What’s your balance between cardio and heavy weights?

[CB2900]

I like to lift heavy and honestly really don’t like cardio but I am tuning up for a November elk hunt in Montana. I usually lift three to four days a week. Should I add cardio type stuff everyday or just on my off dayside

 

[JJBuck]

I'm on about the same program as you, but in years past I've simply ran or hiked as much as possible to get in shape for my elk hunts with little to no lifting. A couple mile hike several times of week will typically suffice. I generally mix in some "heavy ruck" hikes with 50-60lbs. I'm like you and prefer to lift over cardio, but I find hiking is different and more enjoyable. Your MT hunt will be as hard or easy as you make it and you can never be in too good of cardio/hiking shape for an elk hunt!

I'd stick to your program and run or hike on your off days from lifting. Of course there are lots of fitness programs that are setup strictly for hunting, you could look into one of those if your overly concerned.

 

[CB2900]

Thank you. Any recommendations on the programs? I’m just a bit leery of programs nowadays as there are a lot of not very reputable people putting them out there. I would follow one if I knew the person writing it was good.

 

[JJBuck]

Thank you. Any recommendations on the programs? I’m just a bit leery of programs nowadays as there are a lot of not very reputable people putting them out there. I would follow one if I knew the person writing it was good.

I can't necessarily recommend a specific program, because I've never done them myself. I do know that Elkshape and MTNtough have dedicated workouts for hunters and have put lot of thought and work into developing specific workout programs. I'm sure others will chime in with what has worked for them...

 

[5 shot group]

Cardio hurts your strength.

But, doing some HIIT on your off days wouldn't hurt much. I would do the bike, as I believe the bike helps keep the most muscle.

 

[Tpeterson18]

5 sets of 8 Back Squats @ 80% = cardio

 

[Dragonfish]

i like to mix things up on HIIT, bike and rower.

 

[Wiscohunter]

I do 2 days heavy weights, 2 days 60 minutes on stair climber, one day 20 to 30 minutes high intensity and hiking on the weekends with a pack. Seemed to work for me, but that was 6 days of training during the summer. It depends how much time you have to spend training.

In your case cardio and hiking on days off might work, but I world think 4 days of weights plus cardio will be tough to maintain.

 

[Poser]

If hunting is the only thing you you need to be in conditioning shape for, I don’t see a need to “do cardio” until you get close to the season. Strength training until itself will sufficiently maintain cardiovascular health. When you get 6-10 weeks out from hunting season, start packing with weight.

Getting strong is a long slow process, so dedicate your off season to that. Train on your scheduled days, rest on your rest days and live life. Conditioning will come very quickly if you don’t have to build strength simultaneously. Take advantage of this time you have now and get your body strong as possible, then start rucking as you get close to the season. It’s not rocket science, it just hiking with a heavy pack.

 

[justinspicher]

I don’t balance them. In fact, I don’t lift anything heavy. I really haven’t lifted much my entire life and I’ve been just fine. I do a lot of hiking and mix in some simple calisthenics and so far so good.

 

[CB2900]

5 sets of 8 Back Squats @ 80% = cardio

That’s my kind of cardio.

 

[*zap*]

I would say the first important variable between people in relation to this question is age.
The second would be your fitness/strength starting point.
The third issue is that true 'top tier' strength or cardio is hard to achieve and achieving it @ both in the same time period is very, very difficult and that may not be necessary to be in top shape to function @ very high levels in the back country/mountains.


Good/sufficient whole body strength can take quite a while to develop starting from a low baseline and I think true great cardio conditioning is the same. It really depends on how you define these things.

As for the original question I do 7 different strength training workouts each @ 16-22 sets and one per day. Swim or ruck every 3 to 4 days on a rotation, I very rarely do any 2 a days, 1 to 2 days off a week if I am pushing for gains in that time period. I am about to start adding in some machine cardio after upper body strength training 1-2 times a week.

For overall fitness/hunting fitness, IMO going super heavy on lifts is not imperative as long as your working hard in the 4-8 rep range and good cardio ability is as important as strength.
I only know a few people at the gym that are able to maintain what I would consider very good strength and very good cardio year round and since I started the regular swim/ruck program integration recently I have noticed a good amount of general physical debilitation as a result but I am sure I can work thru that in a few months by adding more rest days, proper nutrition and some extra sleep daily.

Gradual progressions really add up over time. I am 63 years old, started to improve my fitness 3.5 years ago after quite a long hiatus from working out and it has been very challenging.

 

[CB2900]

Thank you, zap. To clarify I am 37 5’ 8” about 210 at the moment. I stick with squats, deadlift, and press (yes I like rippetoe) and their variations. Don’t really do anything except barbell free weights. I powerlifted for a few years and now I would say more like dad bod. I still lift but also eat pizza five sixes at dinner.

I’ve been back on an actual nutrition plan for a couple weeks. Just back to a balanced diet nothing special but still mostly wild game for meat and eggs from my dads farm.

 

[*zap*]

I believe that if you gradually eliminate ALL processed foods you would be surprised at the body fat reduction you would see in 6-9 months while still keeping caloric intake about the same.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Mmmm. Welcome to middle age. It will be here before you know it.

Weights are great but I would highly recommend you branch out. I am 9 years older than you and about your age was where I really had to start paying attention to diet. Next comes flexibilty and joint health. Bottom line is in the coming years you are going to have to work just to maintain a lot of stuff you probably used to take for granted.

On the cardio for hunting thing, hiits is great. I have been doing CrossFit for 1.5 years now and it is really boosting overall fitness. I am in the process of mixing back in some longer, lower intensity cardio sessions of between 30 mins and 2 hours. I want to train my heart to pump At a higher but not crazy rate for a long period of time, just like a long hike.

 

[Poser]

Thank you, zap. To clarify I am 37 5’ 8” about 210 at the moment. I stick with squats, deadlift, and press (yes I like rippetoe) and their variations. Don’t really do anything except barbell free weights. I powerlifted for a few years and now I would say more like dad bod. I still lift but also eat pizza five sixes at dinner.

I’ve been back on an actual nutrition plan for a couple weeks. Just back to a balanced diet nothing special but still mostly wild game for meat and eggs from my dads farm.

I use SS programming/methodology as well. I use the HLM template for “in season” programming (snowboarding, Mtn biking and hunting) and revisit NLP a couple of times year for a few weeks at a time. On HLM, you can plug in some conditioning fairly easily.

 

[Dragonfish]

I've had good luck with barbellmedicine.com. they sell templates- typically 8-12 week programs with different focus on each of them, endurance, strength, hypertrophy etc. All based on powerlifting excercises and variants of them. I've focused on the three day a week lifting programs and usually i get two days of "cardio" one day of HIIT, and one day of rucking. I've been alternating between these programs for the past 18 months or so. It has made an incredible difference - to be fair, i'm sure i'd have done well on starting strength or with crossfit- as i was totally out of shape and anything would have helped. i'm about to turn 51, am 6-2 and currently right at 230lbs and about 15-17% bf. 18 months ago I was 268lbs and about 30%. I should mention- getting my nutrition under control was just as much a part of this as the lifting and conditioning of course!

 

[CB2900]

I listen to their podcast sometimes and their youtube. Jordan came from starting strength. I have never looked into their programs though. I might have to give that a shot.

 

[Dragonfish]

yes, they had an acrimonious break up apparently.
In any case, it's all good stuff.
for the nutrition piece read Jordan's article called "to be a beast" has to do with the nutrition side of the equation. good stuff.

 

[mtwarden]

If hunting is the only thing you you need to be in conditioning shape for, I don’t see a need to “do cardio” until you get close to the season. Strength training until itself will sufficiently maintain cardiovascular health. When you get 6-10 weeks out from hunting season, start packing with weight.

Getting strong is a long slow process, so dedicate your off season to that. Train on your scheduled days, rest on your rest days and live life. Conditioning will come very quickly if you don’t have to build strength simultaneously. Take advantage of this time you have now and get your body strong as possible, then start rucking as you get close to the season. It’s not rocket science, it just hiking with a heavy pack.

cardio everyday AND lifting 3-4 times a week isn't sustainable imo and could easily lead to a train wreck

personally I don't think you need to do cardio everyday and likewise I don't think one needs to lift four times a week either

I've had pretty good luck combining squats/bench on one day and deadlift/pverhead press on the other, I sprinkle in pull-ups /chinups, lunges, dips, etc and core work into those strength workouts

I generally try to hit cardio 4 times a week (usually, but not always, opposite the days I strength train); one of those cardio days I concentrate on a tough hill workout- either shorter, steep repeats or a hard, longer sustained climb. I usually shoot for one day with something in the longer mile range (10-15 miles) and that usually entails wearing a pack. As the season closes in, I'll add in more days of pack wearing (varying the weight and distances).

Some experimenting is going to be needed to find out what works best for you, everyone responds differently.

Regardless, a good mix of cardio and strength training is going to be your best bet to move through the mountains efficiently.