Fitness in the field
- Thread starter GGC96
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Rob-E
Well-Known Member
What do you currently do in the gym?
What do you call frequently, and do you just go to the gym or do you actually push yourself every/most session?
Do you need to lose weight/what’s your body composition?
Do you understand macronutrients?
Dragging is back and leg strength and your body’s ability to do it over and over again that’s when cardio gets involved.
If your gym has a sledge use it, if not concentrate on compound movements that target these areas Deadlifts, squats, rows and pull ups.
Cardio wise it doesn’t really matter but if you want to make a change 3 times a week for 40mins plus.
You’ll be amazed how much your body adapts and how quickly.
Bo Diddley
Well-Known Member
My favourite gym..
FWIW, lots of suggestions but probably the best advice to give anyone wanting to improve their fitness is to find something they enjoy.
On and off, i have exercised most of my life, most recently spent the past 4 years competing on an indoor rowing machine. I was focused on breaking a 13 year old PB (which i did twice last year) and thought that the rowing machine was enough given it requires all major muscle groups and a fair amount of cardio.
However, two years ago i started working with a coach who highlighted that to age well (Im close 65 but this applies equally to younger people) that strength, flexibility and mobility are all key aspects of fitness often under considered.
In terms of strength training, lifting type exercises are often highlighted, and for younger athletes (men especially) big weights are often seen as a goal. Big being a relative term.
FWIW, strength does not necessarily require big weights at all, body weight exercises can improve strength and endurance if done correctly, i now incorporate some plyometric, bodyweight exercises in my routine regularly. For info my coach was a biathlete, he missed getting onto the American Olympic squad by one shot when he was at his peak.
Whatever you do, hopefully it will become part of your daily routine and above all else don't get injured.
On and off, i have exercised most of my life, most recently spent the past 4 years competing on an indoor rowing machine. I was focused on breaking a 13 year old PB (which i did twice last year) and thought that the rowing machine was enough given it requires all major muscle groups and a fair amount of cardio.
However, two years ago i started working with a coach who highlighted that to age well (Im close 65 but this applies equally to younger people) that strength, flexibility and mobility are all key aspects of fitness often under considered.
In terms of strength training, lifting type exercises are often highlighted, and for younger athletes (men especially) big weights are often seen as a goal. Big being a relative term.
FWIW, strength does not necessarily require big weights at all, body weight exercises can improve strength and endurance if done correctly, i now incorporate some plyometric, bodyweight exercises in my routine regularly. For info my coach was a biathlete, he missed getting onto the American Olympic squad by one shot when he was at his peak.
Whatever you do, hopefully it will become part of your daily routine and above all else don't get injured.
My wife recently lost loads of weight on that. Trouble is the cost privately. We recently stopped because £250 a month is just crazy right now. Withing 2-3 months, all the weight is back because she's demolishing biscuits and crisps again. Basically wasted a couple of grand
I tend to do a mix- three runs a week, plus 2 -3 cycles for cardio.
Then do bodyweight circuits in the evenings- press ups, weighted squats, sit ups/russian twists, bicep/hammer curls.
I haven’t had any problems yet, general fitness and mobility is fine for stalking most of the time. As @Tim.243 said - the way to drag them or extract the carcass makes a massive difference
Sandy
Reds or sika/ fallow in multiples require contingency plans for extraction otherwise they can quite literally be the death of you.
TringSaint
Well-Known Member
Pilates is your friend!! Build those core muscles and you will be surprised how much fitter and stronger you become.
Mix it with hiit and you will be sorted (that or shoot munties only and always on a ride that you can drive down!!)
We as a nation are a bunch of fat feicers. We eat far too much of the wrong foods.
Depending on what you want to do, how much time you have and whether you have cash to burn, decides what you want to do.
The best way to get fitter is to have the ability to say no. Stand on the scales and if like a lot of us, you are a fat feicer, then cut your food down, and the drink.
Eat less processed food, in fact, if you can avoid it, then even better. No snacking between meals. Small bowl of porridge for breakfast, no surgery cereals. I sit on my ass all day, so don’t need as much calories as those on here who carry a couple of bricks up a ladder.
Don’t eat till you are not hungry any more, eat the portion and leave the table. After 10 minutes or so, the body catches up and realises you are not hungry any more. If you eat breakfast, then by dinner time you should be hungry, if you are not hungry, you may be eating too much.
It is an awful lot easier to climb a hill if you aren’t carrying all those extra kilos.
Secondly, go for a walk, 40 minutes as often as you can. Aim for twice a week as a minimum. 3 to 4 times a week if you can. Walk fast.
This bollocks of “got 10,000 steps in today”, is just that, complete bollocks. It takes 15 minutes of fast walking for the body to raise its temperature and start burning calories. If you are two to three stone over weight, you are carrying a roe around with you.
After a few weeks you will start to notice a difference, you won’t get as hot on the walks as your fitness levels go up.
I have never stalked on the hill, but the above, helped me to lose weight and be able to drag a deer without the heart attack. lol.
I have just come back from holiday and my weight has crept up a stone over the last year, so time for me to, get back in the swing of it. And it doesn’t cost anything.
Other methods are available, and may produce better or worse results.
Depending on what you want to do, how much time you have and whether you have cash to burn, decides what you want to do.
The best way to get fitter is to have the ability to say no. Stand on the scales and if like a lot of us, you are a fat feicer, then cut your food down, and the drink.
Eat less processed food, in fact, if you can avoid it, then even better. No snacking between meals. Small bowl of porridge for breakfast, no surgery cereals. I sit on my ass all day, so don’t need as much calories as those on here who carry a couple of bricks up a ladder.
Don’t eat till you are not hungry any more, eat the portion and leave the table. After 10 minutes or so, the body catches up and realises you are not hungry any more. If you eat breakfast, then by dinner time you should be hungry, if you are not hungry, you may be eating too much.
It is an awful lot easier to climb a hill if you aren’t carrying all those extra kilos.
Secondly, go for a walk, 40 minutes as often as you can. Aim for twice a week as a minimum. 3 to 4 times a week if you can. Walk fast.
This bollocks of “got 10,000 steps in today”, is just that, complete bollocks. It takes 15 minutes of fast walking for the body to raise its temperature and start burning calories. If you are two to three stone over weight, you are carrying a roe around with you.
After a few weeks you will start to notice a difference, you won’t get as hot on the walks as your fitness levels go up.
I have never stalked on the hill, but the above, helped me to lose weight and be able to drag a deer without the heart attack. lol.
I have just come back from holiday and my weight has crept up a stone over the last year, so time for me to, get back in the swing of it. And it doesn’t cost anything.
Other methods are available, and may produce better or worse results.
caorach
Well-Known Member
A chap I know maintains that he shoots all of his deer in the rut - the rut of where his car has just driven
One thing I will say is that I've found that people tend to adapt to the ground they are on - as an example I took a chap fishing on the Isle of Lewis. The ground was relatively flat but hard walking on the moor. Before going, having had experience of taking people out before, I asked if he was fit enough to walk etc. and he assured me that he ran 5k every day and was in the gym 3 days per week and was very fit. The short story is that when we got to the loch he came to me and said that he didn't think he could make the walk back and asked how far we were from the road. When I informed him that we were about a mile from the road he could hardly believe me as he was knackered. I'm sure that he was fit, was in the gym, and was doing a lot of running on roads and paths but this simply hadn't prepared him for walking on the moor and it seems normal to see this. I know a super fit keeper in the Hebrides who admits that when he goes onto another estate's ground it knackers him just because the ground is so different. So I'm going to suggest that the best way to get fit for your stalking is to be out on the ground. I appreciate that isn't always possible and for all of us we usually have to compromise and make the best of what we have easy access to but I have to say that I don't think anyone, no matter how fit they are, will match someone who is out on the ground every day.
Every year, early November I regret not going out in full kit for a few rambles!
Walking on moor is a special kind of exhausting.A chap I know maintains that he shoots all of his deer in the rut - the rut of where his car has just driven
One thing I will say is that I've found that people tend to adapt to the ground they are on - as an example I took a chap fishing on the Isle of Lewis. The ground was relatively flat but hard walking on the moor. Before going, having had experience of taking people out before, I asked if he was fit enough to walk etc. and he assured me that he ran 5k every day and was in the gym 3 days per week and was very fit. The short story is that when we got to the loch he came to me and said that he didn't think he could make the walk back and asked how far we were from the road. When I informed him that we were about a mile from the road he could hardly believe me as he was knackered. I'm sure that he was fit, was in the gym, and was doing a lot of running on roads and paths but this simply hadn't prepared him for walking on the moor and it seems normal to see this. I know a super fit keeper in the Hebrides who admits that when he goes onto another estate's ground it knackers him just because the ground is so different. So I'm going to suggest that the best way to get fit for your stalking is to be out on the ground. I appreciate that isn't always possible and for all of us we usually have to compromise and make the best of what we have easy access to but I have to say that I don't think anyone, no matter how fit they are, will match someone who is out on the ground every day.
And I think you can get out of practice - if I’ve not been on moorland for a month or two, I definitely find it harder than I expect the first few stalks back. Despite keeping just as active elsewhere.
I’ve taken a friend out on what I think is very mild ground. He’s objectively much, much fitter than me - mountain biker, climber, triathlete etc. But he was wiped out after 2 hours.
I think it’s something to do with knowing where to put your feet to avoid losing energy.
There’s some great advice here from a few ‘in the know’ it would appear. I think any fitness regime needs to be based on something sustainable, ie what you enjoy. I have dedicated myself to all sorts of fitness quests over the years but always end up on the same old thing I have always done, x3 a week weights, push, pull, legs, moderate cardio. Most cardio done stalking/gamekeeping.
As others have said, it’s hard to get hill fit without the hill, especially heather moorland which burns leg muscles like nothing else. Working closely with a large grouse moor over the years and dozens of keepers one thing remains a constant-none of them are large men! Weight is absolutely key, personally losing a stone makes me much more mobile on the hill.
If there is a ton of extraction to be done it ought to be mainly mechanised-especially reds-otherwise no matter how strong/fit you are you’ll be injured. It’s mainly fitness though, I’m a fairly fanatical weightlifter and I’m not overly certain it is hugely beneficial to extraction, especially if you are moving beasts big distances by hand as bigger muscles require more oxygen-useful for a single heavy lift but not massively useful for multiple smaller movements. In short, cardio/endurance is king. Circuits/crossfit probably optimal if you can bear it.
As others have said, it’s hard to get hill fit without the hill, especially heather moorland which burns leg muscles like nothing else. Working closely with a large grouse moor over the years and dozens of keepers one thing remains a constant-none of them are large men! Weight is absolutely key, personally losing a stone makes me much more mobile on the hill.
If there is a ton of extraction to be done it ought to be mainly mechanised-especially reds-otherwise no matter how strong/fit you are you’ll be injured. It’s mainly fitness though, I’m a fairly fanatical weightlifter and I’m not overly certain it is hugely beneficial to extraction, especially if you are moving beasts big distances by hand as bigger muscles require more oxygen-useful for a single heavy lift but not massively useful for multiple smaller movements. In short, cardio/endurance is king. Circuits/crossfit probably optimal if you can bear it.
Puds
Well-Known Member
I’ve lost 5 stone over the last 18 months, and got myself into the best shape I’ve been in (currently 40yrs old).
I’m running 5k three times a week, lifting weights (home gym) twice a week and doing a variety of exercises in a routine (squats, planks, hollow crunches, mountain climbers with resistance bands etc.) twice a week too.
It also helps that I live in quite a hilly bit of the world, so forcing myself to walk uphill rapidly when out with the dogs has helped a lot too.
I’m running 5k three times a week, lifting weights (home gym) twice a week and doing a variety of exercises in a routine (squats, planks, hollow crunches, mountain climbers with resistance bands etc.) twice a week too.
It also helps that I live in quite a hilly bit of the world, so forcing myself to walk uphill rapidly when out with the dogs has helped a lot too.
Lots of good advice here - having been on the same journey, there is no substitute for walking hard up hills on as close to your sort of ground, backed up by regular HIIT, sensible dumbbell work outs the push you and good food. Resilience is as much mental as physical, so learn what the burn feels like and enjoy it. At 29 you will be setting yourself up for a more active and healthy life, so well done for tackling it now.
cooperjb1308
Well-Known Member
It depends on whether you are going to be able to stick to the regime, I found that if you can make it enjoyable then it won’t feel like a chore, I dropped 35kg last year which helped no end with the fitness, I wasn’t one for running really and I would have given up if that was my chosen way of improving it. I took up judo (not for everyone I know!) as I enjoyed being battered into submission by the earth and it got me out and excercising hard which not only got me fitter but has also given me another topic to bore new people I meet with my incessant lecturing about it.
Weight sled, hack squats, split squats (easier on the knees), kick backs, stair machine thing and just getting out on the hill with some weight on your back will definitely be the best exercises to directly increase performance.
Weight sled, hack squats, split squats (easier on the knees), kick backs, stair machine thing and just getting out on the hill with some weight on your back will definitely be the best exercises to directly increase performance.
EMcC
Well-Known Member
I had a knee replaced several years ago and have never had full mobility on it and now it gives me pain if I put weight on it when straight. I have osteoarthritis in my right knee now so am on the gentle slope to retirement.
I have narrowing of the arteries, diseased kidneys and a leaking wonkey heart and lower back pain.
According to my Dr that is all normal for a person of my age and nothing to worry about, I asked him if I should still carry my Donor Card and he just raised his eyebrows !!
I am fortunate in that all the driven boar trips I go on are attended normally by very generous and understanding members so I get away with very little walking.
Although now in my eighties I will soon be thinking of giving it all up but just can't imagine not having a firearm in my cupboard so must continue to some extent to justify having them.
I have narrowing of the arteries, diseased kidneys and a leaking wonkey heart and lower back pain.
According to my Dr that is all normal for a person of my age and nothing to worry about, I asked him if I should still carry my Donor Card and he just raised his eyebrows !!
I am fortunate in that all the driven boar trips I go on are attended normally by very generous and understanding members so I get away with very little walking.
Although now in my eighties I will soon be thinking of giving it all up but just can't imagine not having a firearm in my cupboard so must continue to some extent to justify having them.
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