Working Out like an Outdoor Enthusiast

By Guest Blogger Steve West

The hardest time of the year for me to stay in shape for the upcoming spring hunting season is winter. We wrap up the fall season in November and promptly sit down to the Thanksgiving dinner table where we eat way too much. Then, we play catch up at the desk after missing months of paperwork and deadlines.

I call my desk "the trap" because I sit down, and it's hours before I get back up again.

Then all of the sudden, its Christmas time with big meals and lazy days watching football for hours. It's cold outside, and in my opinion, it might be the worst time of the year to stay fit. What makes it worse? Winter is my peak time of the year for office work, and I'm stuck in "the trap" every day. It's at this point that I have to wake up, because the spring hunts are coming, and they are the most physically demanding hunts of the year. If I am not careful, I will show up way out of shape!

So here are a few things I do to "wake myself up" during the winter months.

First, I look in the mirror. By the first of the year, I am feeling overweight, and I see the excess weight all around my waist. This look in the mirror sends me straight out to the garage where I have my home gym, including a BowFlex® and Nautilus® set-up. It is enough to motivate me. The holidays are over, and it's time to get back to work.

Next, I establish an increasing schedule for working out each day — building back up. I have to balance my workout to not only get stronger, but get my cardio endurance back to where it should be. As a big guy (6' 8" tall and 280-290 pounds), I am not worried about excessive weight training. Instead, I am looking to be fit. I have to climb mountains and go all day long, rather than in short bursts. I need to train so that I have all-day power. Here is my current workout:

• 15 minute warm-up on the BowFlex Max Trainer® M5
• Alternating 10 rep sets between:
1. Curls
2. Pull Downs (front-back alternating)
3. Flys
4. Lats
5. Bench Press
6. Set of 25 Core (different core positions)
• 15 minutes of intensity on the M5 with a 50-pound pack
• 15 minutes of cool down on the Nautilus® stationary bike

By the end of winter, I am up to five sets of each position and 30 intense minutes on the Max Trainer, along with 30 minutes of cool down on the bike. The spring hunting season always starts with a solid winter workout.

Guest Blogger Bio

Steve West is the host of Steve’s Outdoor Adventures TV and The Adventure Series TV on Outdoor Channel (Satellite and Cable Network). He is a world renowned big game hunter who has traveled the globe in search of extreme big game hunting adventures. His company, Steve's Outdoor Adventures, books hunting and fishing adventures for thousands of outdoors-men every year.