Hey guys and gals. This is such a cool forum. Not only because exercise is an easy component of hunting to overlook but given my field of study, I am automatically interested and just had to chime in. Looked over several threads within and wanted to put down some hopefully useful words that summarize my overall feelings and knowledge on this.
While losing weight and getting in shape can be interchangeable, it is not necessarily the case. I used to get soooo discouraged during my workouts because I felt I just wasn't progressing enough. It wasn't until I took the pressure off myself with respect to specific numbers and goals that I started to become a more successful exerciser.
I am certainly not trying to diminish anybody's fitness goals or target weights or anything like that but I do want to drive home the idea that the main point is to just make sure you're getting out there. A little exercise is ALWAYS better than none and when you think about getting in shape for hunting, you're really thinking about increasing endurance, toughening up joints and bones, and making your body a more efficient machine-all of which will occur whether you're losing weight or not. Its about functional strength too-just doing a few good sets of push ups and sit ups everyday can add up throughout the year.
Also remember, mile for mile, you burn just as many calories walking as running-it just takes longer and you aren't building the lean muscle mass as you do when you do anaerobic exercise (like when you're running at your max heart rate) but you're still getting good exercise!
Good luck everyone and just keep at it!
While losing weight and getting in shape can be interchangeable, it is not necessarily the case. I used to get soooo discouraged during my workouts because I felt I just wasn't progressing enough. It wasn't until I took the pressure off myself with respect to specific numbers and goals that I started to become a more successful exerciser.
I am certainly not trying to diminish anybody's fitness goals or target weights or anything like that but I do want to drive home the idea that the main point is to just make sure you're getting out there. A little exercise is ALWAYS better than none and when you think about getting in shape for hunting, you're really thinking about increasing endurance, toughening up joints and bones, and making your body a more efficient machine-all of which will occur whether you're losing weight or not. Its about functional strength too-just doing a few good sets of push ups and sit ups everyday can add up throughout the year.
Also remember, mile for mile, you burn just as many calories walking as running-it just takes longer and you aren't building the lean muscle mass as you do when you do anaerobic exercise (like when you're running at your max heart rate) but you're still getting good exercise!
Good luck everyone and just keep at it!
