So how do you get into shape???

[Earnhardt]

This is going to sound snarky...

The question is...how do I get into shape?

My response?

Don't get out of shape.

It's that easy...it really is

Walk, do some push-ups, anything helps...it's that easy

 

[cbat]

My wife bought a Hydro rower for herself. I saw her results and started using it.
I have 2 bad knees and a tore up shoulder and arthritis in my hands.
I row 3k to 4k meters everyday and am feeling good. Low impact on your joints.
Well worth checking out.

 

[shotgunner1]

My son is 6'3 and I'm 5'9. We grouse hunt some and I almost have to run to keep up with him and his long stride. I always start walking on a treadmill about a month before the season opens. It seems to really help.

 

[OldElkHunter1961]

Get 2 GSP's. Conduct 4 X 15 minute training sessions daily and take them out for the needed runs 4 times a day, year round. Wear your bird vest and pack 2 dokkens. You'll get a full body workout each time you go if you do it right. This isn't to say they won't run you to death. But, what doesn't kill us serves to make us stronger. Enjoy the punishment!

 

[westcanyonranch]

I personally feel that so many hunters would benefit from more physical exercise! I live in the mountains so when I go hunting, I am not gaining much elevation. But those who come to hunt at higher elevations should seriously take this into consideration. Please think of the muscles you use when you hunt, then go to the gym and work them relentlessly. Not wheezing the entire time makes hunting much more enjoyable.

 

[Rick Richard]

I personally feel that so many hunters would benefit from more physical exercise! I live in the mountains so when I go hunting, I am not gaining much elevation. But those who come to hunt at higher elevations should seriously take this into consideration. Please think of the muscles you use when you hunt, then go to the gym and work them relentlessly. Not wheezing the entire time makes hunting much more enjoyable.

Yep, but impossible to train for ALTITUDE unless your up in it.
I train year round for that once or twice trip out west , but always have to take a few days to acclimate to the altitude when I get there.

 

[orchemo]

Stairs and more stairs is the gym workout to simulate climbing hillsides. Add weight to your back for the last 20 min.

 

[KurtB]

As I get older doing less heavy pack training and simply more stairs. I'm hiking with about what my day pack will weigh. Planning on taking it easy with a critter and making 2 trips. Close enough to a unit I am hunting this year to do 6-8 scouting/training weekends there so figure that'll do. Hard to train for 12,500 and even living at 6,700 its still a good gain.

Its been mentioned to maintain your base and I am a firm believer in that.

These steps go up 200 steps and 180'. Working up to doing 10 trips on them pretty quick. At 6-7 right now. These are a great local resource to me.

 

[Wyo37]

Resistance training, rucking, some running mixed in.

Studies have shown when the pack weight increases strength has more influence than V02max.

 

[Jbumblebee]

This Thursday will be nine weeks post-op from having my left knee replaced. I'm working on getting it back up to where my right knee is. Before surgery, I worked out in the gym three days a week and swam two.

I'd also walk our labs four miles instead of using the gym once a week depending on the weather. They tend to pull and if it was icy out I'd hit the gym.

 

[Berzurker]

Just find active hobbies that you enjoy. I play a lot of disc golf and that means I'm hauling a pack around several days a week. If you want to lift weights, great. However, id focus on things you enjoy doing because then you will actually do them.

Out of state hunters do struggle with the elevation sometimes, but it's not debilitating. Hunting elk, you want to be moving slow anyways.

Where I see people really mess up is by hiking miles into back country and shooting an elk in the heat. You cannot pack an elk out, by yourself, before the meat starts to spoil in this scenario.

 

[jbronner13]

Weight vest on a stair climber

 

[Rifleman97]

Yep, but impossible to train for ALTITUDE unless your up in it.
I train year round for that once or twice trip out west , but always have to take a few days to acclimate to the altitude when I get there.

There actually is a way to train for altitude! Lung training is its own exercise. You can do breathing exercises, work your core, and if you want an even better lung training experience you can purchase an altitude mask. They make it challenging to breathe. It's technically the same air pressure, but since your lungs have to work harder it trains the same part of the lungs that being in actual lower pressure will do.

Our cross country team used those when I was in high school, so they've been around at least 10 years. They really did help us for when we went from our 950ft elevation hometown to our 2 training weeks in Estes Park Colorado. One of the guys refused to wear the mask and he was coughing up blood and got altitude sickness when we were there, no one else did. So I can attest they work. Don't remember how expensive they are though but I don't remember them being insane, just more than you'd want to pay for a mask.

 

[powermax]

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