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Staying Fit

11 Mar 2017
@ 01:10 pm (GMT)

Lane Salvato

I turned 50 this year, and staying fit is a chore. It's harder and harder to miss a day, and the old knees are not working like they used to. Are there others of you in this group that are shall we say, "of a certain age" that do your best to stay in shape for hunting? I'd love to know what you like to do the best.

I walk a lot and do regular stretching and calisthenics. No martial arts for me as I'm too fragile in the spine for such dealings, but I've definitely considered Tai Chi.

Replies

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11 Mar 2017 @ 05:29 pm (GMT)	Quote this Paul Carty Re: Staying Fit Hi Lane, I'm still shy of 40 but unfortunately not too young to have arthritis in my knees and one hip, so yeah, I hear what you're saying. Up until fairly recently I was a middle distance runner, competed in athletics etc. I swim one or two days a week depending on when I can get to the pool which I find is good for cardiovascular fitness as well as do some calisthenics and a bit of cycling as tolerated. My experience only (I'm not an expert), but try to get some cardio in with your strength/calisthenics as it's well and good to have the strength to lug a pack and rifle up the side of a mountain but without the aerobic fitness you'll struggle to make it to the top. That might be mixing up calisthenics with a few quick hill runs, cycling or whatever. One thing you will notice is if you have a particularly hard session you'll take longer to recover, but you'll also feel really good as well. Better still, if you find a form of training you enjoy you'll have less trouble finding the motivation to train. Good luck Paul
11 Mar 2017 @ 05:53 pm (GMT)	Quote this Bryan Webster Re: Staying Fit I had the good sense to get a female Brittany 7 years ago. I have no issue at all getting outside for a 6 to 7 Km walk in the early morning and again in the evening. In spring and summer we make it more arduous (for me that is) by including the peace River breaks and each morning for several years all summer long we have done between 10 and 12 km if the weather is good and the above 6-7 if not so nice. I also have a gym and at times in the winter months when the temperature falls below -30C, I put up with the pup's insisting on a walk and get her on my treadmill. She hates the thing but follows whatever I do. I am 73 now and can thank her for keeping me fit even when I am just being lazy about going!
11 Mar 2017 @ 10:15 pm (GMT)	Quote this Andrew Murray Re: Staying Fit Hi Lane, I'm only 30 but I find the biggest difficulty is battling yourself to get motivated and do it. Regular muscle training is really important for your physical and mental health. Here is an article you might like. It doesn't suggest you need to become a body builder but it does say regular exercise, especially as your get older is really important for continued health and strength into old age. http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/05/08/3495845.htm
12 Mar 2017 @ 09:10 am (GMT)	Quote this Nathan Foster Re: Staying Fit I am a bit gutted because I lost some weight during the sit down stage of Cartridges second edition. I might start weight training soon, Steph is already into it now, loves heavy iron. Normally hard labor keeps me in shape. A heavy email loading in the mornings is the anti to this- it really zaps me, a lot of energy burned mentally as I try to help folk work through individual rifle / ammo issues. It also puts a good deal of strain on my back which has made full on training difficult. Standing in one spot at a computer desk is not my ideal solution to this, seems like going back to the club door, hard on the knees and hard to get into the zone when I need to dig deep and write something that really helps folk as per the book series, not some meaningless dribble. Once I start, I find I have to keep going and stay the course. So again, not the best for fitness. A stark contrast to what I am used to. Here is my father (on the right) from just two weeks ago. Still experimenting with the effects of gravity.
14 Mar 2017 @ 11:07 pm (GMT)	Quote this Warwick Marflitt Re: Staying Fit About 7 Years ago I lost some weight. Most of my adult life I'd been 90kg I'm 5'9. I'm now around 82 kg and best when I'm 79kgs. Hills are so much easier to climb with 11 kg less to have to lug around. I just ate less. I served my meal on a bread and butter plate. I ate less of everything and a little bit of everything. If you clench your fist and hold it in front of your stomach it fits in your gut area nicely. So I just shrank my stomach to take that much food. If I felt hungry between meals. I'd drink some water and get on with the day. I only need enough food Not more! Now I tend to graze like a deer nibble some of this and a bit of that. I eat a lot of raw food as the stomach is a large organ and the longer it grinds and gurgles on food the more energy it will use. Also eat none of the white foods, bread, sugar, potatoes, etc steamed green vegetables and a runny poached egg or 3 make a great breakfast . My work keeps me supple and reasonably fit. But being lighter is awesome.
15 Mar 2017 @ 03:03 am (GMT)	Quote this Joshua Mayfield Re: Staying Fit Good topic, Lane. I played sports in high school and stayed very active and fairly fit through my twenties. Then just before turning thirty I got married and since then we have had three kids and my work has become increasingly demanding as I've promoted. I'm 5'11" and I feel pretty good if I'm below 210. I'm hardcore triathlon fit at 180 to 185. Sadly, I checked in at the doc's office last week with 230 lbs. of what we Americans have taken to calling "dad-bod." I'm 38, I love my work, I love the time I get with my kids, and I've let my fitness go. But 230 is not acceptable and it has nothing to do with vanity. I want to be in good enough shape to enjoy the outdoors with my kids as they get older, and I'm not referring to strolls through a local park. My big obstacle, once I hammer out the time management puzzle, is a knee that I tore up pretty badly when I was 18. I'm twenty years past that injury/surgery now and am feeling severely limited regarding some of the exercises that used to be the norm for me. So my currently forming plan looks like this - calisthenics and bike/eliptical work to begin building up, progressing on to weights and running/stair climber if the knee allows.
15 Mar 2017 @ 10:54 am (GMT)	Quote this Dan Keene Re: Staying Fit Hi Guys, Yes great topic Lane. I am 52. Four years ago I started eating like Warwick and lost 20kgs (44lbs for Americans) and am now 170lbs (77 kgs for non Americans). Warwick is absolutely on the button! It is way easier to move when you get your weight down. It is scientifically proven that what you eat controls 80% of your body weight. Trying to exercise your way to weight loss will only give limited results. Do the Warwick diet! No bread, pasta, wheat, potatoes, rice or sugar and the weight falls off. If you are interested Google Marks Daily Apple for sound advice on the subject. Cheers, Dan.
17 Mar 2017 @ 05:28 pm (GMT)	Quote this Jon Short Re: Staying Fit Hi Lane, I'm 47 & I've got a bit of dogey right knee that comes & goes. I have done a fair bit of long distance training over the years which has always helped with hunting fitness. eg trail running up to 30km at one stage, multisport etc. Fitness aside, I've found that my knees are always really good after a heavy carry... like carrying a dead deer for an hour or more! (funny that) or a pack in weekend trip say 5 hrs ea way in in big country. I think weight bearing exercise can help strengthen the muscles around it (stabilising it) & shock your knees etc into getting it's shit together sometimes. Other than that, supplements can help. Fish oil capsules, Glucosamine & Chondroiten(spell?) capsules & also big Magnesium 550Mg tablets are good everyday choices. Re Dan's & Warwick's suggestion re paleo/primal type diet... I've done the same almost a year ago & never looked back. I make bone broth & I know Dan does too, & that is full of everything you need for your joints in big quantities. Far better than supplements I'd imagine. Thanks Dan by the way! Cheers, Jon
30 Apr 2017 @ 10:13 am (GMT)	Quote this Andrew Murray Re: Staying Fit I have just purchased some free weights and and a rack as well as an exercise bike for home. It cost about as much as half of my annual gym membership. Plus it's at home. No travelling! Great option to keep up some regular exercise in a particularly busy time of life.
01 May 2017 @ 08:47 pm (GMT)	Quote this Warwick Marflitt Re: Staying Fit Hey you Bone broth Brewer's. Could you post your yummiest recipes for it in the recipes section. Cheers guys.
02 May 2017 @ 01:48 pm (GMT)	Quote this Dan Keene Re: Staying Fit Hey Warwick, Done! But what is yours? Cheers,Dan.
09 Oct 2017 @ 09:29 pm (GMT)	Quote this Warwick Marflitt Re: Staying Fit All right gents and ladies. ..... update reports on the personal improvements you have made? If you want to live a good life. You have to make..... Good life choices...... Why are easy things hard to do? Facebook? ??????? Na ditched it 4yrs ago The easiest mess you'll ever clean up, is the one you don't make.........................l
10 Oct 2017 @ 09:04 am (GMT)	Quote this Andrew Murray Re: Staying Fit Truthfully mate I have been neglecting my exercise. It's been a rough patch with our family routine presently and exercise was the first to go. We have been making in roads on the path back to a healthy routine but it's ultimately at the mercy of our youngest child. She still isn't sleeping properly so we are up twice a night to put her back to bed. Teething and the like. I have been trying to stretch though. It's not full on exercise but it's a great start in the midst of a tough time.
10 Oct 2017 @ 10:40 am (GMT)	Quote this Dan Keene Re: Staying Fit I have found a great way to squeeze exercise into a busy life. Every time I think about posting here on the website I go and do some push ups, squats and chins instead! (The post probably wasn't important anyway) Obviously I have made an exception this time. Better go do some to make up for it! Cheers,Dan.
10 Oct 2017 @ 05:08 pm (GMT)	Quote this Greg Quick Re: Staying Fit Hey Lane. I'm only shy of 40 but I've been either in the military or construction since I was 18. It's not the year of the car it's the miles you put on it. I get sore back and hands from working with them all day long. In my opinion the best thing that's made me in best hunting shape is what we referred to in the military as "you train like you fight". I love back packing in the summers and when hunting season is close I start wearing my exact hunting pack on my back up and down stairs and hikes at the base of the mountains I live at.. Weight training and cardio is great foundation but it doesn't get you in hunting shape. The same goes vice versa. You ever see a guy who's training for a power lift contest go hunting in the mountains to prepare for it? No, he trains like he fights too. Hours of dead lifting the max amount of weight he can. Just like nothing in the gym or running on a nice flat road surface will prepare you for side stepping mountains, climbing up over rocks, down rocky slides or trucking through knee deep mud all day with a pack and rifle. Weights are good for core conditioning to help stabilize that pack and rifle on your back but only training like you fight will keep you going longer and stronger in the field. That's just my two cents.
11 Oct 2017 @ 12:24 pm (GMT)	Quote this Lane Salvato Re: Staying Fit Greg, that's good advice for sure. No mountains around here, but lots of plains trails, farmland, and Palo Duro Canyon not too far away. Thanks for your service BTW.
11 Oct 2017 @ 12:36 pm (GMT)	Quote this Bob Mavin Re: Staying Fit Ha ha I'm 70 and worn out from hard work & injuries, but I shoot more critters than most as I hunt very slowly and sit and watch a lot. I still manage to get up into the high country (slowly)
11 Oct 2017 @ 08:28 pm (GMT)	Quote this Rob Kennedy Re: Staying Fit Just to add to what Jon Short said. To stop knee and hip problems ( all joints, I guess) I was told to have chicken soup regularly, but made from a whole chicken and do not remove the layer of fat floating on the top but stir it in and drink the lot. I was told that if you do this you will never need a knee or hip replacement. Another friend told me that he sprinkles powdered gelatin on his breakfast cereal. We modern people probably should get back to making and eating pork brawn (called - head cheese) made from a pig's head ( a loaf of meat and gelatiny). Why waste a perfectly good pig's head?
11 Oct 2017 @ 08:47 pm (GMT)	Quote this Warwick Marflitt Re: Staying Fit Bob. Your walking at the same pace that the deer graze and browse at. Because you're blending into the mood and pace of the natural surroundings. .... without interference . You get the rewards. We must be like a blown big block V8 coming down the street. Fast and loud...... to the deer in the bush.
07 Dec 2017 @ 05:12 am (GMT)	Quote this Ricardo Laborin Re: Staying Fit Gentlemen, using the term loosely (hehe). Please take a peek at this, it seems to be the bees knees in terms of progression, purpose and functionality: https://www.movnat.com https://www.youtube.com/user/MovNat/videos The coolest thing is, this is the "Factory Setup" of our bodies, no equipment needed, just a body and rocks, logs, trees. This has REALLY upped my fitness game while hunting, and I've lost 20kg in the last 5 years with it. Saludos!
07 Dec 2017 @ 05:13 am (GMT)	Quote this Ricardo Laborin Re: Staying Fit ANYONE who has a question about this, or needs instruction, email me: [email protected]
18 Dec 2017 @ 05:57 pm (GMT)	Quote this Jon Short Re: Staying Fit Bang on the money Warwick!
14 Jan 2018 @ 08:35 am (GMT)	Quote this Ricardo Laborin Re: Staying Fit Double weight, with 24kg kettlebell in the back and 12kg human in the front....
22 Nov 2018 @ 10:29 pm (GMT)	Quote this Warwick Marflitt Re: Staying Fit Hey you lot. I was making lunch today and thought I'd Share this breadless sangwidge with you all One whole lettuce leaf. Line inside with two slices of cold meat (Beef) some thin slices of tomato raw sliced mushroom. Celery, raw asparagus chopped. Sundried tomato. Splash of balsamic vinegar grind of pepper. Some green olives instead of salt. sliced pickles. And sin of sins a teaspoon of mayo dressing roll up the lettuce squeezing it tight. Open ya gobb n eat😆😊
29 Nov 2018 @ 09:22 am (GMT)	Quote this Dan Keene Re: Staying Fit Hey Warwick, Great looking sandwich and truck to match!! Oooo I could eat that just now! On day 4 of a 5 day fast. You may want to put some salt on the next one though. Here is why https://youtu.be/OoeAJq0Qv1Y Cheers,Dan.