What do you do to get/stay in shape?

[JPH]

If we go with the one I am thinking about right now, we would need a few things.

Do you think everyone could find or make a level, 1/4 mi. track? Do you think everyone could build a sandbag?

Do I need to go back to the drawing board?

[Goose]

I could do this stuff so far.....

[JPH]

Well the one I am thinking of requires a 1/4 mile track and a sandbag or other odd object weighing approx. 50% of the hunters' body weight.

See: http://www.rosstraining.com/sandbagconstructionkit.pdf

A stuffed backpack with the straps taped down, an old punching bag, or even a heavy log can be used, as long as it fits the weight requirement.

If everyone had this minimum equipment, we could all perform the standard "test" that would correlate to hunting and allow us to gauge our fitness progress. 

[Jdbllung]

ORIGINAL: Goose

Well today i hauled a 75 lbs ladder stand through 16 inches of snow! When I got fatigued I just remembered some of Caroline CT's comments and all of a sudden I was running through the woods!

I cant say I hit a gym or anything, I just do outdoor stuff and cant really complain. I should do more exercising but just don't. Don't know why I guess.
 

 
 
Poor Goose, CCT's got him worried about the Vegan mafia and the PETA death squads.
 
 
 

[DoeEyed]

My 2 biggest downfalls are smoking and terrible eating habits. I am not a breakfast person and I love mt dew and always have to eat when I get home after work, which is midnight. I do manage to stay fairly active though. I spend alot of time outside in the summer doing landscaping, walking and playing with the dog and I mow our yard with a push mower. I also spend alot of time cleaning the house and cleaning at my job (housekeeping). So lots of walking,bending and lifting. But your body gets use to that routine stuff. So I joined our local YMCA a couple of years ago and periodically take different classes. Right now I'm doing Step on Mon and Wed. Abs, buns & arms on Tues & Thurs and Yoga Saturdays. I like working out. I certainly feel better physically and mentally afterwards even if I am sore. But it's a real challenge making the time and sticking with it. I have a bunch of exercise dvds at home that I'll do once in awhile but being around other people is more motivating for me. This forum should help in that dept. BTW JPH we happened to do The Plank in class Thurs. It's tough [;)] but effective. Oh yeah, I like to do a bit of snowshoeing and hikin in winter. Especially when it's snowing!

[drdaven]

I am 5'11" weigh in at 180 in the off season (end of hunting season).  Every year I try to convince myself to continue to train during the hunting season, but every year I favor getting to the woods over getting to the gym, road or trails.
During the summer I race in triathlons but I also work on my 20 treestands, trying to keep them in good shape and I use a walk behind mower to mow the 3 acres of lawn I have.
One exercise I would highly recommend that all of you do are PULLUPS!  The average guy can only do ONE pullup.  That is terrible!  Consider this, ONE pullup will be required should you ever fall from your stand and find yourself hanging by your safety harness. Start out your training with an assisted pullup.  Hang your bar low and help yourself with your legs.  A Swiss ball can also be used for this.  Eventually, you will be able to do that ONE pullup.  Then comes TWO, then THREE and so on....
Seriously!  This is your life.  "Just do it" takes on a new purpose when you think about it that way.
Good luck

[JPH]

Great responses everyone!

DoeEyed, sounds like you have a good program going. May I assume you are a female? I think you mentioned working on "abs, [color="#cc0000"]buns[/color], & arms". If you are a guy, that sort of language is unacceptable. [:D]

drdaven, welcome! You triathletes are some sick folks. My hat is off. I totally agree on the pull-ups! It is such an underutilized movement b/c it does not make you look cool in the mirror. Go to some commercial gym and everyone wants to know what you bench [8|], nobody asks how many pull-ups you can do.

Re. Pullups: In addition to the use of a resistance band to assit you, I would also suggest the following progression using body weight rows http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JsBfsmva3M (that's not me by the way). Once pull-ups are easy, I would further suggest working on the muscle-up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk6gtQ3S ... re=related (not me either).

[DoeEyed]

LOL[:D] Yep, deffinately female. I gave myself away[8|]

[msbadger]

Well as I've said ..I work the land and care for the livestock and hike...but in the winter...as today...I hike in deep snows through the woods with out snow shoes...right now we have 4" of snow with a layer of ice topped by 6" of snow.....I'll put that against a step machine any day of the week[;)]

[QDMAMAN]

This is my first excursion to this site and I'm impressed.
Great thread JPH and congrats on a great season.
I turned 48 on Sunday 1/11 and I started multisport training back in August.  My cousin is a missionary in Mexico and on Jan 1 2008 he weighed 298.  Kowing he had a problem he started riding bike, then running, and later swimming.  He competed in 3 triatholons, 10K, and a 1/2 marathon since then and is looking and feeling great.  He played the trombone in HS and I played sports nonstop.  Needless to say being a D personallity I took the challenge and plan to compete in at least 1 sprint triatholon in 2009 (probably more).
My workout routine is being refined at this time but I'm following advice from a book I read on the sport "Triatholon 101".  Living in Michigan this time of year limits running and biking but when the weather cooperated I was riding 70-80 miles a week and now I'm in the pool 2-3 times a week swimming a total of 2K.
In the summer of 2007 tipped the scales at 270 and signed up for WW.  I was down 20# by hunting season that year and it made a HUGE difference in my CV and cirrculation allowing me to stay on stand longer and without being winded and soaked when I got there.
I dropped another 10# and added the biking, and again experienced massive improvements to my comfort on stand.
I believe as you do JPH, that commiting to a PT routine sharpens the mind as much as the body and hunting Big Bucks can be mentally exhusting at times.
I'll stop back and let ya know how my first race goes.
The 2 photos attached are 2006 @ 270# and 2008 at 240#.
 
Big T