Healy Arms Report post Posted January 1, 2017 I hope everyone had a great 2016 and enjoyed some great hunts & campouts. Under this CW topic area of Hunting Fitness, I can say that I stayed committed to regular cardio & circuit sessions and it paid off in November. The hills seemed flatter than they had in years past. No sucking wind and my desk surfer buddies did all the heavy breathing. However - and this is a big however - I did not take off an amount of weight commensurate with the amount of workouts I invested in. Long & Short = I ate too much. I probably slept too little. Carried a bit too much stress. Etc. Etc. But the real 1000lb gorilla in the room (pun intended) is my eating habits. I did not - often enough - create the calorie deficits necessary to burn off my supply of extra grease. In years past, it was always the commitment to the workouts that proved the problem. Day by day using habit forming regularity I beat that problem into submission. Now I go to the gym or go out for a hike all the time. I did a focused hour of varied stress cardio today and burned up at least 900-1000 calories. That's normal - I do it all the time - 5 to 6 days a week. I'm in a much better spot than I was 3 years ago, so what's next? My 2017 Focus: Weight & Better Eating Habits. It's time to put the diet in Diet & Exercise. What could I do with my cardio if I were lighter? A lot more I'm sure. There's progress to be made. So, what say you? Did you have a kick a** 2016 and you just need to keep up the momentum? Do you want to kick off a new and much needed program in 2017? Or are you adding a new piece to an already working program? What's your 2017 Focus? Best wishes this hunting season, Mark By the way - I have read through the threads already posted here and found some great ideas and learned a few things along the way. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mattys281 Report post Posted January 1, 2017 Less beers more cardio. Just went on a couple night backpacking trip and it about killed me. I also haven't been shooting as regularly as I used to and it shows. I will fix both of those problems, expeditiously. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstcoueswas80 Report post Posted January 1, 2017 I was actually doing really really well before the season until I got a cold/chest infection. Being a lifelong asthmatic I have to be careful when stuff gets in my chest so I stopped working out for quite a while and I put on a lot of weight and my cardio went to heck. I still did decent in the Hills not as well as I would have liked but not bad either. I could tell that I have that spare Tyre as it was getting pinched between the bottom of my Outdoorsman's pack and my belt. That left a pretty nice bruise and was pretty uncomfortable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Healy Arms Report post Posted January 3, 2017 Less beers Yes. I've been riding the craft beer wave with a few friends. Love the style creativity in the various brands. But 2017 will be a ZERO tap takeover year (sorry Flanny's). Tons of calories - zero or worse nutritional benefit. I'm staying home. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Healy Arms Report post Posted January 3, 2017 I'm taking Amanda's advice and using the MyFitnessPal app this year. I recall she used it quite successfully. Now that I've used it for 2 days it's easy to see how easy it is over consume without really knowing how many calories you've added throughout the day. It makes you very aware of drive-by snacking when you have to stop and log the snack. In 2017 I will NOT order by number at Mexican food restaurants. Strictly by the item. Combos are way way way too many calories. It's easy to have a whole day's energy allotment on one plate. I've conquered workout regularity - time to whip the scale. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigorange Report post Posted January 3, 2017 Started strong...then between a couple injuries and my dietary/beer habits I went downhill for most of the year. Back on track this year with some realistic goals. This part of the forum does help... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MULEPACKHUNTER Report post Posted January 3, 2017 Good to see this forum pop back up, I'm right there in the same boat somewhat. I have managed to stay in decent shape but for sure not where I was last year. I too had some major injuries but luckily I was not sick. My life schedule turned around 180 which afforded me double or triple the amount of time in the woods but my fitness schedule went out the window and has not been back. My diet I have managed to keep on the level but alcohol is up in the ranks. Headed out for another backpack hunt next week and I know it's going to be a grind. My 2017 goal is to train and compete in the train to hunt in Tucson this may. I have already started learning some of the workouts and I have been hiking and shooting. If my shoulder holds up I hope to drop 10 lbs and ease back to my 2105 fitness level. My main deal is dreaming of hiking way off in the hills for my some day archery bull tag. I don't want to be behind on fitness when that happens. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AzDiamondHeat Report post Posted January 3, 2017 My only goal is to not get hurt. At the upper end of my forties I am still in good shape but have a tendency to forget how old I am, until the next day. lol That and try to get Mark out to Aravaipa to hike all over those nasty mountains and hunt lions...... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DIYFamilyMan Report post Posted January 3, 2017 Coming out of 2016 wildland fire season, I was in the best shape of my life. The next 2 months life got busy and I almost went 2 months without lifting/hiking/running. The last 2 weeks I've been back on the run, jump starting my motivation to get it goin more regularly for improvement through 2017.eventually my goal is to establish a routine that includes endurance runs, along with interval training and weights. Get myself back into elk shape and feelin like a stud in the mountains. P.S. My fitness Pal is very helpful with diet. A few guys at work saw huge improvements when used with exercise. Good luck everybody, and maybe see some of you at TTH 2017! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildwoody Report post Posted January 3, 2017 Ready to go I was down 30lbs before the hunt ready to do another 30lbs 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Healy Arms Report post Posted January 4, 2017 Pushed myself the last 4 days - checking the baseline. Not too bad. I've kept up with cardio for many months now. BUT... Instead of my regular cardio routine of hill hiking for miles and miles I tossed in a few dozen burpees and ground calisthenics - WELLLLLL crap - found the issue. Too dang fat. I was right 3 days ago. Need to cut some butter off. Always room to improve. Direction affirmed. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DIYFamilyMan Report post Posted January 4, 2017 Sounds like everyone knows what direction. They need/want to go. Maybe this forum can help keep us accountable, and we can all reach goals together. I'm glad that a focus in fitness has established itself in the hunting world. "If you wanna be the ultimate predator, you're gonna have to ramp it up..." -Cam Hanes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cell4soul Report post Posted January 5, 2017 Tagging in. I have to get back at it. I was working out pretty hard for the 2 months leading up to my October hunt in Wyoming and it definitely helped. I haven't worked out since. My workouts consisted of swimming 1.5 miles two days of the week and 30 minutes of elliptical stairs with a 35lb pack followed by either upper body or lower body weight lifting three days per week. I dropped 20 lbs before my hunt and I have probably gained half of that back. Time to hold myself accountable again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MULEPACKHUNTER Report post Posted January 5, 2017 Funny mark, I started doing some of the train to hunt workouts and found simple stuff to be difficult. Push ups sucked and pull ups etc. I can hike, run, swim, bike, no prob but push up like a girl lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PRDATR Report post Posted January 7, 2017 I'm taking Amanda's advice and using the MyFitnessPal app this year. I recall she used it quite successfully. Now that I've used it for 2 days it's easy to see how easy it is over consume without really knowing how many calories you've added throughout the day. It makes you very aware of drive-by snacking when you have to stop and log the snack. In 2017 I will NOT order by number at Mexican food restaurants. Strictly by the item. Combos are way way way too many calories. It's easy to have a whole day's energy allotment on one plate. I've conquered workout regularity - time to whip the scale. Try Casa Rosa on Main St just east of downtown. It's not your typical stuff, more varied in flavors, variety and very tasty definitely my favorite place hands down and ingriedents are very fresh. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
