Get fit naturally, now!
Be ready for rigors of hunting season
By Gregg PattersonNo more athletic clubs for me. No more sipping filtered, overpriced water while going nowhere on a treadmill like some hamster. No more weights, either — machine, free or whatever.
I haven't been a college athlete for more than 25 years. It's not that I'm against being healthy and in shape; I need that more than ever.
Now I'm getting in shape naturally, doing the things I enjoy outdoors.
It all adds up to more time afield, doing what I love to do: hiking, biking, swimming, hunting and fishing.
In the next few weeks, the muzzleloader and modern gun seasons all get started throughout the country. Are you ready? Are you physically fit enough to pack out that elk, moose, bear or deer?
I used to worry about getting a membership to a fitness club, then finding the time to get there, missing time with my family to work out. I hated the treadmills and wondered why I was still lifting weights as I had as a college javelin thrower. Frankly, I hated all of it ... and was having to pay for my misery, too.
This year, I rethought the process. No more fitness club memberships (and bills!). No more weightlifting. No more treadmills.
I came on it by accident.
My oldest son began training for a Boy Scout backpacking trip with 5- to 7-mile day hikes. Those gradually increased to 15-20 mile overnight trips. The effort was strenuous but fun, the country beautiful and I was outdoors enjoying the woods. That's when I noticed the weight began peeling off my once-230-pound overweight frame.
Boys being boys, the teens would challenge each other, doing push-ups with 40-pound backpacks on. While I wasn't that crazy, I would drop my pack and join in the fun.
We began paying attention to proper hydration and eating high-energy trail foods. Sports drinks and water replaced carbonated soft drinks and fast food milkshakes. Homemade trail mixes and fruits replaced snack cakes and other sugar-laden items.
Finally, I just gave up eating any foods made with refined sugar — and my weight dropped to 215 pounds.
The backpacking trip is over, but we still hit the trail twice a week for short, fast hikes up to 4 miles long, or backcountry bike rides.
My 10-year-old and I have climbed a steep state park mountain twice this week. It has 10 markers where you can read about the plants, animals and geology of the park; we use them as stops for 10 push-ups each on the way up and 10 sit-ups each on the way down.
I like it better outdoors then trying to grind out 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups in some boring gym. We've even found some tree limbs for a few pull-ups.
I'll be ready when deer season comes and will have spent far more time outdoors getting ready for it than ever. I certainly don't miss the weightlifting and the treadmill.
For me, now, it's only workouts in the wild.
