Training

[Deertick]

For those interested, here\'s what I consider a great article about why strength is so much more important that \"cardio\" training ... and I think it\'s particularly adaptable to functional elk hunting fitness.

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[cohunter14]

Good article John...although, I will argue that endurance training is probably going to be more beneficial to elk hunting than strength training. While both definitely come in handy, endurance training will allow you to continually get up and down the mountain. Strength helps in those situations, but endurance is more important in my mind. When it\'s all said and done, I think a good balance between the two is the way to go. With all of this said, I HATE endurance training :crazy:

 

[Deertick]

I think a lot of people hate it, and they discount what strength does for \"endurance\", which is quite a bit.

I don\'t bring this up to say that cardio is useless, but to point out that for many people, as the article says, measure exercise in \"minutes\" rather than other, more useful terms, like pounds, miles, elevation gain, etc. Lots of people do cardio simply out of some warped sense of guilt, and I bring this up to point out that not only is it \"OK\" to mix it up a little, it may even be \"OK\" to have cardio be a smaller, not larger, portion of your workout.

Conversely, as a physician, I have to say that the vast majority of sports related injuries I see are from endurance training ... over-use injuries. You can definitely over-do \"safe, good-form running\". Resistance training decreases injury risk; the same can\'t be said of running.

 

[cohunter14]

What about sitting on the couch watching sports? Any injuries from that?? :lol:

Personally, my favorite way to get \'endurance\' training is to mix it in with the strength portion. You can do this by taking shorter breaks in between reps or even by doing circuit training. I can get myself breathing a lot harder doing this as well, which can help with the hunting portion.

 

[mtnmutt]

This past month, I switched to more strength training that I can do in 5-15 minutes during work hours several times a day. Sitting for work was getting bad for my hip. This is my first year doing much strength training.

My evenings and weekends have been filled with getting my house ready to sell, therefore, long cardio workouts had to take a backseat for now. It ended up being a blessing. I have seen a big improvement in muscle mass and reduced hip pain.

I also find balance exercises help with my creek crossings and sidehilling.

Long daily walks/hikes help me to last 7-9 days. They are more timeconsuming than going for a run or biking. I don\'t get injured walking/hiking. They are good preparation for elk hunting. I will resume those soon.

I am not a fan of endurance training. I have had a few lasting injuries these past 2 years, so I switched to building muscle that helps prevent further injury.