Getting in Shape for Your Hunt

  Many doctors are telling their patients that the single most important thing that they can do to improve their health is to engage in a regular exercise program. This advice is given by doctors in such diverse fields as General Medicine, Cardiography and Psychiatry as a component in part of a health recovery or preventative program.

  As a young guy, I was never an athlete. I did live a healthy outdoor lifestyle when I was doing field work as a Geologist and would walk every day, sometimes covering 13 miles of overland travel carrying a 40-pound pack through the Alaskan wilderness.

  In later years as a writer my life became more sedentary, my weight started to climb, I began to have pain in my joints as I aged and I had to take meds to control diabetes. I was even, in my mid-60s, thinking that I might need a hip replacement because of joint pain. This proved to be a problem of tendons, rather than joints. I was out of shape with poor muscle tone.  

  I joined the Wellness program that I describe in the video, and am doing much better. The joint pain has disappeared, my diabetes is better controlled and I have a much more healthy outlook on life.  When I get off my exercise and diet for a period of week some of my previous symptoms return. When I resume exercise and diet, these symptoms go away.

   I can’t say that I enjoy it. I can’t say that it is fun. However, for me it is a necessity to maintain a reasonable level of physical capabilities so that I can go the interesting hunts that add much to the quality of my life. In brief, unless you do a variety of physical work in your job, your life will be improved if you visit your doctor and start an exercise program. Any is better than none.

  I live some distance away from  town, and  I go to Wellness  two or three times a week when I am not hunting. I find that hunting activities, by themselves, do not adequately substitute for regular cardiovascular and strength-building exercises.

  A 7-minute video “Getting in Shape for Your Hunt” is posted on YouTube, if you should have any difficulty watching this version. It  can be seen  at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkZd5CPf0O8&layer_token=11398e188a5243c9.