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List Of Dan Biehl's Articles
GETTING IN SHAPE FOR THE HUNT
The preparations that should go into a hunt not only cover checking your equipment, clothing, and travel dates, but also into your lungs and muscles. People around the country are in a health craze right now, it seems everyone is working out. Hunters, especially bowhunters should take heed to it. Because there is a limited time between now and opening of bow season, (August 15th for Montana antelope), the first focus for anyone just starting an exercise routine should be cardio to build strength and endurance. I don't mean riding stationary bikes for 3 hours or running on a treadmill. I mean walking, jogging, riding a bike, hiking and swimming outdoors. There is no need for a gym to help you get your lungs and legs in shape for this season. It is a good idea however, to get a physical or consult a doctor before starting any exercise program to make sure there are no health limitations to what you can do. Walking 2 miles a day for about 30 minutes to an hour, dependent on your stride length, will begin getting you in shape for this upcoming season. Everyday you walk you should try increasing the time you are out by 5 minutes. This will increase the amount of oxygen your lungs are able to process because they are getting in shape. The amount of oxygen your lungs can handle will determine how much they can distribute to your muscles to help keep fatigue and soreness from hampering your hunting time and slowing you down. Every week you should try increasing the miles you walk by ½ to 1 mile. If you already walk try not only increasing the time and distance you are walking but throw in hills, side hills, wearing ankle weights, taking your hunting pack out with you loaded with everything you would take on a day trip. Increasing the weight you carry in your pack each day will not only improve your endurance but will also get you used to packing your hunting gear around with you making it all the easier during the season. Jogging should only take place after walking 3 miles for two weeks because of the stress it places on the body. Jog in grass, on asphalt, or on dirt trails because they are more of low impact surfaces. Every two weeks try increasing the distance you are jogging by a mile to 1 ½ miles a day. The body's ability to take in more oxygen to the lungs and distributing it to the muscles will increase, causing less fatigue. At the same time you will slowly build the strength and endurance muscles needed for a long, tedious hunt. The stronger you get, the greater your endurance, the more miles you can put on the trail of the animal you are after. Biking and swimming for 30 minutes to an hour is great for burning calories and increasing your stamina. Biking mainly works the leg muscles and again lung capacity. In biking your Volume of Oxygen increases much the same as it would with jogging but it lessens the soft tissue impact reducing the wear and tear on the joints and cartilage in ankles, knees and hips. Swimming works the muscles in the entire body and takes in a great amount of oxygen because of this. Swimming is also a no impact activity but it can wear on the shoulders from the motion. Biking and swimming are great alternatives and wonderful cross training workouts for walkers and runners. Hiking is what all bowhunters should be doing from the time the deer, elk, moose, and caribou shed their antlers, through the summer months hiking with friends and family and for preseason scouting. Hiking, if done without much stopping, besides for glassing, can be great for increasing endurance if done at least three times a week for 3 or more miles. Not only does it get you out where the wonder of nature can be seen and heard, but also gets your body accustomed to the environment they will be in from August through November. It helps build your stabilizing muscles in becoming accustomed to the twists and turns your ankles and knees may take on the uneven terrain and helps prevent problems when the seasons comes. If you are planning a mountain terrain or high altitude hunt you will benefit from training early as the thinner air encountered in higher elevations will make your lungs work twice as hard to pull in oxygen along with your muscles. All cardio workouts should be done at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes at least to have much effect on the body. Cardio will help build endurance which is key to finding those elusive bucks, and bulls everyone dreams about, and will keep those stand hunters up in the trees longer because of the shape they are in. When your friend or guide says to you the game you want is over the next ridge you will be able to get there, and back. Getting in shape is hard work but a well rounded regimen of exercises
will help you get stronger so you will last longer, be able to hunt harder,
more remote areas and enjoy the hunt more.
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Just
over the next ridge a mile away, your first elk is becoming a screaming
good time for your muscles!
