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Other Columns By Linda...
Rounding the corner, I felt that familiar endorphin surge flood me like liquid fire as I kicked up the pace a notch to match the sudden blasting high to which I had become quite hopelessly addicted. Yes, I am hooked on endorphins... those wonderful natural pain deadening happy brain chemicals.
But suddenly my machine was oiled and the distance was being eaten up
at a steady 7mph pace. I was sweatin like a butcher, as a farmer friend
of mine puts it. And I like sweat. It feels good. I was
in training for hunting season, not just that day, but year round.
A pleasant by-product of my
In February this year, I thought I would never run or hunt again.
I collapsed from lack of sleep and overwork, had a seizure with 12 hours
of amnesia, and wound up in the hospital for five days. In the process,
I managed to wreck my left knee and have had a slow and very painful rehab
Now many years later, and as I turn 50 years old, the challenge to stay physically fit requires more dedication than ever. But the rewards are worth it. Especially when it comes to hunting. Three things motivate me to stick with a fitness program. One, fitness makes me feel great, mentally and physically. Two, my husband, even after 20 years of marriage, is decidedly more attentive when I stay in shape.
There was one miserable year where I was in lousy shape for hunting
season, and I paid for it. My cholesterol had soared to 280.
I had no stamina for trudging around in the woods. I pulled arm and
leg muscles putting up my portable tree stands, and I just could not keep
up with my hunting buddies.
One might think that bowhunters would need a higher level of fitness because their season is longer. While archers must be fit too, the opposite is actually true. The orange army of firearm hunting weekend warriors often think they don't need to get in shape for hunting. Ironically, they need it the most. Hunters who are overweight
or are out of shape, chance the same health or life threatening problems
as the elderly when a huge snowfall hits and you see the news full
of people tipping over from heart attacks while shoveling snow. Hunting
involves physical exertion, either sustained (aerobic, like hiking through
the woods) or in spurts (anaerobic, like gutting & dragging a
deer). Hunting
Sudden strenuous exertion on an unfit heart or on flabby muscles, can be very painful or even deadly. The need for fitness with hunting applies to both men and women, but for different reasons. Men often overexert themselves due to competitiveness, or simply overestimating their ability. They push themselves too hard.
There are three primary fitness considerations that will enhance your hunting experience. Training as a lifetime habit is preferable, but training for at least three months before your hunting season, is key. The three areas are: 1. Heart training,
or aerobic conditioning
Heart Training-
The next guy might like biking, weight lifting, snow shoeing, in-line skating, cardio machines, or rowing. Many people have jobs that involve physical exertion, but that exertion may not produce fitness benefits. Many of us like to mix up our fitness activities to avoid boredom. Whatever you choose, the starting point is your resting heart rate. To get an accurate resting heart rate, take your pulse for one minute upon waking in the morning before you get out of bed, for three days in a row. Add the three figures, and divide by three to get your average resting heart rate. Taking this resting rate figure, use the following formula. I will use my resting heart rate of 56 and my age of 49 as an example: 220
-56 resting heart rate = 115 x 60%-80% of 115 = 69 to 92 range. add back heart rate of 56 to range, = 125 - 148 maximum beats per minute, heart training Using the above formula, the most efficient heart training rate for me would be 125-148 heartbeats per minute. Above or below this range would not result in maximum benefit. If you plan to do a sustained, or long duration fitness activity, it is recommended that you train at the lower end of the range. Train every other day to give muscles a chance to
A good test for heart training, is the talk test or "feel" test. While you are training, are you able to talk, or are you too out of breath to talk? You should not be out of breath. And, how do you feel? Is your workout feeling good, or are you feeling bad? Taper back if it doesnt feel good. Strength or Weight Training-
They have less strength and are relatively small, but have dense capillary
networks and therefore are resistant to fatigue. Intermediate muscle
fibers are the compromise: They are large and strong, but still fatigue
more easily than slow twitch fibers. Distance runners have more slow
BMI or Body Mass Index-
For example, I am 118 pounds at 5'8" (68") tall. 118 divided by
4624 (68" x 68") is .0255. Multiply .0255 by 703 and my BMI is about
18. Women tend to think they look best with a BMI between 20-22 while
men are satisfied with a BMI of 23-25. Life expectency is longer
if your BMI is between
You can determine your BMI on the web, at:
Diet is beyond the scope of this article, but monitoring caloric intake
is clearly part of the hunting fitness picture as well. With all the diets
out there, there exists only one truism when it comes food:
Calories eaten, minus calories burned = weight gain, or loss, or no change.
Period Fad diets are illusions at best. I eat whatever I want, but I control
In Conclusion:
Its time to get in the habit. Getting yourself a workout buddy can make a big difference too. Start slow if you need to, but do something every day, starting NOW. It may take you weeks, months or even years, but the benefits of fitness,
as they relate to hunting, are too good to miss. Instead of agonizing
and whining, you will take pleasure in high stepping through a swamp, or
in pulling back your bow repeatedly, or in carrying a heavy pack all day,
or
And I'll tell you a little secret. There is almost nothing as exhilarating as combining the endorphin high from fitness, with the adrenalin rush of hunting. Don't take my word for it. Check it out for yourself. * Copyright April 2002 by Linda K. Burch Linda K. Burch
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Sometimes called the "Runners High", these are the little superchargers
produced by sustained physical exercise, that can make a football
player mindless of a pulled muscle through an entire game, or that help
Olympic athletes win the gold. A few moments before the 5K
run, my knees had felt
My
distant past includes cigarette smoking, overweight problems, poor fitness,
substance abuse, and an eating disorder. I just give a tacit smile
when someone unknowingly surmises that I am so "lucky" to be in good shape.
Its a cognizant decision, and its darn hard work. I was featured
And
three, fitness provides a huge benefit to my enjoyment of and success with
hunting.
Women
on the other hand, have the challenge of requiring more strength and in
needing a higher relative level of fitness to accomplish the same activities
as a man. Most of us females, quite literally, are the weaker sex
and need to compensate for that with fitness. For example, in
If
you want to feel great, look great, and hunt like a wolf,
