Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Fitness Question

Years ago I did a good amount of backpacking. Most of my pack trips would be 4-6 days and I would cover 35-40 miles with a 40-42lb pack. I also would do a goodly amount of off-trail hiking with a GPS. I invested in good quality gear and am pretty well set up.

Here is my problem: Living overseas for a couple of years and some other circumstances have made it to where I have not gone on a pack trip in 4 years and have gained a LOT of weight. My deer hunting this last year consisted of just taking short 1-2 mile hikes from the truck. By the third day my lower back was starting to bother me. In December I started dieting and hitting the gym and have lost 24 lbs but alas, I have another 50 to go. My plan is to lose 10 lbs per month and be healthy enough to start going on a few short 2-3 day pack trips in July and Aug for some preseason scouting and then do a full blown backpack hunt in Oct.

Here is my question: Can I lose that much weight and then add enough lean muscle tissue onto my 48 year old body to do this in that time frame? I live in Western Oregon and would most likely be hunting/packing at an elevation of 6-7000 feet.

Have you seen your family doc?

Yeah. I had a round of kidney stones last year that ended up requiring surgery and I also got diagnosed with low thyroid in November. The low thyroid was easy enough to fix with a daily pill and also explains why I was gaining weight.

If you are determined, you can do it. In the meantime hike all you can--don't wait til July.

www.crossfit.com for getting into shape.

I reccomend Barry Sear's Zone Diet to control WHAT you put into your mouth. Make as many meals as possible "Paleolithic", by that I mean eat only lean meats, eggs, vegetables. NO breads or grains, pasta, etc.

10lbs a month seems like a lot. Those last 50lbs might take a few years to get off. Get active, find a workout program you'll want to stick with, eat right, and start going for walks every day. Take care of your knees in the process.

Paleo diet and crossfit. But clear it with the dr. first. Should fix you right up!

10 lbs. a month for five months ? Yeah it can be done. The trouble is that most of it won't be fat. The other problem will be keeping it off. which, unless you adopt the Federal Food Guidelines, you will not be able to do.
I'd suggest concentrating on getting into shape. Don't push too hard there. The muscles get stronger much faster than the ligaments and tendions. Injure one of those and it takes a long time to heal.
Above all, consult with your doctor about all of this. E

Just keep plugging. Even if you are twenty pounds over your goal weight, you can still be in darn good shape in terms of your leg strength and cardio. Eventually your beer gut will subdued.

I am getting lots of good advice here. I have never heard of the paleo diet but the way I am eating is very similar. I eat a lot of veggies and lean cuts of meat but I don't consume a lot of bad fats. I get my fats mainly from stuff like nuts and avocados and cheeses. I have cut white flour, white rice, potatoes and sugar. My appetite has taken a nose dive.

Eremicus said:
The muscles get stronger much faster than the ligaments and tendions. Injure one of those and it takes a long time to heal.

This is one of my biggest fears. At this time I am going to the gym and using the elliptical machine and stair stepper for cardio. I am only doing 5 minutes sets on the stair stepper and 10 min sets on the elliptical and only put in a total of 30 minutes. My weight training is on a machine (no free weights) and I am working out with fairly light weights and doing high reps of 20-30 per set without pushing myself too much. I will probably not start increasing the intensity too much until after 3 months.

Another thing to add to your routine is to get on the treadmill and crank the incline up as high as it goes. Walk as fast as you can for 1 hour.

Sounds like you're doing good - don't try to rush it too fast as others have said. Just make sure to keep doing plenty of resistance training (weights), otherwise you'll lose alot of muscle along with the fat. You won't build much, if any, muscle while on a calorie deficit diet, but the key is not to lose what you already have.

get a book called "primal blueprint", follow it and watch the weight come off.

One thing to add. After you've gotten your legs and knees used to walking and hiking again, start wearing a weight vest on your walks or the treadmill. Start with 10 lbs or so, and work your way up. It's a great way to get exercise, lose weight, and train for what you'll be doing.

I've got ten years on you and if you keep doing what you are to lose weight you will lose enough. You want to be kind to your back and your joints.
You're walking a fine line between getting in mountain shape and causing undo stress to that sore back and 48 year old joints.
I had a second knee surgery last year and the surgeon said to save the pounding for the things that matter. He also said to make the elliptical machine my friend. Still, you have to load some stress through those joints to build muscle.
I used to subscribe to the theory that you just need to go pound out some miles in the mountains and work those muscles and the cardio into shape. Doesn't work that way anymore. Better off to shed weight, build muscle and take strategic trips into the mountains to maximize scouting, training and minimize joint damage.
You can do it and you are off to a good start. You'll wonder how you could have let a few years go by without doing it.
The mountains of the NW are tough, but the elevation effects won't really have much impact. Hope you have a great trip!

Another observation. I can cover ground on a decent hiking trail pretty fast and without too much residual trouble. The trekking poles really do help when you have a decent track to walk.
HOWEVER, how many of us hunt from a trail? It was all the off trail stuff that hammered my knee this year. Spent most of the time on some form of river rock or going over and under timber. Trekking poles are useless and the constant high knee lifts combined with the instability of walking on the rocks pointed to every muscle and joint deficiency I had.
I'll be trying to mimic some of those moves this off season in a lower impact method.

338Win,

This is the first year that my lower back has bothered me. My right hip bothers me a little if I walk a long distance but I have noticed that the pain in my hip is directly relational to my weight. I am thinking that losing the weight more than anything will give my joints relief. I have the kind of body type that carries most of its weight from the waist up, so the health of my lumbar and hip are definitely affected by weight gain/loss. I have already noticed a difference in losing just the 24 lbs. Yes you're right, the elliptical machine seems to be good for me. Thank the good Lord that my knees seem to be holding up really good with no pain.

Same age basically here, I"ll let you know how I do later on...

Wife bought insanity workout tape, and IMHO cardio is a big thing first. Once I build more cardio I"ll be able to work on building muscle. As I build cardio the weight goes away.

I did it for a different reason... volunteer fire department bunker gear is a hot sob, and I'm not in the shape I need to be for the occasional big fire that comes along.

Figure being in shape for that, will help hunting

Thank the good Lord for everything, including your knees but take care of those knees. 338 is right and take it from me, those knees that feel no pain can start feeling pain quickly. I did sort of what you're talking about though without the amount of weight loss(only about 20 lbs) I started walking then jogging then really jogging and feeling like a million bucks. I developed knee pain, a torn miniscus. I asked the doc "isn't that what basketball and football players get?" He responded that's what it takes to tear a minuscus...when you're in your 20's. But at 50, just the constant pounding can do it. So no more jogging for me.
What I'm saying is, at our age, losing weight and exercising can make you feel REALLY good and good about yourself. You can reach your goals and inprove your health a thousand fold. But it's easy to over do it. A whole lot easier than when we were in our 20's or even our 30's. Forget the "no pain no gain" mantra. Just take it easy, there are ways you can build muscle and cardio without pounding your body. Sounds like you're on the right track.
I believe as you build strength, especially core strength, and lose weight the lower back pain will likely take care of itself.

I'm in the same boat.
I took the advice of my daughter, a physical therapist (and fitness type) and personal trainer for a few well to do folks.
See you doctor, get set up with a trainer at your local gym, hire a nutrionist. She was home this weekend for a day and she got me set up at the gym with the correct warmup procedure, weight training etc. The doc already gave me plenty of hell.
A couple good books she recommended over the last 2-3 years that I found very helpful. Books by Drs. Dean Ornis, Andrew Weil, Caldwell Esslstyn, Dr. Mac Dougall and Dr. Colin Campell Phd.
Most if not all are geared towards plant based diets. I tried and did ok for awhile, didn't give up meat, just ate less.
Almost all wild game is pretty lean and good for you. Better than the stuff injected with hormones!!