bonus points for living on the edge. 👍

my vote goes for the stroll in the park with a couple of beers !

Tiny Elvis and I hit the trails for 7 miles- finally went above the single digits- boo-yah!

definitely IPA's!

Well, it is a few thousand acres, with a few hills, and I had a weighted backpack on. Not real heavy just yet, but gotta start somewhere. Hunting season is only eight months away.

IPAs are a great way to add a little weight to the pack. It gets lighter as the day goes on.

I get the picture....Couple days beard growth for effect....climbing rope dangling off the pack....big strides up the rocky slope....then at the top, you breakout and IPA and think, I'm a different breed from those down below. .....



I just saw a Tin Cup commercial, and for some reason thought of you....

It is cold in my garage so I brought the rower into the house. Good thing I am single!

You are a tough act to keep up with....

Now I have to leave the addiction for now. Some gal is texting me about "hygge".....Hmmmmm

Yes, I know that you think of me often. I think of you too, but not in that way. Mostly when I see a guy in the gym wearing short shorts and a wife beater, it reminds me of you.

As far as all that other stuff, you have me confused with "sheriff joe." Except for the IPA part, that's accurate.

Battue I have been working on my breathing with the O2 Trainer. Today I got the great idea to use it while rowing. I thought I was going to die. I dam near puked and felt like I could not catch my breath. I'll try again with a big opening this time. I am really liking the O2 trainer the gains are slow but as of now seem to be steady.

I have a place I want to hike into this spring for bear season. Even with the training it is going to hurt getting a bear out of there.

Wife eater, short shorts, did you read that crap?

Anyway, do they make one of those O2 trainers for those who blow a lot of hot air? I would like to send one to Smoke as a gift.

Wife "beater." Meaning, a sleeveless shirt worn to show off muscles, most often by guys who don't have any.

And I don't need an O2 trainer, I use a cough silencer, it's much cheaper.

For those of you that do squats, do any of you get knee pain on long hikes afterwards? Ever since I started squatting again, I have started to get iliotibial band pain after hiking a few miles. I am trying some home physical therapy exercises hoping I can get rid of it. I'd hate to never be able to squat but if the PT doesn't work, I think I am going to have to stop doing squats.

hmmm- I'll often be good and sore after squatting, but I find hiking after helps alleviate that soreness

I did have a weird pain when I first started back into squatting- it's a small muscle on the upper outside of your quad- no longer remember what it was called, when I searched for it online I found it and a few stretches that help, along with w/ rolling it before; fortunately I haven't had that pain in several months

are you squatting heavy? possibly back off the weight a little and go to higher reps for awhile? maybe hike before squatting? if all fails, give up squatting for awhile until the pain subsides and then maybe very slowly ease back into and see

sucks

You have been watching too many old Paul Newman movies. Wife beaters went out of style years ago.

I wear the wool tossle cap and heavy ripped sweat shirt and pants. Always have a plastic bottle of BCAA close by. Ear buds so the rookies know I’m really serious and don’t appreciate interruptions. Just because you walk around flexing your glutes doesn’t mean the rest of us are so full of ourselves.

We are so lucky here to have people like Mtwarden, who keep the thread on track.

Addition: just had to pee in a cup for work. Whew, just finished up on a clean cycle.

Mtwarden? That guy is boring as hell. "Fifteen miles through three feet of snow and 4,000 elevation gain with Tiny Elvis." "Twice on Sunday." How many times can you read that?

Trying to liven the place up here.

well I could talk about the warming huts and the naked woman, but then you guys would lose respect for me

a nice 8 mile loop with Tiny E, the only good thing about getting out in really cold weather is when it turns to just cold weather- it feels warm

Nah, I'd just think you were afraid to pee in a cup, just like Battue. He has similar hallucinations.

Cardio in the gym for me today, 30 minutes HIIT on the stair machine, and then 30 at a steady aerobic pace on the bike. Upper body yesterday, lower body the day before.

Just wanted you guys to know I haven' been slacking off. Or peeing in cups.

In your case HIIT: Highly Intentional Inactivity Training.
Ramp it up, and go for 60 minutes next time.

Bi's, tri's, shoulders, and 20mins of intervals on the stairmaster.

I am not a Dr or a PT but to me it sounds like you might have a muscle imbalance.

That, or tight hamstrings. Tight hamstrings prevent your legs from fully straightening out (extending) with each stride, which in turn puts added stress on knees and lower back. So running or walking long distances has a cumulative effect with each step and causes knee and lower back pain, when your legs don't fully extend.

I learned that about 20 years ago from an orthopedic surgeon who specialized in biomechanics. Went in for knee pain, first thing he did was put me up on the table and extend my legs to see how tight the hamstrings were. They were very tight. Then he drew me a vector diagram and showed me how it worked, with added force on the knees and lower back when the legs don't fully extend. He showed me some good stretches, and the pain went away and hasn't come back.

I doubt highly his hamstring is the problem. Sounds like his calf or quads are torquing the petella. Which is causing the band to get caught.

I would lighten up on the weight for a spell, have someone that I have confidence in take a look at my form to make sure I'm still doing it right, and if not working the stomach enough, would up the mid-section work.

Most PT people are not all that up on serious squat form. First place I would go would be to a serious power lifter that knows.

There's an easy way to find out.

Here's a classic jeff-workout.... grin. Spent about 3 hours under the house fixing a major drain line issue. And a couple more laying on the floor or kneeling and snaking the [bleep]. Good times. I was actually getting cramps in my abs under there, which was funny, because I've been doing crunches at night. Crawling uses everything, as far as I can tell from the aftermath. Pretty tired.

Got a bad cold so that about did me in for the day. And haven't been walking or riding. I think that cold-air "asthma" I had on the one recent ride was this cold coming on. It started in my upper lungs. Tight as a vise.

I wouldn’t say that I squat heavy - at least not compared to young guys. I will do various sets with anything from 225 through 275. I took a break from squats for several month in hopes that it would help. I am easing in again now. It doesn’t hurt until I hit somewhere between 4 and 7 miles but once it kicks in, every downhill step (and some others) hurts.

That is what it seems like. I work in an office and sit a lot. Apparently, all the sitting can lead to a weak hip muscle that can cause the knee pain. I have found no confirmation that squats contribute but that has been my experience. I’m attempting to work on the imbalance.

Muscle weakness in the hip, hamstrings and glutes can all cause knee pain. Prolonged sitting can weaken all three. Efficient running and doing squats starts with balanced hips. Downhill is harder on the knees than the level.

Don’t know what you mean by not being a young guy, but running form tends to weaken as we get older. With age the knees tend to start going south.

Problem could be related to the hips, or the need to cut back on the running and slowly build up to previous mileage. Or the knees themselves.

I’d start with the hips and cutting back on the running distance, along with having an Ortho take a look at the knees.

Running into middle age and beyond, isn’t for all.

Finished up a good week of biking, incline treadmill walks with boots and pack, and some yoga stretching. Hope I can keep up the momentum.

Last day of 2nd archery tomorrow (if weather cooperates) then plan to start shed hunting with pack.

Theeck - check out starting strength squat videos on YouTube.

I’m in my 40s. I don’t run much anymore except very occasionally HIIT on a track. I mountain bike quite a bit when the weather is decent.

“Don’t run much anymore, except very occasionally”, but it hurts after 4-7miles, may be a clue.

Theeck, do you have pain after doing squats when you don't run?

4-7 miles of hiking. I may not have put that in my original post. Sorry

I'd echo the advice to go in and see someone; not just anyone, but someone who specializes in sport medicine

there is a ton of info on the internet for ITBS (it's a common injury among runners-probably hikers too :)), this article suggests a few ways to possibly combat it

ITBS treatment

Best advice yet re a sports medicine ortho. In addition what can be thought of as an ITBS issue, can often caused by a bulging disk. Have had the same issue. Serious PT therapy solved the problem.

Sorry, my original post I mentioned that I get the pain when hiking but I neglected to mention it in the post about 4-7 miles.

I'll try my best to describe the situation. I was a runner until I was in a bad accident in my mid-20s. I ended up having three abdominal surgeries over the course of 5 years. I gave up running and bulked up. I am 6'1" and probably 210ish right now but usually 195 or so in summer (slacking off in the late fall). Ideally, I would be around 180-185. I am not built to be really skinny, I weighed about 175-180 when I graduated high school and was a competitive runner (400 meter through cross country 5ks). I was never a guy that would go out and run 10 miles but I was running 52 seconds in the 400 meter as a 10th grader. Some charts put my ideal weight in the 160s but that is not going to happen.

After being physically limited for several years, I got back into training about 7 years ago. I do some weight training (lame stuff in my basement) but don't get too intense. I started doing squats a few years ago (3.5 yrs or so) but not really pushing it like a power lifter would. I never exceeded 300 lbs and usually stayed around 250. I would do reps anywhere from 8 to 20 depending on weight. I don't do it religiously and even when I am on a schedule, it is only once per week. I am not doing it for cosmetic reasons or to put on mass but just to maintain strength in my back and lower body as I age. I just want to be able to drag deer and carry a heavy pack through the mountains. I never really feel knee pain while squatting. Sometimes I get a little bit of discomfort below my knee cap after or a day later. It subsides quickly and is no big deal.

What started to become a problem was the outside of my knees. About 3 years ago, I was tracking a shot bear through the woods along a steep mountain side. After covering at least 10 miles and side-hilling several of them over rock slide, I started to get serious pain in the outside of my knees. After a couple days of rest, it went away. I figured that it was the boots that I was wearing in combination with the uneven ground. I had never had pain of any kind in my knees before. Since then, I find that it comes back whenever I walk a fair distance in the woods. When grouse hunting, it seems to start anywhere from 4 to 7 miles and I have to wind things down over the next mile or so. I do notice that it starts earlier when I have recently done squats. As a result, I rarely if ever squat during hunting season. Given the timing of the first occurrence (about 6 months after starting to squat) I assume that the squatting is tightening something up that is putting strain on my knee. I have read about IT Band syndrome and the description seems to fit exactly with my symptoms. I recently started some home PT that was recommended online.

I am too cheap to go to a orthopedic doctor unless it is my last resort. I have a $1,000 annual deductible. My sister in law is an orthopedic surgeon and she gave me some suggestions but mostly said that I need x-rays.

as the article I posted suggested- icing/massage (roller)/specific stretches/specific strength exercises would all be good steps; I think backing off the weight of the squats initially wouldn't hurt either

if it still doesn't go away, try eliminating squats entirely and see if you still get the pain when you hit 4-7 miles hiking- you may find it's not the squats or definitively that it is

Frankly, the article is BS. You can't stretch the IT band - it's mostly fascia. Since ITBS is hard to resolve it has become a topic for YouTube quacks that continually regurgitate the same food.

If an exercise causes pain - do less of it or none at all. The modern approach to resolve ITBS is to attempt cross-training or wait for it to go away by itself.

I think the research on IT band pain is still developing. I have been looking for cures for a couple years now. I tried rolling it with only small improvement. This article seems to cove the most current approach, although I could be wrong. The advice in it is part of what I am trying. https://squatuniversity.com/2017/05/30/how-to-fix-it-band-pain/

squats and bench 5/5/5+ @ 65/75/85% of 1RM
pullups 5x11
dips 3x30
core

Obviously I am only getting the thinnest of slices of what you're doing in real life, but based on the above your knees get sore after side-hilling for 10 miles. No schIt.

Also, you're trying to address an high end endurance issue with once/week strength training (squats). Good luck with that.

If you want to hunt for miles and hours you have to be willing to put the miles and hours in. Look at at what Mtwarden does and do that.

Take pictures of your legs, front view, side view each leg, and rear view. I have a very close friend that is a PT she has her Phd and is a very highly regarded PT among her peers. I can show her and see what she says. I am willing to bet you have a major muscle imbalance.

made the mistake of doing my hill day AFTER I did squats this morning- ouch; steep SOB- ~1100' in a mile (the other 3 miles we were just cruising :)). had a little company up top, Tiny E very interested!

That is not the only thing that I do. I was just mentioning one thing that gives me a problem.

Did a 10 mile up and back "gut check" hike on Wednesday. 2100' of elevation gain w/ 26 lbs of gear and water on the way up w/ the last 1/2 mile of up being about 40* w/ 120' of 3rd class fractured limestone as a capper. I was ruined at the top. Dumped 16 lbs. of water for the descent and did the "ranger shuffle" back to the truck. The up took 2 hrs and 46 minutes, rested for 15 minutes and then took 1 hour 41minutes on the downhill. Terrain was mostly rocky 2 track w/ about a mile of firm snow at the top. It was a perfect day w/ temps of 42* at the start and 44* at the end.

That is my hardest push since Thanksgiving and overall I was happy to get the time and miles on my feet. Old age is a state of mind that must be resisted vigorously and this forum gives me a lot of inspiration and useful advice. Altra Lone Peak 4.0s are the tits! My feet were tired and sore but no bruising or blisters w/ a light pair of Smart Wool sox.

Hint: lots of stretching and 60mg of Benadry help prevent cramps when taken w/ several G & Ts post hike.


mike r

"Old age is a state of mind that must be resisted vigorously"

couldn't agree more!

Hiking in mountains after squats?

Ouch lol

yup- user error

Treadmill intervals:




Stairmaster:





Added in some high rep weights for arms, back, legs.

got up to 30 degrees here today, feels like Spring! 5 miles on the trails w/ Tiny E

mtwarden,

With your 10.9,8,7,6.....1, lifting routine. Do you go thru the entire sequence with one type of lift, or do you do 10 of that one and then 10 of another, and then go back and do 9, 9, 8, 8, etc.

Also, usual wait time before moving on to the next set number....


Tried it the other day going thru one lift type before moving on to another. Around 45 second wait time before the next drop down. Good workout....