# Getting fit



## elkunited (Aug 16, 2019)

I remember my first hunt. I had not been as fit as I was when I was in high school sadly. I traded quick on-my-feet jobs for a desk job and started to chub up a bit. Going up that mountain chasing cow elk was a chore for me. Of course I wasn't running on tag adrenaline as I didn't draw and was accompanying my hunting buddy that year. I felt bad for him because I was slowing him down and that was a wake up call for me to get in shape. I'm doing a bit better, but still find it hard to do more than little workouts at home. What do y'all do to get fit/stay fit for hunting. Also, if your answer is hunting or hiking or something to that effect, how did you build your stamina?

I came across a 12 week exercise plan to get in shape for hunting. What do you think of it?

https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/game-changers/your-12-week-plan-get-shape-elk-hunting-season/

Please note, I'm in better shape now than I was back then, just want to increase my endurance and don't have hours upon hours to actually be hiking at this point.


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Awesome brother, I love this! Keep hitting it hard, consistency is key. Remember though, diet is literally 80% of it, no exercise regimen can offset a bad diet. 

Now that being said, don’t make unrealistic expectations, you can indulge every now and then and you should, or else your get burnt out and it won’t last. If you want a cookie, eat a cookie, just don’t eat all the cookies. 

Personally, I’m going into the rifle hunt in amazing shape, but I do exercise year-round. That being said, in the winter I bulk and add on some fat to get bigger, then in Spring I cut some fat. Comparison of my Early Spring physique vs Fall is posted below. In the bulky pic I’m at 215 in the leaned out one I’m at 187, which is where I currently reside.

You’ve gotta just find what works best for you, for me, I like split sets and I superset everything to keep my heart rate up. 

I’ve got 5 ebooks from Kai Green I can send to you if you’d like?


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## elkunited (Aug 16, 2019)

Sure, anything helps! Thanks for the support. I'm not a man that likes to eat what his food eats haha. Right now I'm around 175 and I'm 5'9". The thing is, I don't look fat, but I sure feel like it. What have you done diet wise that's worked for you?


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## TPrawitt91 (Sep 1, 2015)

Cardio and lots of it! I lost 30 lbs this year with a better diet and daily cardio. Running sucks and that’s why it works!

As far as diet, I eat a piece of fruit and a can of V8 juice for breakfast with black coffee. Lunch is the same during the work week, pb&j with baby carrots. Maybe a string cheese if I think I need a few more calories that day. I only eat meat once a day usually at dinner with a vegetable and carb. (Rice or even mashed potatoes) Protein shake after workouts which are exclusively cardio. But I mix it up between treadmill, exercise bike, elliptical, or real running. 

That has been the last 10 months of my life. Down 30 and goal is 20 more. 

I’m currently 6’5” 249. My heaviest was 278 and very out of shape. Having two kids in two years will do that.


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Being 175 and 5'9" actually puts you in a pretty good spot, all you gotta do is convert fat to muscle, biggest part of that is making sure you stay in a metabolic state, eat right, lift and get adequate rest. In order to stay in a metabolic state make sure you're taking in sufficient protein and make sure the protein is a complete protein aka animal sources. the ratio for adequate protein intake is 1 in 1 or 1 in 1.5, meaning, for every pound you weigh, you should take in one gram of protein to 1.5 grams per day. Dairy is an awesome source, meats of course, both of these are complete amino acids and provide better absorption. 


Get whey protein as well as casein, whey you absorb immediately and casein is slow absorption, casein absorbs in about 6-8 hours. Drink the whey post workout, drink the casein before bed. Both are derived from dairy. You can also substitute your casein for a cup of cottage cheese before bed. 


PM your email or your phone number and I'll send you the workouts and the diet ebooks. I spent $50 on all of them but am happy to share with those that are interested.


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Also, if you’re trying to gain muscle mass, don’t do tons of cardio, or else you run the risk of depleting muscle mass. You can strengthen your cardiovascular system through lifting, just superset and do little things to keep your heart rate up between sets.

If you’re looking to build muscle, steer clear of steady state cardio, meaning, don’t go jogging at a low to moderate pace for a prolonged period, you’ll lose your hard earned gains. Rather, do HIT cardio, meaning, high intensity interval training. It’s short high intense bursts. It’s been proven HIT training actually burns more fat and actually builds muscle and you continue to burn calories for a longer period after your workout. Do hill sprints, I love those. Start off on a treadmill, do 15 seconds as fast paced as you can and 30 seconds walking. Do that for 15 minutes.

Then as your cardio gets better, increase to 30 seconds running, 30 walking, or even 1 minute walking. Just make sure that burst is all in.


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

I started eating better (and less) as well as doing some strength training which will do some cardio as well, but not like running to get peak heart rate will.

I work different muscle groups each day; back and biceps, chest and triceps, legs, shoulders and abs then "rest" Fri - Sun.

My issue is time available to increase workout duration.


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

elkunited said:


> Right now I'm around 175 and I'm 5'9". ?


Aww hell, your just fine, im 5'9" and 190-195. And I can still look down and see my pecker. I think for your height, 175-180 is perfect, just maintain that.

Edit... I don't feel "fat" either I feel like I've got a good dad bod going on!


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

High Desert Elk said:


> I started eating better (and less) as well as doing some strength training which will do some cardio as well, but not like running to get peak heart rate will.
> 
> I work different muscle groups each day; back and biceps, chest and triceps, legs, shoulders and abs then "rest" Fri - Sun.
> 
> My issue is time available to increase workout duration.


Nice brother! Just gotta get it when you can but it honestly sounds like you're doing everything right, keep on grinding!

My offer goes to anyone that reads this thread, if you'd like some solid workouts, DM me your phone number or email address, they're 12 week programs


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

I have weight lifted for about 9 years now. 2 years ago we were going to have a kid, I was remodeling my house, work was chaos.. Frankly I wore myself out and stopped going to the gym. Dad bod ensued.

Now I am back at it and it's going better than any point in my life.

There is the aspect of muscle memory, and knowing how to work out smart, BUT....

The biggest thing for me has always been diet. I don't eat bad by any means, but I am not consistent EVERY DAY. So the best thing I have done is start buying meal prepped food. There are so many companies across the front. I buy balanced meals for $5-$7 a meal. It's insane how much I have been burning. I also am now experimenting was carb cycling. You burn so much fat, but it's not only about that. Your endurance and recovery are so much better. I am not an out of shape person, but the diet has made the difference between "looking" good and actually feeling great.

Without the diet, none of the other advice matters. So the combination of healthy balanced meals, vitamins and supps daily, have helped me feel so much healthier. The other thing when hiking - Load up on electrolytes, and avoid carbs. Carbs make you slow down/fatigue faster. Eat lots of nuts and protein while hiking. Try and keep electrolytes and snack each hour. Look up RXBAR or NutButter as snacks to take. 

Hot yoga, swimming, and cycling all burn fat and gain muscle while helping lungs and endurance. The sauna has so many clinically proven benefits.

If you want endurance on hikes... the freakin stair master!


All this is applicable for anyone in any shape. That said, you are a great weight for your height. So you can worry less about fat burn, and more about fat conversion to muscle. Diet still applies, warm up with 5 minutes of cardio, lift for 40-45min, then hit 30 more of cardio. You will be all set!


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

RandomElk16 said:


> I have weight lifted for about 9 years now. 2 years ago we were going to have a kid, I was remodeling my house, work was chaos.. Frankly I wore myself out and stopped going to the gym. Dad bod ensued.
> 
> Now I am back at it and it's going better than any point in my life.
> 
> ...


Boom! Very sound advice brother. You're 100% correct, nothing else matters if your diet is out of balance. I would also recommend hiring a nutritionist for a couple months, you'll learn a ton! Then food selection doesn't even become a second thought, you'll just know what you need and when you need it.


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## Lone_Hunter (Oct 25, 2017)

Personally, I've never been a gym rat. Whatever exercise program, I could never stick with it. As fitness goes, I've always done best by simply, doing. Personally, I've found that once i got extra weight off, fitness took care of itself by simply pushing through whatever it was that I had to do. The one exception being a recumbent bike in our living room. I use that to keep my knee strength up. I'll have my butt parked on that for an hour drinking a beer while watching the news. :roll: 

I think dropping fat is key. Where ounces are pounds and pounds are pain, getting rid of the "extra provisions" is paramount. Ditching Soda and other carbonated drinks (except for the occasional beer), for me, dropped a lot of weight. Aside from that, I just watch what I eat, and how much of it. I ditched soda, eat a burger only occasionally, I eat light at breakfast, eating a small to moderate lunch, and moderate to large dinner. :mrgreen:

I usually drop a lot of weight during any given hunting season. I tend to load up on protein drinks, protein bars, energy bars, the usual trail food. My trouble is, I don't always eat my daily 2000 calories because I'm so focused on what I'm doing that I forget to eat. This last spring turkey season, I laid down so much boot leather because of closed roads, I dropped to 160 pounds. I'm 5'10", and 45 years of age. Currently, i'm floating around 170-175 pounds. I'm also blessed with a high metabolism, so there's that. If you see some skinny F'er with a brown but quickly graying beard on the mountain, that's probably me.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

Ray said:


> Also, if you're trying to gain muscle mass, don't do tons of cardio, or else you run the risk of depleting muscle mass. You can strengthen your cardiovascular system through lifting, just superset and do little things to keep your heart rate up between sets.
> 
> If you're looking to build muscle, steer clear of steady state cardio, meaning, don't go jogging at a low to moderate pace for a prolonged period, you'll lose your hard earned gains. Rather, do HIT cardio, meaning, high intensity interval training. It's short high intense bursts. It's been proven HIT training actually burns more fat and actually builds muscle and you continue to burn calories for a longer period after your workout. Do hill sprints, I love those. Start off on a treadmill, do 15 seconds as fast paced as you can and 30 seconds walking. Do that for 15 minutes.
> 
> Then as your cardio gets better, increase to 30 seconds running, 30 walking, or even 1 minute walking. Just make sure that burst is all in.


My wife convinced me to do these HIT workouts with her to help get me in shape for this season. It is the real deal! The workout themselves are only about 30 minutes per day with 2 rest days per week and it whooped my ass into shape. Very painful for the 30 minutes though.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

3arabians said:


> My wife convinced me to do these HIT workouts with her to help get me in shape for this season. It is the real deal! The workout themselves are only about 30 minutes per day with 2 rest days per week and it whooped my ass into shape. Very painful for the 30 minutes though.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


HIT training is no joke, As an added benefit, it helps you sleep like a baby!


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## elkunited (Aug 16, 2019)

Thanks for all the advice. Some comment or two about 175 not being bad at this height, however that's not muscle on me. I need to replace some of that with muscle. I will look into these things and Ray sent you a pm. Thanks for the input everyone.


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