Posted: 10/9/2013 9:56:46 AM EDT
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I thought my cardio was in pretty decent shape until last week on a deer hunt I was getting winded too quickly. I had to pass up a shot due to not being able to get my heart rate down quick enough after an exhausting stalk.
Elevation not a factor. Home is at 4400 feet, hunting ground is around 4500 - 5000 feet. I lead a pretty active life and am on my feet most of the day. Stalking out here is measured in miles, with lots of elevation changes. Up the hill, down the hill. Repeat. Hills range from 50 feet up to 500 feet up. Many times you may only have a few seconds to catch your wind before attempting a precision shot on a moving target after marching a few hundred yards straight uphill with rifle and pack. Anyway, we are heading back out in about 2 weeks and I want to be as prepared physically as possible. Wondering if I have any options to improve my cardio in such a short time frame. Really anything at this point will help, but I'm looking for the most rapid improvement possible. Faster recovery I guess is what I really am after. Any suggestions? Limited home equipment consists of an elliptical machine and a pull up bar. I'm thinking of tabata as my free time and available daylight is limited. Thanks in advance. |
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I thought my cardio was in pretty decent shape until last week on a deer hunt I was getting winded too quickly. I had to pass up a shot due to not being able to get my heart rate down quick enough after an exhausting stalk. Your issue is not "cardio", at least not wholly. The problem is rooted in activity-specific fitness. If you were a kayaker and the only endurance work you ever did was paddling, you could have a great VO2max, low resting HR, and high altitude hiking with a pack would still kick your ass. If you want to become more fit at a given activity, doing that specific activity will provide the greatest benefit. If you can't specifically replicate an activity, try to get as close as you can. Since it may be hard to duplicate walking up and down steep terrain carrying a pack and rifle, I'd recommend running, fast walking, and some time on a stair master or a steeply inclined treadmill as having the most similarity. If you can do the running and fast walking on hills some of the time, that would be great. Outside of that, maybe some hard cycling, box jumps, burpees, etc. Endurance fitness is primarily in the skeletal muscles, not the heart (cardio). To gain endurance, you need to increase mitochondrial and capillary density in the working muscles. The term "cardio" leads folks to make assumptions that aren't true. |
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If you want to become more fit at a given activity, doing that specific activity will provide the greatest benefit. If you can't specifically replicate an activity, try to get as close as you can..... Quoted:
Quoted:
I thought my cardio was in pretty decent shape until last week on a deer hunt I was getting winded too quickly. I had to pass up a shot due to not being able to get my heart rate down quick enough after an exhausting stalk. If you want to become more fit at a given activity, doing that specific activity will provide the greatest benefit. If you can't specifically replicate an activity, try to get as close as you can..... +1 OP: Fast hike up and down hills before or after work. Wear a 20lb pack and carry a gallon of fluids. Use a headlamp if you have to and carry additional fluids if you want to drink. Hike 5 miles daily for 12 days and you should be prepared your next hunt. Good Luck. |
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Quoted: Thank you everyone. There is a hill a few hundred feet in elevation close to home that now has my name on it. Put 20 pounds of water bottles in my pack and fast hike it - over and over again. There's a super steep one here that I've been working on. No backpack, but I run it. A half mile to a mile on the nearby streets to warm up, then it's up that monster. I can only get about 3/4 of the way up before I'm spent, then I turn around and walk back down. At the bottom, no rest just turn and run up again. Five times and I'm ready to puke. I run another mile afterwards just to loosen everything up and cool down a bit, all told it's about 30 min from stretching to finish.
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I recently went to mountain warfare training school. I'm 32. I fucking destroyed all my boys. I mean they literally could not keep up, this was at 7-9k an we're all from sea level. Up hill with packs for days at a time with little sleep...horrible terrain. I accidentally dropped my marines on a couple occasions.
My workouts were heavy squats, presses deadlifts and high intensity intervals/crossfit. Ymmv, but IMO you need strong legs in the mountains and IMO long sessions of endurance work is overrated for most people. |
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Quoted:
Your issue is not "cardio", at least not wholly. The problem is rooted in activity-specific fitness. If you were a kayaker and the only endurance work you ever did was paddling, you could have a great VO2max, low resting HR, and high altitude hiking with a pack would still kick your ass. If you want to become more fit at a given activity, doing that specific activity will provide the greatest benefit. If you can't specifically replicate an activity, try to get as close as you can. Since it may be hard to duplicate walking up and down steep terrain carrying a pack and rifle, I'd recommend running, fast walking, and some time on a stair master or a steeply inclined treadmill as having the most similarity. If you can do the running and fast walking on hills some of the time, that would be great. Outside of that, maybe some hard cycling, box jumps, burpees, etc. Endurance fitness is primarily in the skeletal muscles, not the heart (cardio). To gain endurance, you need to increase mitochondrial and capillary density in the working muscles. The term "cardio" leads folks to make assumptions that aren't true. Quoted:
Quoted:
I thought my cardio was in pretty decent shape until last week on a deer hunt I was getting winded too quickly. I had to pass up a shot due to not being able to get my heart rate down quick enough after an exhausting stalk. Your issue is not "cardio", at least not wholly. The problem is rooted in activity-specific fitness. If you were a kayaker and the only endurance work you ever did was paddling, you could have a great VO2max, low resting HR, and high altitude hiking with a pack would still kick your ass. If you want to become more fit at a given activity, doing that specific activity will provide the greatest benefit. If you can't specifically replicate an activity, try to get as close as you can. Since it may be hard to duplicate walking up and down steep terrain carrying a pack and rifle, I'd recommend running, fast walking, and some time on a stair master or a steeply inclined treadmill as having the most similarity. If you can do the running and fast walking on hills some of the time, that would be great. Outside of that, maybe some hard cycling, box jumps, burpees, etc. Endurance fitness is primarily in the skeletal muscles, not the heart (cardio). To gain endurance, you need to increase mitochondrial and capillary density in the working muscles. The term "cardio" leads folks to make assumptions that aren't true. I can't believe no here has told OP to just do 5-3-1 yet. 
OP, this is good advice above. You have a clearly defined goal, so you should adjust your training to meet that. I would recommend you take a look at Military Athlete, a website run by Rob Shaul. He developed a specific pre-deployment PT plan for Soldiers deploying yo Afghanistan to ready them for carrying heavy loads up and down the mountains of Afghanistan. That sounds pretty similar to what you need. His plan is only availabel to military, but you might be able to get it fomr someone or find it online. Also, here's a link to a program that powerlifter Matt Wenning designed for a unit deploying to Afghanistan: http://www.muscleandfitness.com/training/routines/full-spectrum-strong If you're not interested in a full prgram, I would recommend doing deaadlifts, step ups holding deumbbells, romanian deadlifts and core exercises for lifting. The some hill sprints and walking with a pack as others mentioned. You'll need strength in your legs, back and core as well as increased endurance. I also recommend you don't try and get a 2 week improvement. You need to give yourself more time to make real improvements. There's no quick fix, just hard work. |
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I recently went to mountain warfare training school. I'm 32. I fucking destroyed all my boys. I mean they literally could not keep up, this was at 7-9k an we're all from sea level. Up hill with packs for days at a time with little sleep...horrible terrain. I accidentally dropped my marines on a couple occasions. My workouts were heavy squats, presses deadlifts and high intensity intervals/crossfit. Ymmv, but IMO you need strong legs in the mountains and IMO long sessions of endurance work is overrated for most people. 1. What do you mean by "long" 2. Where did someone recommend the part in red? |
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1. What do you mean by "long" 2. Where did someone recommend the part in red? Quoted:
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I recently went to mountain warfare training school. I'm 32. I fucking destroyed all my boys. I mean they literally could not keep up, this was at 7-9k an we're all from sea level. Up hill with packs for days at a time with little sleep...horrible terrain. I accidentally dropped my marines on a couple occasions. My workouts were heavy squats, presses deadlifts and high intensity intervals/crossfit. Ymmv, but IMO you need strong legs in the mountains and IMO long sessions of endurance work is overrated for most people. 1. What do you mean by "long" 2. Where did someone recommend the part in red? 1. Long depends on what you're doing I guess...it's sort of an individual thing too. A long run for me is anything over 3 miles...IMO it's not going to help a lot with hiking. 2. Someone did above, cmjohnson I think Having hiked quite a bit during my military career there has been a night and day difference between hiking when my program was running 3-7 miles most days of the week and when I was a lot heavier and stronger frm lifting and hiit. Not only does more muscle mass in the back and shoulders make the pack a lot more comfortable and prevent back pain, but stronger legs help a lot when gonna up hills. That's just been my experience. |
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Quoted: 1. Long depends on what you're doing I guess...it's sort of an individual thing too. A long run for me is anything over 3 miles...IMO it's not going to help a lot with hiking. 2. Someone did above, cmjohnson I think Having hiked quite a bit during my military career there has been a night and day difference between hiking when my program was running 3-7 miles most days of the week and when I was a lot heavier and stronger frm lifting and hiit. Not only does more muscle mass in the back and shoulders make the pack a lot more comfortable and prevent back pain, but stronger legs help a lot when gonna up hills. That's just been my experience. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: I recently went to mountain warfare training school. I'm 32. I fucking destroyed all my boys. I mean they literally could not keep up, this was at 7-9k an we're all from sea level. Up hill with packs for days at a time with little sleep...horrible terrain. I accidentally dropped my marines on a couple occasions. My workouts were heavy squats, presses deadlifts and high intensity intervals/crossfit. Ymmv, but IMO you need strong legs in the mountains and IMO long sessions of endurance work is overrated for most people. 1. What do you mean by "long" 2. Where did someone recommend the part in red? 1. Long depends on what you're doing I guess...it's sort of an individual thing too. A long run for me is anything over 3 miles...IMO it's not going to help a lot with hiking. 2. Someone did above, cmjohnson I think Having hiked quite a bit during my military career there has been a night and day difference between hiking when my program was running 3-7 miles most days of the week and when I was a lot heavier and stronger frm lifting and hiit. Not only does more muscle mass in the back and shoulders make the pack a lot more comfortable and prevent back pain, but stronger legs help a lot when gonna up hills. That's just been my experience. The guys in the service who lifted heavy in their off time out humped the guys who just did PT. I am just talking about basic or Olympic lifts. |
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Just to add to all that has been said. When your hiking your body is off balance. Meaning you are always stepping and one foot is off the ground and there is no guarantee for flat terrain. I am an avid hiker and muay thai practitioner. What has helped me the most is box step-ups or walking the stairs. Use a barbell, kettlebells, water jugs, anything with weight in both hands and walk up steps or step-up on a solid box or boxes of various heights. Alternate leading leg. Once again...learned this many moons ago in the service. |
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You can also hold a gallon of water in either hand in addition to your 20lb pack.
Since I'm old and can't remember the days that I've hiked, I downloaded the free Strava app on my iphone(also free for android phones). It keeps track of my hikes(before work) and the following links are from the past week. 10/10/13: Hike w/ 90lbs, 4 miles, 1100 ft gain, 2.5hrs 10/8/13: Hike 6miles, 2000 ft gain, 2 hrs 10/6/2013: Hike 10miles, 3000 ft gain, 3.5 hrs 10/5/13: Hike w/ 40lbs, 8 miles, 2000ft gain, 2.5hrs 10/3/13: Hike 6 miles, 2000ft gain, 2 hrs I don't count my drinking fluids and snacks as weight. Have fun! |
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swimming sprints easy set= as few breaths as possible on a 25yd pool, rest 15 sec, swim 25 rest 10 swim 25, rest 5 sec, swim 25= 100 yds rest 1:00 repeat how ever many times needed
or fartlek swimming- stroke breath. 2 breath, 3 breath,4 breath 5 breath keep going till 8-9 then come down. Brutal eapeically if you keep going though the flip turn and dont cheat a breath. hill sprints on treadmill 20-30 sec sprints on a steep incline, rest what ever you sprint for then repeat often. |
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To do, DO. The axiom "Train as you will fight, for you will certainly fight as you have trained" applies. if running hills is kicking your ass, run hills. Do what you're weak at and you will become stronger at it. Don't think that "similar" exercise is a reasonable substitute for it, either. An hour on a treadmill at 5 MPH is not quite the same as walking at 5 MPH outdoors for an hour. |
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To do, DO. The axiom "Train as you will fight, for you will certainly fight as you have trained" applies. if running hills is kicking your ass, run hills. +1 on this. maybe go jog with a pack, or go hike with a heavier then normal pack. when we were in the marines, we would typically hump 8 or more miles with 80pound packs and full gear and pass around medium and heavy machineguns for workups to combat deployments. I have NEVER put more then say 20 or 30lbs in my packs (not including armor) when i was over there. this was to make sure we weren't getting our asses whooped, simply by carrying gear or running with some equipment. my suggestion is the same as above, train how you fight. maybe start out by being "that guy" that does his morning walk with a pack, and work your way up in weight over a few weeks. wear a jacket too, dont cheat yourself. 
you'll thank me later 
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| Short term? Rock out some Tabata intervals. I find that the Schwinn Airdyne to be the best/worst tool for the job. Long term? Get your ass in the gym and bust out some squats and deads. Learn meditation to get that heart rate back down. Lt Col David Grossman's "combat breathing" works. |