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What’s your workout routine?

Amarty734

Amarty734

Active Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2019
Messages
128
Location
Southeast Michigan
What are you doing to prepare your body for saddle hunting/hunting season? Just wondering if there’s anything I can add to my daily routine to help me out in the field
 
It really varies greatly with your wants and needs. If your going to be trekking to and fro out west then that’s a whole other animal then walking in within a mile of a vehicle. There’s a few good hunting specific guys on YouTube that touch on this. But the newest must do for most trainers is HIIT training. High intensity interval training. And this can go from beginners to damn near impossible to complete. There are also good body weight HIIT workouts as well. Again YouTube is a great source and you can often quickly separate junk from good information.
 
Leg strength and cardio are my 2 major focus points. As a leaner that stays all day in the tree it’s important to keep good leg strength. Cardio certainly helps making those long hikes in and out more efficient.
I also purchased a pull-up bar that mounts in the door frame at the office. A few times a day I get up from the computer and hit a few sets. I went from barely getting 5 total the first time to doing sets of 12 in a couple months. Other than that I’m just watching the sugar and carb intake but nothing overly strict.


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On a weekly basis I try to get in the following:
- hike 10-15 miles with full hunting gear, another 5-10 miles walking the dogs with my wife
- climb to hunting height ~20 times with all hunting gear on
- lift weights 3 times
- 700 pushups
- 2 interval training sessions (bike and/or rowing machine)
- 50 arrows at least 4 times
 
I don’t necessarily train for deer season, but my usual routine does help immensely. My weekly gym schedule is push, pull, legs. On leg day I jump on the stair master. 10-15 min at level high will get the HR going and knees shaking. My off days include more cardio like walking, jogging, or biking and finish up with abs and core. I’m not a young buck anymore (pun intended) so no more heavy weights. More hypertrophy workouts for me now.
 
I train jiu jitsu and muy thai. I will also go up to the local gym and play basketball. That keeps me in decent shape. I used to weight train but I started getting injured. Now I focus on these activities and stretch often.
 
So in all my years hunting I never did any sort of specific training or preparing for the season but I've always kept in shape working out with weights, martial arts and triathlons until family and life slowly ate away at my "me" time thru the years. Now I am a few months short of hitting the big 5-0 and my first full season saddle hunting so I've been strapping a 36 pound pack to my back and hiking 3 miles up and down a 1200' long hillside with a 200' change in elevation 3 or 4 days a week. It's funny that I will be carrying a quarter of the weight and crap that I used to but training as If it was more!
 
Started riding my bike again. Hadn’t ridden in 2 or 3 years and went a mile or two the other night, over a hill and back, and was out of breath. Didn’t want to be out of shape, so went and rode again last night, went 11 miles that time. Gonna get back into riding at night (while it’s still hot during the day) just to stay in shape.


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just started jiu jitsu and getting back into crossfit/weight training.

work from home so easy for me to get sedentary, put a kettle bell next to the door I have to swing each time I walk by.

also been using the kettle bell for "fatigue" adrenaline mimicking while I shoot my bow. not every time but sometimes.
 
Run anywhere from 10-20 miles per week and do “Murph” type workouts 2-3 times a week. Not a real strict schedule but I always get the work in. One area that I think a lot of saddle hunters(myself included) overlook is flexibility and mobility. I’ve been trying to incorporate more stretching, mobility and core exercises.
 
Monday: run
Tuesday: weights (mostly legs)
Wednesday: bike, swim, or hike with pack
Thursday: more weights
Friday: run
Saturday: drink
Sunday: recover
 
I go in cycles. I go west every other year so I go much harder the 12 months leading to it.....my buddy leaves next week for CO so it's gym time.

Besides that I'll mix in a little running, biking, lifting. I play club lacrosse in the summer so that helps with stamina. As said....stretching and being hydrated is super important as we age.

I'm trying to nail down my diet as I'm not a big guy. If I go out west at 145#, I'll come home around 135#. Hard for me to keep weight on. I fart and burn 200 calories...lol.
 
Daily in season 20-30 min on the elliptical then go out and shoot 20-30 arrows while heart rate is still up.

Off season in the winter elliptical spin bike kettle bells and push ups.
 
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