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

I hate all indoor hamster wheel devices.

I would rather walk outside in a thunderstorm but for us flatlanders who try to get in shape for mountain hunting I think the elliptical gives the most bang for your time spent on the stupid thing. It simulates hiking uphill better than a treadmill and especially when you don't have any real big long steep hills around your house since I would rather walk outside with a pack.

I would second smokepole's advice and do it at a gym. A good elliptical or treadmill is pricey and you don't have to house or look at the thing when not in use. Also the gym can do the maintenance.

If running 10K hurts your back, you really need to get someone to show you how to run, and most likely how to stand as well. Lumbar hyperextension is a biatch.

A used Precor 546 is a good machine. About 4K new, anything else or anything less is a total waste of money. World-class runners like Alberto Salazaar helped develop the Precor and it is the ONLY elliptical that has a stride that biomechanically approximates a runners stride.

If I were wealthy and had the room, I'd have the 546, a stepmill, and a Concept II rower. Since I'm a broke-azz, I'll make do with the rower, a Pendlay barbell and some bumper plates. The last two will do more to toughen your azz up than anything else, and that's a fact.

Kenneth, if you do go to the gym, check out the stair machines with moving stairs like an escalator. They will give you a better workout for climbing hills than either of the other two.

Just don't hold onto the handrails (it's beyond me why people do this, but most do) and push yourself. Do high-intensity interval training, it's better than just plodding along at a constant speed.

The contraption is called a stepmill, and not holding on to the rails is excellent advice. Daily use can be really hard on your knees, moreso for a short guy, as he will begin each step up from a more angled upper leg/more knee flexion.

Try intervals set at 60steps for "rest" and 80 for "work" for starters. Going more than a half-hour is a waste of time, IMO.

Shot SC clay again today and I am in a major, big time, monstrous slump. Whew it was bad. Probably should have worked out.

Anyway, something good happened today. The glut was essentially pain free. I could walk up two steps at a time and feel practically no pain. Pretty cool. PT has made a believer out of me. For those with a lingering workout injury-or pain from any injury-if possible don't leave a good PT program out of your recovery plan and give it time to work.

All in all a good day.

I did a mix of upper body and lower body today. It's Miller Time. With something other than Miller, of course.

Had a couple different Jameson's Saturday night, in celebration of all things Irish.

Addition: they also had a bottle of "Paddy". First time I had heard of it.

Warmup:
Irish jig through an agility ladder

Skill:
Handstand pushups and kipping pullups

Workout:
11min AMRAP
3 pullups
3 handstand pushups
3 ring dips

12 rounds

Being a tub o' lard, I had to substitute all of the exercises today. I jumped on the pullups, did the HSPU off a box, and jumped on the ring dips. Got a good workout in, but my score was obviously inflated because of this...

Motivation is low for me lately. Kinda did myself in with the 2x a days and no real weekend for rest. Last week I finally did some swim drills on Friday but nothing over the weekend though I did work on remodeling my basement. Hope to either run or ride tonight followed by some strength training.

Did you get stopped at a St. Patty's Day checkpoint again?

That was Saturday night...and I passed!

I'm a fan of elliptical machines for the low impact. There are a lot of good elliptical machines out there. I think Precor is the best I've used, but approximating a runners stride isn't the end all of rating one. As long as it is biomechanically correct (no joint torque, natural movement, etc) the motion can have a wide range. It may be better NOT to approximate a runners stride in some cases.

Pendlay makes some great bars. I been using one of their needle bearing bars with their econ plates for a number of years now. I picked up one of their ladies bushing bars for my wife and wasn't as impressed with it. Big difference in the spin between the two but for most folks it won't make a difference.

I did "the hill". It drops down off the backside of my property, for about 350+ yards, moderately steep. Then dropping down the front of my property is about 125 yards and pretty darn steep. On the back there's maybe 30 yards that is mostly flat.
I did 5 reps, which translates to around 1.3 miles of descending and climbing with a fair amount of side hilling involved. Went for an hour until my legs were getting rubbery.
Wore my hunting boots and carried a light (15lb) pack.

Worked up a good sweat.

Did cardio today, going to do 3 miles with the dog this evening, I may load up a pack, depends on how I feel.

I don't have any set routines. I'm 51, 6', 138 lbs. Thin by most standards. Preferred work out is obstacle race-like; carrying, pulling, pushing, climbing, dragging mixed into running. Ran 50 miles of mountain trails in 12.5 hours this past weekend. That was exhausting. Wanted a sub-12-hour time, but digestive problems slowed me down. Completed 932 pushups in 60 minutes in January. Was trying for 1,000 in one hour; trained with a 40 lb. pack leading up to that day. Blessed/cursed to be able to eat as many calories as I want and not keep the weight. More calories just turn up my metabolism.

Earlier in the day a chest/back circuit. Just finished 35 minutes on the rower.

I decided to try a run yesterday. First time running outside since May of last year. I only went just over a mile with a few walk breaks in but it felt pretty good. Left leg didn't hurt from the clot as much as both legs hurt from lack of running. Could tell my neck muscles are still weak from radiation but overall it was a good run. Heartrate climbed but recovered quickly when I slowed to a walk. Pace was probably a little too fast for just starting back at it again. A little sore today but may give it another shot tonight but slow the pace a little and try to stretch the distance between walks.

Sounds like progress, one day at a time.

Warmup:
5min of kettlebell follow the leader

Skill:
Kettlebell swings and Turkish getups

Workout:
�Arnie�

With a single 35# kettlebell:
21 Turkish get-ups, Right arm
50 Swings
21 Overhead squats, Left arm
50 Swings
21 Overhead squats, Right arm
50 Swings
21 Turkish get-ups, Left arm

Time 31:10. My shoulders are smoked. Good workout. The getups take some getting used to on form. About 1/2 halfway through the first set I was overtaken by an uncontrollable fit of manic laughter. I got sloppy on the form and my arm gave out. Just by the slimmest of margins did I stop/redirect the kettlebell from knocking my teeth in. It was one of those, WHEW! narrow miss moments that just make one laugh. Good times.