Getting back in shape

DeerMadness

Long Time Member
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I have no idea what you guys over 60 are doing to be in shape for hunting. I've had health problems off and on for the last 12 or more years. I haven't felt like climbing the steep mountains like I used to but I do backpack but at a slow pace.
I have been at the gym for 4 months now at 4 or 5 times a week and 6 some weeks. Legs, back, arms, chest , etc and cardio always. Well, I hit 165 floors on the Stairmaster tonight which is the best I've done since 2008 I think.
Last week I did a 90 minute hike with a backpack and did food with my time . It makes me a little nervous wondering when something will happen but maybe 2022 is the year.
Going on a strenuous 12 mile round trip backpack trip in June sometime with a friend who is 20 years my junior. Thats when I will see how much I have improved if I can at least keep up with him.
 
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Stay consistent year-round. I supplement long hikes with snowshoeing in the winter and with longer inside track walking with my training 35lbsdead weight backpack on and it certainly helps.


Keep your weight down year-round so you're not losing the same 10-15 winter fat pounds every spring!




Robb
 
I see a lot of the older firefighters take advantage of the sauna with their routine and swear by, it 2-3 times a week for recovery.
 
I'm 48, so not at your age range, however what I do is just stay active. I do whatever it takes to keep the strength levels up, so I piggyback my son up and down a couple of flights of stairs for several sets. I do this twice a week. It just makes climbing the hills much easier. Or just load up a backpack with 50lbs and hit the stairmaster. Create any kind of resistance when walking/climbing.

Your backpacking trip is coming up very soon. Not enough time to really get into hardcore training. I think at this point, the key is to pay attention to your diet leading up to, and during the backpacking trip. Quick digesting carbs for activities and high protein for recovery. Rough rule of thumb is to consume 1gram of protein per body weight. Of course, lots of water and maintain your electrolytes level.

Another important tip - tell that young friend of yours to chill out and use your pace when climbing ;)
 
Ever heard of road hunting?

Every year I'm sorer and slower than the year before. Not to mention the possibility of an injury. Broke my ankle a few years back in June. Had a Nevada elk hunt upcoming in early September that I had been applying for for 19 years. I had to sit on my a$$ for 6 weeks before I could even try to get back in shape, and even then I couldn't do more than just walk. So.. it was August before I could begin climbing the hills to even try to get into some kind of hunting shape. Luckily for me, I had been staying in pretty good shape prior to my ankle injury. Also was very lucky that it was only a stress fracture.

My point is: The older you get, the harder it is to get back into shape if you get even a little out of shape. Just stay in shape as much as you can if that's possible. Don't bite off more than you can chew! Your mind will tell you "yes", but your body says "no"! Lol. At 70, I can still go. Just not as fast and far. I know my capabilities and try to stay within those parameters.

Oh. And bring plenty of Aleve.
 
I've never gained weight for some reason. I don't even think about my diet at 73. I know my legs are out of shape and I need to fix that starting soon. I just hand split 2 cord of dry hardwood firewood with an 8lb. mall and didn't get sore. I better just stay in camp and tend the fire. ?
 
I'm 48, so not at your age range, however what I do is just stay active. I do whatever it takes to keep the strength levels up, so I piggyback my son up and down a couple of flights of stairs for several sets. I do this twice a week. It just makes climbing the hills much easier. Or just load up a backpack with 50lbs and hit the stairmaster. Create any kind of resistance when walking/climbing.

Your backpacking trip is coming up very soon. Not enough time to really get into hardcore training. I think at this point, the key is to pay attention to your diet leading up to, and during the backpacking trip. Quick digesting carbs for activities and high protein for recovery. Rough rule of thumb is to consume 1gram of protein per body weight. Of course, lots of water and maintain your electrolytes level.

Another important tip - tell that young friend of yours to chill out and use your pace when climbing ;)
Thanks ! I guess I will see how it goes. I can hack squat 460 3 x 10 reps now. I guess I will put 35 lbs on my pack when I climb Menan Butte next week. I will wait until June 23rd to do my first trip. That is a month away which will put me down to 220 lbs. I haven't been less than 200 lbs since 1980.
I hope sharing this will help someone else who wants to get there again.
Backpacking is easier than hiking up nasty ridges to hunt so I do know I have a long ways to get ready for hunting . By Deer season I will have 7 1/2 months of really changing my life .
 
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When I was 25, I hunted with my FIL, who was about 20 years older. He commented about keeping up. I didn't think much of it. When I was about 45, I hunted with a friend who was about 25. Even though I was running half marathons and marathons at the time, I finally understood what he meant!

So, don't judge yourself by someone 20 years younger than you. If you're carrying a pack like that for 12 miles, you're ahead of most people!
 
I have no idea what you guys over 60 are doing to be in shape for hunting. I've had health problems off and on for the last 12 or more years. I haven't felt like climbing the steep mountains like I used to but I do backpack but at a slow pace.
I have been at the gym for 4 months now at 4 or 5 times a week and 6 some weeks. Legs, back, arms, chest , etc and cardio always. Well, I hit 165 floors on the Stairmaster tonight which is the best I've done since 2008 I think.
Last week I did a 90 minute hike with a backpack and did food with my time . It makes me a little nervous wondering when something will happen but maybe 2022 is the year.
Going on a strenuous 12 mile round trip backpack trip in June sometime with a friend who is 20 years my junior. Thats when I will see how much I have improved if I can at least keep up with him.
DM, I bet you are in better shape than a lot of guys on this board.
 
You don’t need to get there fast, just need to get there. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve killed a buck guys have blown by “getting there”

I used to be one of those guys. Then I realized the old slow guys were slaying it
So true, especially while hunting! There are times when you have to move, but 99% of the time when you are hunting slower is way better, after blowing out countless animals it is finally starting to stick with me.
 
So true, especially while hunting! There are times when you have to move, but 99% of the time when you are hunting slower is way better, after blowing out countless animals it is finally starting to stick with me.
A trainer told me tonight that by 6 months I will really be noticing it very well in two more months. I unloaded two yards of topsoil today, built a raised bed 30'x 20" wide and 12" deep using 2"x12" x16' boards. Helped the wife get tomatoes transplanted . Then I made it to the gym at 7 and did cardio and legs !
Feeling a little sunburn tonight.
 
I have no idea what you guys over 60 are doing to be in shape for hunting. I've had health problems off and on for the last 12 or more years. I haven't felt like climbing the steep mountains like I used to but I do backpack but at a slow pace.
I have been at the gym for 4 months now at 4 or 5 times a week and 6 some weeks. Legs, back, arms, chest , etc and cardio always. Well, I hit 165 floors on the Stairmaster tonight which is the best I've done since 2008 I think.
Last week I did a 90 minute hike with a backpack and did food with my time . It makes me a little nervous wondering when something will happen but maybe 2022 is the year.
Going on a strenuous 12 mile round trip backpack trip in June sometime with a friend who is 20 years my junior. Thats when I will see how much I have improved if I can at least keep up with him.
Cardio, cardio, cardio, at 56 my days of lifting weights are over due to shoulder, hand and elbow surgeries. I get up at 4 every morning, do 2 miles then come back and swim for an hour, wait 15 minutes after swimming then get into the sauna. A few days a week I will hit the hot tub after my workout. I work on the yard and at the shop most days to stay active. It’s not easy being retired, there’s lots of television to watch and good food to eat. The old lady accuses me of drinking beer all day so sometimes I start in the morning just to prove her right.
 
I just turned 69 and would encourage you younger guys to keep the weight off and stay in shape for hunting. The day will come faster than you think when you can no longer backpack 10 miles into the wilderness and hunt. I'm still out in the woods hunting every fall but gave up on wilderness hunting when I turned 60. I really got out of shape and gained weight the last few years and decided to start working out every day and loss at least 50 pounds that will put me at my playing weight when I played football. I'm looking forward to spending many more hunting seasons in the woods.
 
So true, especially while hunting! There are times when you have to move, but 99% of the time when you are hunting slower is way better, after blowing out countless animals it is finally starting to stick with me.
But I have to be able to climb to places where they are to be able to shoot. I dont send a bullet over 450 yards.
 
Ever heard of road hunting?

Every year I'm sorer and slower than the year before. Not to mention the possibility of an injury. Broke my ankle a few years back in June. Had a Nevada elk hunt upcoming in early September that I had been applying for for 19 years. I had to sit on my a$$ for 6 weeks before I could even try to get back in shape, and even then I couldn't do more than just walk. So.. it was August before I could begin climbing the hills to even try to get into some kind of hunting shape. Luckily for me, I had been staying in pretty good shape prior to my ankle injury. Also was very lucky that it was only a stress fracture.

My point is: The older you get, the harder it is to get back into shape if you get even a little out of shape. Just stay in shape as much as you can if that's possible. Don't bite off more than you can chew! Your mind will tell you "yes", but your body says "no"! Lol. At 70, I can still go. Just not as fast and far. I know my capabilities and try to stay within those parameters.

Oh. And bring plenty of Aleve.
It does take constant effort and when surgery or back pains start I lose quickly and then hard to get motivated again. I spent 3 years once of non stop working out. That was 2005 through 2008.
I was 47 when I started that phase. In 2006 I drove to Utah and climbed Mt Timp and it was easy though when I returned to the car I felt sick for a day or so.
My legs are rock hard now but I know my stamina has a long ways to go.
I had an Uncle who could hunt Sheep like a young man when he was 65 and I never could keep up with him. The reason was he could drive 10 minutes and hike to 10000' and he did so many times a year. I have to drive 45 minutes to do that and then it turns out to 4 hours or more of my day.
 
Cardio isn't the only way to improve heart function. Your heart will not care much what exercise you focus on; either aerobic or anaerobic...as long as your training heart rate is within a certain range, usually dictated by age.

Aerobic training places a volume overload on the LV; while strength training places a pressure overload on the LV. Either way, your left ventricle will increase in efficiency (LV is designed to push oxygenated blood to the body). Aeorobic centered folks typically show an increase in LV size (of the chamber itself), while weight trained folks will see an increase in thickness of the LV walls. Either version of training will show an increase in cardiac muscle within the LV.
 
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You don’t need to get there fast, just need to get there. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve killed a buck guys have blown by “getting there”

I used to be one of those guys. Then I realized the old slow guys were slaying it
Well I am now one of the old slow guys! Hope I can get in good enough shape to find a bull as old and slow as I am this fall?
 
Cardio isn't the only way to improve heart function. Your heart will not care much what exercise you focus on; either aerobic or anaerobic...as long as your training heart rate is within a certain range, usually dictated by age.

Aerobic training places a volume overload on the LV; while strength training places a pressure overload on the LV. Either way, your left ventricle will increase in efficiency (LV is designed to push oxygenated blood to the body). Aeorobic centered folks typically show an increase in LV size (of the chamber itself), while weight trained folks will see an increase in thickness of the LV walls. Either version of training will show an increase in cardiac muscle within the LV.
Do you think an older guy that does anaerobic training can keep up with the same age person who does cardio ?
 
Last time my T was ok but maybe I could use it now...
I go through "Ageless", they do a thorough blood screening including prostate, cholesterol, kidney function, etc, etc.
They keep my T above 800, and also give me HCG to keep my own T levels going and also an estrogen suppressor.
 
Right next to the post office is a place to exercise. I've never been in it but there is a big parking lot that serves both places. When I go to the post office all the close places to park are taken up with people who are in exercising. I have to park far away because all the people exercising are too lazy to walk more than about 20 feet if they don't have to. They have one handicap spot in front of the post office and sometimes they even use that.
 
Do you think an older guy that does anaerobic training can keep up with the same age person who does cardio ?
IMO, I don't think so. Anerobic is just really intense cardio. Not something one can do for long periods of time. Anerobic will help improve fitness after a good aerobic base has been established.

Weight/strength training the way most people do it is not cardio, which is do a set, chit-chat for a couple minutes, grab a drink of water. If the sets and reps are done back to back and quickly, with no breaks, it can approach a cardio type workout.
 
IMO, I don't think so. Anerobic is just really intense cardio. Not something one can do for long periods of time. Anerobic will help improve fitness after a good aerobic base has been established.

Weight/strength training the way most people do it is not cardio, which is do a set, chit-chat for a couple minutes, grab a drink of water. If the sets and reps are done back to back and quickly, with no breaks, it can approach a cardio type workout.
I usually work on StairMaster or treadmill on Cardio setting at 4 or 5 years younger in age than I really am because it isn't enough if I use my age of 63. Then I start my workout for legs, chest, arms and back ( different days ) and then finish with ab exercises. Then I go home and drink protein powder.
 
Do you think an older guy that does anaerobic training can keep up with the same age person who does cardio ?
Yes, I do in terms of heart function during hunting events. There have been university human subjects committee approved studies which indicate that, amongst trained athletes in each sport regime, each have exhibited statistically the same ejection fraction (a higher percentage = better LV function).

There is at least one study which indicates the increase in ejection fraction percentage (the amount of blood ejected from the LV) is statistically the same for those in the anaerobic or aerobic programs they were put on. Keep in mind there are other tests to determine cardiac function; ejection fraction is the one I chose.

I don't have the book in front of me, it was written by Fred Hatfield, a former squat world record holder, (1100 lbs if I recall correctly) but, a PhD also.
In his book he tells of his study injecting 20 millicuries of a dye (cant remember which dye) into the thighs of 20+ willing subjects for each group. Each group (elite weight trainers and elite runners) indicate an ejection fraction with no statistical difference between the two. This is not proof, of course, but is evidence that either mode of training can produce an increase in ejection fraction/cardiac efficiency.

I cannot disagree with what Joe2Kool said either, except for this: " ...it can approach a cardio type workout." I believe it will equal a cardio type workout for the reasons stated above...proper, at target heart rate strength training (for 30 continuous minutes or so) will result in a statistically equal ejection fraction for that of an aerobically trained person. Either way of training (weights>>increased thickness of LV walls) aerobic>>bigger left ventricle chamber will result in an increase of muscle for the LV.

Of course a runner will most likely always outrun a weight trained person. And, conversely, a runner likely won't outlift a strength trained person.

Years ago, I was experiencing chest pain. USN docs sent me to a cardiac doc, pretty famous in the Reno area. Good looking woman, not afraid to speak her mind. Anyway, I showed up to her appointment and saw her...6' tall, wearing leopard skin yoga pants. She asked about stress test protocol, and I said I was familiar with most of them as I used to give them. I did my thing on the treadmill and she said that I was in good shape for a guy who was 45. She asked me how much I ran. I told her three miles. She thought I meant 3 miles a day. Nope, three miles a year for the sake of 2X a year Navy fitness test.

Turned out to be GERD, not any cardiac problems.

If I could run on one foot without leg pain, I would. So, I bike here and there, then get beat up with some free weights 2-3 times a week.


I am certain that IF you keep your age predicted THR..target heart rate...within a certain range (below your max heart rate), that your heart will increase in efficiency. But, as Joe2Kool says, the heart rate must be consistent throughout your workout.

220 - (your age) = your age predicted max HR. Take 50% - 85% of that number and you will get your THR...training heart rate.


 
I am certain that IF you keep your age predicted THR..target heart rate...within a certain range (below your max heart rate), that your heart will increase in efficiency. ...
That's the bottom line. Get your HR in the zone and cardiovascular fitness will improve. Over time, you'll have to work harder to get into the zone though.

Hey DeerMadness, I looked back at your original post. Looks like you're on the right track. As we age (I'm 55), our max HR declines, and our fitness will directionally decline. Doesn't mean we're out of shape, just we can't do the things we could 20, 30, 40 years ago!! Well, maybe we can, just a little slower, or with less weight! :)
 
Any of you guys use a FitBit to monitor your HR? These 2 pictures show an average day. Now I know why I don’t have energy to without after work at 59 years old.
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88E4B47A-ABCD-4D63-8E9E-503390D4A2F3.png

Mainly goi if years ago to monitor my sleep. Or lack of.
 
I go through "Ageless", they do a thorough blood screening including prostate, cholesterol, kidney function, etc, etc.
They keep my T above 800, and also give me HCG to keep my own T levels going and also an estrogen suppressor.
It’s all making sense now. ???
 
That's the bottom line. Get your HR in the zone and cardiovascular fitness will improve. Over time, you'll have to work harder to get into the zone though.

Hey DeerMadness, I looked back at your original post. Looks like you're on the right track. As we age (I'm 55), our max HR declines, and our fitness will directionally decline. Doesn't mean we're out of shape, just we can't do the things we could 20, 30, 40 years ago!! Well, maybe we can, just a little slower, or with less weight! :)
I just read and it says did " food" with my time not "good" as was intended. I guess I need a proof reader more than I do a lower heart rate, lol.
 
I started back with my 5-6 hikes per week about a month ago.

It's amazing what has happened to my times and endurance.
Last night, I did 3.1 miles (out and back) with 1550' elevation gain in the first 1.5 miles in an hour and 23 minutes total! Up in 47 and down in 36 minutes.
A month ago it would have taken over 2 hours.

Now if I'll stay on it until I can do that this fall with a rifle in my hands.

Zeke
 
I have a Garmin watch that does the same thing. Can't say I've ever used it much for monitoring HR. I mainly have it for runs. But, after your post, I checked mine and it has daily, weekly, etc. charts.

Looks like you're mostly over 100 if you're awake. Does it match your manually measured HR?
 
I just read and it says did " food" with my time not "good" as was intended. I guess I need a proof reader more than I do a lower heart rate, lol.
I read that thinking you carried all the food with you that you would normally take for several days of backpacking so you could get used to carrying the extra weight!! :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
Tired today, tennis elbow and knee pain. I walked StairMaster .
When I started I could manage 36 steps a minute for maybe 10 minutes then back down to 28 steps a minute to stay under 140 heart rate. Then after a few more weeks I could do 44 steps a minute for about 10 minutes then have to drop to 36 to keep heart rate at 136 bpm my age goal.
Tonite it took me 16.5 minutes at 52 steps a minute to hit 140 heart rate. I dropped down to 44 and my BPM would drop to 134 so then I would return to 52 steps per min. I made it to 64 minute total time and 186 floors climbed . There is 17 steps for floor . I haven't hit this much on the StairMaster since 2009.
Time to go with my backpack at 30 lbs for a 3 to 4 hour hike. I will post back on this after my next hike.
 
I have no idea what you guys over 60 are doing to be in shape for hunting. I've had health problems off and on for the last 12 or more years. I haven't felt like climbing the steep mountains like I used to but I do backpack but at a slow pace.
I have been at the gym for 4 months now at 4 or 5 times a week and 6 some weeks. Legs, back, arms, chest , etc and cardio always. Well, I hit 165 floors on the Stairmaster tonight which is the best I've done since 2008 I think.
Last week I did a 90 minute hike with a backpack and did food with my time . It makes me a little nervous wondering when something will happen but maybe 2022 is the year.
Going on a strenuous 12 mile round trip backpack trip in June sometime with a friend who is 20 years my junior. Thats when I will see how much I have improved if I can at least keep up with him.
My old man is 61 and he works out everyday. He does simple things at home like push ups, dips, sit ups, crutches, curls, and he walks 3-5 miles a day. He has been doing this since i was born. He is getting slower on the mountain and he has had some severe health issues that forced him to retire but he is doing fairly well health wise right now. The working out has helped him stay focus and still be able to hunt. Doctors are surprised he is still as active as he is and my mother makes sure he is never alone on the mountain. My brothers and I make sure we are up there with him at all times which is ok for me. Keep up the hard work. It pays off and is worth it.
 

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