Fitness and Dieting for Elk Hunting

[maxwell]

Scottie, ride a bike hard, treadmill or walk between them at least 60 minutes each day.  add the weights concentratre on the core muscles.  Works for me approching 90# down as I type.  This work out will also help you help me drag my deer to the tractor.

Me

[lpcjon2]

I havn't had the opportunity to elk hunt yet, but I will pass off advice for the diet I got from a master gunnery sgt. We were doing a ton of field excursions due to an up coming deployment, he said eat like you are going to eat in the field, if you dont plan on making protein shakes and such in the field dont make your conditioning diet based upon them. In a nut shell the last few weeks before you go eat the things you will be eating on your trip, so you know what the diet will do for you energy wise and how regular(weather you will crap to much or not enough) your body will be with the hunting diet.My 2 cents

[sshntr]

If your trying to lose a little weight, don't forget that calories are king.  You have to eat less than you burn.  There are several good web based and phone apps that help track your calories.  I use "my fitness pal" and when I stick to it, it works.  It counts "net calories" so the more you exercise, the more you get to eat.

[JockC]

Good advice.  I'm one of the p90x crowd, though it's very similar to Gym Jones, Insanity, CrossFit, etc.; just weighted a little differently toward a mix of targets.  All work well if you keep after them.  If you hope to pack your own animal out, though, you also have to train to carry weight--more than you intend to carry.  I work up to ~100 lbs of sandbags and weight plates in a backpack and use that as part of my interval training.  It gets the small stabilizing muscles working with the large muscles, and that needs to happen.  Do this, and carrying a 65-70 lb quarter becomes very viable.  Also, watch your joints; they don't strengthen as quickly as muscle.  And, depending on your age and flexibility, you might want to spend more time on yoga or dynamic stretching than the standard routines.  One injury can sabotage a whole lot of work.  Done that...

[Ulysseys]

p90x workouts and running - and then p90x with a pack on - I'm doing it with about 25 lbs. in my pack right now.

[skilonbw]

While others have talked about eating right and different workout routines. i ma going to talk about hydration which is just as important as food if not more. A friend of mine who is an ER doc has a protocol that they recommend we give to all family who come from North Carolina to visit us here in the front range. That is to have for an average height and weight person 64oz of fluid over 8 hours so every hour either 8oz of water or 8oz of Gatorade. Vary this based on your height and weight difference from average. I found this has worked well for visitors and they can function fairly well during the trip.

The other was y of saying this was to have the 3 C's clear, copious and continuous when you pee.

[BOHO]

Originally posted by oxnam:
1+ for P90X

I recently started Insanity and it is an incredible leg and cardio workout.  If your joints and heart are good, it would be tough to find a better and more complete elk hunt exercise prep.

what if your heart is fairly good but the joints are shot?

[old_goat2]

Originally posted by BOHO:
 

Originally posted by oxnam:
1+ for P90X

I recently started Insanity and it is an incredible leg and cardio workout.  If your joints and heart are good, it would be tough to find a better and more complete elk hunt exercise prep.

what if your heart is fairly good but the joints are shot? [/b]

Industrial size bottle of Ibuprofen is in order then

[Tater]

Alot of good suggestions here. I would recommend moderation in whatever routine you choose.

   My knees are shot so most of the aggressive floor exercise is out, I do stretching for flexibility, bowflex 3 times a week for about 40 minutes, mostly moderate weight and higher reps.
  Mountain bike when the weather permits a couple times a week.

    I am fortunate I live over a mile high so my normal routines, mowing the lawn, yard work, etc. keeps me in pretty decent shape year round.
 

    Diet nothing special, stay away from the empty carbs and again moderation on alcohol, sweets and portion size.

    See ya' in September....  

[oxnam]

Originally posted by BOHO:
 

Originally posted by oxnam:
1+ for P90X

I recently started Insanity and it is an incredible leg and cardio workout.  If your joints and heart are good, it would be tough to find a better and more complete elk hunt exercise prep.

what if your heart is fairly good but the joints are shot? [/b]

You will have to modify.  This can mean not jumping as high or maybe not even leaving the ground but powering up to your tippy toes.  Instead of making hops forward and backward, you take a little step.  Everyone's body is different so make any adjustments neccessary to protect whatever structural weakness you might have.  There are probably some exercises that will be completely out of the question.  So for that amount of time, do something different and then join right back in once they finish that specific activity.

I am prone to shin splints so good shoes and extra padding on the floor go a long ways to keeping me exercising and pain free.  If they get tender, I don't push it and do whatever it takes not to stress that part of my body.

In just a few short weeks, I have significantly improved my muscle and cardio capacity.  It amazing how doing nothing is pretty detrimental to our bodies and how long it take to recover from periods of inactivity.  So regardless of work out programs, most of us could do a much better job of doing something.  

P90X is great for muscle development but I think if falls short in the cardio improvement compared to Insanity.  A mix of both is fantastic.

[Autumnarcher]

I did a 3 week backpacking hunt last season. The one thing more than anything that I could feel the wear and tear on was legs. If youre carrying a backpack, or even a daypack, you will feel it in your hip flexors and legs. Squats, lunges, leg press, and lots of walking and some running will help a ton.

As far as diet, the more processed carbs, sugar and grains you can cut out of your diet, the more fat you will get rid of. Lots of meats, veggies and fruits. Dont be too afraid of fats, as they are essential for energy as well.

Another area to focus on is your back. Hiking and climbing can make your lower back sore. Strengthen your core. Abs,back, chest and legs.

you dont have to be a super athlete, but the better shape youre in, the more stamina you'll have. Keep hydrated, and while on the hunt make sure you fuel your body. I was at 178 when I got there, and 164 when I got home, and that was eating 4-5000 calories a day. Im 48 yrs old.

Dont over train and hurt yourself,even getting too sore will set you back. I walked a lot with my pack on, 40-55 lbs to train, did the treadmillat the gym at full incline and walked to train my legs, as well as the other exercises I mentioned.

P90X works for a lot of people, but its not for everyone.

Enjoy the journey. The anticipation and preparation as much part of th hunt experience as any of the rest of it.

One other note. While we all train our selves to be physically ready, there is one aspect to elk hunting that is hard to train yourself for, and that is mental toughness. Staying motivated when game is hard to find, when weather, and that mountain start to beat you down, when you have 3 more miles to go, and only enough in the tank to cover 2. You need to be mentally tough. ANd trust me, it sounds a lot easier than it is.

I dont know how long youre planning to hunt, but if its a week or more, dont be afraid to take a day off to rest your body.

[tyee]

okay here is something that can become a big deal, when faced with a shot situation on the elk you have trained so hard for you are going to get a spike in adrenalin this will increase your heart rate you will need more o2 so you will breath harder. Now add in the effects of elevation and over exertion to the shot and we have problems. So include your bow and some shooting into some training session along with hunt clothing and the throw in some pressure. some thing like this
 Full hunting gear
run in place 1min
ten push ups
sprint 20 yrds to target and back
pick up bow
draw bow hold 5 secs
let down
repeat 3 sets shoot at end of set 3 at a 5" vital zone 20yards
if you miss repeat if a kill your done

[Montanawidower]

Well put all of you.  There is no tired like "elk hunting" tired.  

It will push you beyond everything you have physically and mentally.  Especially when packing meat.  

I have a love/hate relationship with it and sort of fear/dread/enjoy the pain.  On the bright side, it motivates me to work out and train in the off season.  

When I hit my limit of exursion, I picture in my mind's eye that ridge we climb every morning and gut out a few more reps.  

I personally like Crossfit scaled down 40% or so.  My brother loves P90x.  I think any interval training regiment that is whole body is fine.

[BOHO]

Ive really enjoyed this thread. I really need to get out and do more physically but it never seems to happen. Ive had 2 back surgeries and 1 scope on each knee and Im about 60# overweight. I really need to come up with something to get this weight off and be in better shape for this coming hunting season.

[centaur]

I just got in from a 13 mile mountain bike ride in the desert. Believe me, riding will get you in shape if you put in the time. I hike and hit the weight room, too, but cycling, especially mountain biking, works legs and lungs and will get you in shape for taking on elk country. My legs are still burning from today's ride.

[steadman]

I did insanity last year and was amazed at the results, it really helped. But having a bad knee and bad back, made me cautious. So I modified the routine and did excersizes my body could handle. Instead of jumping or bending over I did an excersize that didn't hurt    I noticed the biggest improvement was from the squats. Plus getting to bait bears helped aton, it's like elk hunting backwards, statr with a ton of weight in and not much back out    I'd better get at it, no bear tags this year  :(

[JockC]

Squats are fantastic exercise but notorious for causing injuries from bad form.  Rippetoe's "Starting Strength" is a good place to start.  For cardio, google "Tabata intervals" and check out the discussions about it on piratesofarchery.net.

One great weight loss motivator I've found is to calculate what it would cost me to cut 10-15 lbs from my pack--hundreds and hundreds of dollars...