bigdogg2278
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- Aug 6, 2013
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What do you guys do for your workout to prep for elk hunting? Would you guys recommend a stairmaster over normal treadmill running?
Workouts?
- Thread starter bigdogg2278
- Start date
I'm no expert, but I do both. 12 minutes on the stairmaster at level 8 works out to a mile, so the machine says. Then I do a mile on 15 incline, but I only set it for 3.5 to 3.8 mph. I don't like running. After this, I lift weights. One day legs and the other day upper body. The free weights still intimidate me, I stick to the machine. Just to break it up, or if I don't feel like lifting, I do an all cardio day. 2 miles an the stairmaster, 5 miles on the treadmill, and 10 miles on a stationary bike.
Don't know if this a good regimen or not. I did it religiously 6 day/wk for 10 weeks leading up to my hunt last year. I lost 25 pounds and kept up with my younger nephew, I'm 48 and he's 22. Well, I kept him in sight most of the time. I've managed to keep it up 5 days a week thruogh the winter and lost 5 more pounds.
Like I said, I'm no expert. Going every day sucks. At this point, I'm afraid of what might happen if I stopped going. I feel like I have invested so much to get to this point.
Don't know if this a good regimen or not. I did it religiously 6 day/wk for 10 weeks leading up to my hunt last year. I lost 25 pounds and kept up with my younger nephew, I'm 48 and he's 22. Well, I kept him in sight most of the time. I've managed to keep it up 5 days a week thruogh the winter and lost 5 more pounds.
Like I said, I'm no expert. Going every day sucks. At this point, I'm afraid of what might happen if I stopped going. I feel like I have invested so much to get to this point.
MooseCaboose
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I would recommend stair master and treadmill. If you have access to any hills in your immediate area, I would also suggest climbing them. Even if it just a small hill and you have to climb it multiple times. There are muscles in your lower leg and foot that benefit from walking on uneven ground and it will definitely make climbing mountains more manageable.
Another important consideration is that when hunting you will have a pack on your back and if you have a successful hunt it will be a very heavy pack at that. Whether outdoors or in a gym, try to rig up a way to add extra weight beyond just your body. A backpack with books or a weight vest. Anything really.
Last consideration is one I never used to think about. If you have a successful harvest, you will have a very heavy load. And you will likely be going downhill with it. Different muscles are engaged on the downhill portion of a hike. I noticed that the downhill portion of hikes are often where my knees and legs can begin to get sore. I had to adjust my training for this important, but overlooked, aspect of mountain hunting.
I also think some weight training excercises for the legs can go a long way towards strengthening bones, tendons, and muscles. All important for keeping away soreness.
Just my 2 cents.
Another important consideration is that when hunting you will have a pack on your back and if you have a successful hunt it will be a very heavy pack at that. Whether outdoors or in a gym, try to rig up a way to add extra weight beyond just your body. A backpack with books or a weight vest. Anything really.
Last consideration is one I never used to think about. If you have a successful harvest, you will have a very heavy load. And you will likely be going downhill with it. Different muscles are engaged on the downhill portion of a hike. I noticed that the downhill portion of hikes are often where my knees and legs can begin to get sore. I had to adjust my training for this important, but overlooked, aspect of mountain hunting.
I also think some weight training excercises for the legs can go a long way towards strengthening bones, tendons, and muscles. All important for keeping away soreness.
Just my 2 cents.
Tradewind
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- Aug 19, 2015
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- 4,638
run hills and walk stairs. Work on your core. Your machinery will work ok. I see guys at the gym walking the stair master with their back packs on. Unless the weather sucks I prefer the outdoors, trying to duplicate what happens during the hunt
Not living in the mountains I have found that I need to do as much stair work as possible, adding weight as it gets easier, to get ready for a week in the mountains carrying a pack. The cardio helps you handle the elevation better.
Not living in the mountains I have found that I need to do as much stair work as possible, adding weight as it gets easier, to get ready for a week in the mountains carrying a pack. The cardio helps you handle the elevation better.
Pow
New member
For me, the key to getting in shape is doing something I love. I ride my bike, trail run, hike, play hockey and ski. That stuff is fun. I try to get 10 hours of exercise a week with about two short sessions intense, but I'm kind of a fitness nut. I'll attempt to get at least two short workouts during the week days and something big over the weekend. The weekends are a big bike ride or hike.
MNDeerHunter
New member
I've never been Elk hunting so no experience there, but I've been kind of a fitness nut for a number of years. I used to play hockey and have ran marathons and leg strength and endurance was key (same thing with Mountain hunting from what I have researched).
Here are some exercises I would focus on (with higher reps)
-Front squats and regular squats
-Plyometric box jumps (I built this one: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/07/21/how-to-make-a-plyometric-box/). Watch your shins as the corners of the box WILL tear your shins up pretty bad if you get out of sequence and wipe out
-Lunges (forward and backward)
-Deadlifts (Switch up your grip styles with each set)
-Bodyweight squats (or squats with a weighted backpack)
These are the essential lower body exercises IMO that I focus on, and really like doing circuits with the box jumps because it gets your heart rate up at the same time. You can do core exercises but what I have found is that by doing the above exercises correctly you engage your core and abdominal muscles quite a bit at the same time. I think you would see a lot more benefit from doing a circuit of a combination of the above exercises than sitting on a Stairmaster or walking on a treadmill.
I started using a weighted backpack last summer and would go on hikes - one thing I would recommend is not starting out with too much weight at first. It takes a bit for your joints and muscles to get used to the extra weight (especially on your knees). Also, I've found a bag of softener salt works better than just putting a dumbbell inside your pack.
Lastly, if you're serious about getting into good shape you have to eat clean. If you have questions on that shoot me a PM.
Good luck
Here are some exercises I would focus on (with higher reps)
-Front squats and regular squats
-Plyometric box jumps (I built this one: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/07/21/how-to-make-a-plyometric-box/). Watch your shins as the corners of the box WILL tear your shins up pretty bad if you get out of sequence and wipe out
-Lunges (forward and backward)
-Deadlifts (Switch up your grip styles with each set)
-Bodyweight squats (or squats with a weighted backpack)
These are the essential lower body exercises IMO that I focus on, and really like doing circuits with the box jumps because it gets your heart rate up at the same time. You can do core exercises but what I have found is that by doing the above exercises correctly you engage your core and abdominal muscles quite a bit at the same time. I think you would see a lot more benefit from doing a circuit of a combination of the above exercises than sitting on a Stairmaster or walking on a treadmill.
I started using a weighted backpack last summer and would go on hikes - one thing I would recommend is not starting out with too much weight at first. It takes a bit for your joints and muscles to get used to the extra weight (especially on your knees). Also, I've found a bag of softener salt works better than just putting a dumbbell inside your pack.
Lastly, if you're serious about getting into good shape you have to eat clean. If you have questions on that shoot me a PM.
Good luck
Poke 'Em
Well-known member
Fixed that for you.
Great info ! I live in one of the flattest parts of the country, so I have to get creative. I thought about investing in a stairclimber, but I have a treadmill for the crappy weather days. When I can go outside I can climb a pile of dirt/rock/sand in my hunting boots at the local pit or I can go to the high school football stadium and climb the stairs. It's a lot of up and downs which will nearly make a guy dizzy, but it works both sets of muscles and when you wear your actual hunting pack and keep adding weight each year it's the closest things I will find to the real deal around here. The benefit to using your hunting pack and boots is that you get real personal with both and get them all adjusted right and learn how to shift weight from hips to shoulders as you need to before your hunt starts. I hope you have a pack full of meat in the end!
Building towards a quick recovery time I feel is key to trainning for a week of hunting elk in the mountains similar to trainning for a marathon. The more efficient your body becomes at getting oxygenated blood to your muscles the less fatigue you will feel after a long climb. Whatever exercise you choose it is important to get your heart rate up and maintain it for a period of time rest for a few minutes to slow it down then repeat. Do this multiple times during your work out. If your heart isn't racing you won't be doing much good. One of my most effective trainning methods for marathon training is running intervals. I do wind sprints, run full out for five minutes rest for two and repeated. If your just starting out you will be amazed at how quickly you will progress. Even if you can't run just walk fast enough to get your heart rate up eventually you will be able to go further and fast each week.
7mm08mo
Well-known member
I'm lucky where I live and have a state park only 7 miles from the house. They have a set of stairs that go up 200 feet in elevation with 367 sets of stairs. The stairs are in one spot and the trail that they are on is 1.5 miles and joins other trails with smaller stairs and all with elevation changes mostly up and down with lots of boulders my part of the Missouri ozarks is rocky. When I first started my legs felt like spaghetti noodles, but I have now worked up to carrying my pack with about twenty lbs in it and working for more. In doing this I have greatly improved my leg muscles. Just my two bits as I get ready for hells canyon this fall. I also hit the gym for weights a couple times week.
I used to walk up and down the steps at our local football stadium,thought that would help but thoughs mountains kicked my but. At 64 years old now I do nothing to prepair me for elk hunting ,just go and hunt .But use my brain of where and how to hunt.
devon deer
Well-known member
Richard that's exactly what I was referring to in a less complex way. For me my resting heart rate is 46 BPM. Running long distances for me no longer gets me to my target heart rate so that is why interval training is very beneficial. Increasing my heart rate to 80% of max by doing sprints allows me to continually condition my heart and improve my pace and endurance. Running hills while doing sprints is even better. I was not always a runner at one point in my life I weighed in at 275 lbs. My love for my family and the outdoors made me change my ways years ago. Now running is as much a part of my life as hunting. After running stopped being a struggle (yes it was horrible at first not sure what I was thinking) it became a peaceful time to think about anything and everything just like I do when I hunt. Solitude.
devon deer
Well-known member
Wow, 46 BPM, mine has hasn't been that low for over 40 years, you must be in very good shape.
When i was a club runner in my teens we used Fartlek but on the track, 1500m, rest, 1000m, rest so on down to a flat 100m sprint, the recovery period was reduced between each distance, painful but it was effective.
I started my training for my Elk hunt last week, i have over a stone to lose, i am pretty unfit, when i finished my short runs this week my heart was 160BPM, down to 130 BPM after 5 mins, i have a lot of work to do!
I think everybody plans their training regime differently, i need to get fit gradually, i don't want to injure myself in the process.
No elevation where i live, but there are some steep hills.
I will introduce some long distance walking and increase my pack weight gradually.
Maybe a new thread could be created whereby members of the forum could chart their progress, high's and low's on their journey?
Cheers
Richard
