What is your elk hunting workout?
08-11-2015, 10:54 AM
#1
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 6,357
What is your elk hunting workout?
Elk season is approaching. I like to hunt in the high mountains of SW Colorado but I live in Texas in flat country at about 600 feet elevation. I try to get in shape and lose weight, but the physical challenge is always significant, no matter how well I prepare.
08-11-2015, 11:09 AM
#2
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: On an Island in Vermont
Posts: 22,605
I am pretty active and weight really isn't a problem. I have been stepping up my walking and bike riding to strengthen the legs. An old sports injury left me with one knee that gives me problems from time to time so the bike riding helps. I try to go up and down the stairs several times a day. I live at 118 feet ASL so the altitude does bother me. I take diamox for 2 days before I get to Colorado and for 1 or 2 days after I arrive. It helps condition the blood to run on less O2. In the past I stayed in a cabin at 9100 ft. This year we have moved our hunt and not sure what the elevation will be on our cabin.
Last edited by Champlain Islander; 08-11-2015 at 11:13 AM.
08-11-2015, 11:49 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Onslow County, NC
Posts: 1,856
I have started working out as a routine but for hunts like that I would focus a little more in cardio work adding in weighted hikes along with weighted stair climbs. What I found out recently from a trip is no matter the shape I am in, sleeping in a bed or cot untested can mess with my disk issues. My back is still messed up being back for a few days so if you have an injury test the waters or find something that can alleviate the issue. An elk hunt will be the last place you would want to aggregate an old injury.
08-11-2015, 01:11 PM
#4
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 6,357
I have changed some things in my conditioning routine this year.
I am taking walks 5 days a week before work in the morning with a heavy pack. I have worked up to 4 miles with a 70+ LBS pack. I can feel that workout in my legs, hamstrings mostly. I think this will make carrying heavy packs of elk meat easier.
My wife got us a family membership to a local gym. She doesn't use this but I do. I try to go 4 nights a week after work. I do deadlifts and barbell squats one of those nights. I can really feel the barbell squats in my thighs: I'm hoping that will make climbing easier. The deadlifts are probably making my back stronger, but that has not been a problem in the past. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening I spend 30 minutes on a recumbent bicycle. The last 15 minutes I am breathing hard and am dripping with sweat (level 16, but I don't know if that level is consistent across diffeent machines). I follow the bike with various other exercises with weight machines and climbing stairs with a 30 LBS dumbbell in each hand.
I'm hoping to add some other exercises into the mix. For example, I'm looking to start doing a "farmer's carry" soon.
I'm working on strengthening my grip. I find my hand gets tired sometimes when skinning an elk. I grab the skin in a wad and put tension on it with my left arm while slicing the skin free with my right hand. It is kind of a thick wad, and I grip it fairly tight so I can skin faster. I'm doing wrist curls with 45 LBS dumbbells, some wire cutting with wire cutters, and pinch grip work with landscaping blocks.
I always get out of breath climbing the hills. I accept that. I train so I can keep going day after day: endurance. I train so I can climb the hills without giving up, though I stop to catch my breath. Also, I'm hoping the heavy pack walking exercise is going to allow me to carry a heavier load of elk meat this year. I carried an elk ham last year -- probably about 55 LBS -- back from my kill site. I found that manageable. My goal is to be able to carry even more elk meat than that at one time this year. I've got an improved pack that should distribute the load well, and I've been training my legs to the packing work.
I am taking walks 5 days a week before work in the morning with a heavy pack. I have worked up to 4 miles with a 70+ LBS pack. I can feel that workout in my legs, hamstrings mostly. I think this will make carrying heavy packs of elk meat easier.
My wife got us a family membership to a local gym. She doesn't use this but I do. I try to go 4 nights a week after work. I do deadlifts and barbell squats one of those nights. I can really feel the barbell squats in my thighs: I'm hoping that will make climbing easier. The deadlifts are probably making my back stronger, but that has not been a problem in the past. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening I spend 30 minutes on a recumbent bicycle. The last 15 minutes I am breathing hard and am dripping with sweat (level 16, but I don't know if that level is consistent across diffeent machines). I follow the bike with various other exercises with weight machines and climbing stairs with a 30 LBS dumbbell in each hand.
I'm hoping to add some other exercises into the mix. For example, I'm looking to start doing a "farmer's carry" soon.
I'm working on strengthening my grip. I find my hand gets tired sometimes when skinning an elk. I grab the skin in a wad and put tension on it with my left arm while slicing the skin free with my right hand. It is kind of a thick wad, and I grip it fairly tight so I can skin faster. I'm doing wrist curls with 45 LBS dumbbells, some wire cutting with wire cutters, and pinch grip work with landscaping blocks.
I always get out of breath climbing the hills. I accept that. I train so I can keep going day after day: endurance. I train so I can climb the hills without giving up, though I stop to catch my breath. Also, I'm hoping the heavy pack walking exercise is going to allow me to carry a heavier load of elk meat this year. I carried an elk ham last year -- probably about 55 LBS -- back from my kill site. I found that manageable. My goal is to be able to carry even more elk meat than that at one time this year. I've got an improved pack that should distribute the load well, and I've been training my legs to the packing work.
08-11-2015, 04:16 PM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,695
You all seem to avoid one of the absolute best training regiments in the world. Swimming! Freestyle and Breaststroke for cardio and paddle resistance for conditioning. It's absolutely the best conditioning out there because of the 0 impact on the knee joints. The Freestyle and Breaststroke will also help condition your lungs for high altitude. Only breathe every 3rd stroke. Hiking, walking, and biking are all good but the best all around training you can do is swimming.
08-11-2015, 08:09 PM
#6
Super Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Trumbull County, Ohio
Posts: 9,520
It's difficult to train for altitude when you're a flat lander. Condition your muscles to handle anything the hunt can throw at you. I don't have elk hunting experience but I worked in Colorado as a backpacking and hiking guide for a few summers. I've seen people who appear to be in great shape really struggle between the elevation and the constant climbing. Walking or running on flat ground doesn't prepare you for the up and down beating that mountains can give you. So I'd try to find ways to train for the grades you will encounter. Back strength, shoulder strength, leg strength are all important for carrying your packs. Build up your cardio, gasping for breath is a good way to miss an elk. I always tried to keep a very consistent pace while backpacking, but for a hunt sometimes you may need to really hustle to get somewhere for a shot so be prepared for those potential high output moments.
Also, don't overlook the small training things you can do. I have had some knee and ankle surgeries in the past that I've done some therapy for. Keep up with those area specific exercises to make sure that an old injury doesn't decide to bite you at a bad time. It's easy to say "it's healed" and forget about it. But I've found that they feel allot better when I'm specifically strengthening those areas.
-Jake
Also, don't overlook the small training things you can do. I have had some knee and ankle surgeries in the past that I've done some therapy for. Keep up with those area specific exercises to make sure that an old injury doesn't decide to bite you at a bad time. It's easy to say "it's healed" and forget about it. But I've found that they feel allot better when I'm specifically strengthening those areas.
-Jake
08-12-2015, 03:08 AM
#7
Fork Horn
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 162
It's difficult to train for altitude when you're a flat lander. Condition your muscles to handle anything the hunt can throw at you. I don't have elk hunting experience but I worked in Colorado as a backpacking and hiking guide for a few summers. I've seen people who appear to be in great shape really struggle between the elevation and the constant climbing. Walking or running on flat ground doesn't prepare you for the up and down beating that mountains can give you. So I'd try to find ways to train for the grades you will encounter. Back strength, shoulder strength, leg strength are all important for carrying your packs. Build up your cardio, gasping for breath is a good way to miss an elk. I always tried to keep a very consistent pace while backpacking, but for a hunt sometimes you may need to really hustle to get somewhere for a shot so be prepared for those potential high output moments.
Also, don't overlook the small training things you can do. I have had some knee and ankle surgeries in the past that I've done some therapy for. Keep up with those area specific exercises to make sure that an old injury doesn't decide to bite you at a bad time. It's easy to say "it's healed" and forget about it. But I've found that they feel allot better when I'm specifically strengthening those areas.
-Jake
Also, don't overlook the small training things you can do. I have had some knee and ankle surgeries in the past that I've done some therapy for. Keep up with those area specific exercises to make sure that an old injury doesn't decide to bite you at a bad time. It's easy to say "it's healed" and forget about it. But I've found that they feel allot better when I'm specifically strengthening those areas.
-Jake
08-12-2015, 05:11 AM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Onslow County, NC
Posts: 1,856
I enjoy swimming but was not sure about other areas and access to a swimming facility so I left it out. If you do go the swimming route there is another method we use for freediving called apnea dive training. It may help, have not done much research into high altitude training or how it will correlate. Both seem to have a similar aspect that they train the individual to work with low oxygen consumption. Our physiology is extremely versatile and I think this may help.
08-14-2015, 11:17 AM
#9
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location:
Posts: 6,357
My son -- an outstanding athlete -- taught me something interesting about physical training last night. He says that when following an intense physical training regime you need to schedule rest weeks. Recently I've trained 5 days a week and rested weekends. He says "rest weeks." He said this is something that is done by many athletes, though it may depend on their particular sport. It works for long distance runners, sprinters, gymnasts. It may not works so well for athletes in sports where they compete frequently -- as in professional basketball players who play every other day or every 3 days.
He says intense physical training breaks down the muscles. The training effect comes from those muscles repairing themselves. After 6-8 weeks of this training (no doubt with enough rest intervals in between to sustain training) taking a week off really is important to allow the body to rebuild. At the end of that week-long rest the athlete's body is much stronger than it was when he commenced the rest.
Here is the important teaching. These canny athletes time this rest week so that it coincides with their event. Thus, the sprinter may time his rest week so it ENDs on the day he will race in the Olympic 100 meter dash, for example. In my case, I'll time my last rest interval so that it ends the morning elk hunting season begins. This is called "peaking." The athlete wants to be peaking at the time the event occurs.
I just go and exercise as hard as I can. The idea of taking deliberate rest days first came to me maybe last year, probably from my son. This is a new idea to me. I'm not sure I'll really take a whole week off. I'm not training at the same level of intensity as my son would, I'm pretty sure. But it is the same principle. I had this conversation with him yesterday and canceled my workout last night and will return to workouts next Monday. Already I feel pretty good from not exercising last night and not walking 4 miles with my 70 LBS pack this morning.
He says intense physical training breaks down the muscles. The training effect comes from those muscles repairing themselves. After 6-8 weeks of this training (no doubt with enough rest intervals in between to sustain training) taking a week off really is important to allow the body to rebuild. At the end of that week-long rest the athlete's body is much stronger than it was when he commenced the rest.
Here is the important teaching. These canny athletes time this rest week so that it coincides with their event. Thus, the sprinter may time his rest week so it ENDs on the day he will race in the Olympic 100 meter dash, for example. In my case, I'll time my last rest interval so that it ends the morning elk hunting season begins. This is called "peaking." The athlete wants to be peaking at the time the event occurs.
I just go and exercise as hard as I can. The idea of taking deliberate rest days first came to me maybe last year, probably from my son. This is a new idea to me. I'm not sure I'll really take a whole week off. I'm not training at the same level of intensity as my son would, I'm pretty sure. But it is the same principle. I had this conversation with him yesterday and canceled my workout last night and will return to workouts next Monday. Already I feel pretty good from not exercising last night and not walking 4 miles with my 70 LBS pack this morning.
Last edited by Alsatian; 08-14-2015 at 11:22 AM.
08-14-2015, 04:47 PM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Onslow County, NC
Posts: 1,856
Rest is very important for muscle recovery and as your son mentioned when your resting, you are repairing your muscles which will make you stronger. This is one of the reasons most weight lifters have moved instead of a full body workout to a split routine of things like, back and biceps on Monday. chest and triceps on Wednesday, and legs and core (abs) on Friday. Tuesday and Thursday would be strictly cardio, but how you isolate the body parts you are actually giving them time to rest for several days while working on other body parts. I would recommend looking into a bodybuilding website, alot of information available and obviously they know what they are doing to build muscle.