Fitness

"What I find troubling about commercial gyms, especially for backcountry fitness, is how unfocused the majority of people who work out there are. There goals are vague or their workouts scattered."

While I mostly agree with your post as regards people really interested in fitness, I think we've lost sight of the fact that there a lot of people piddling around in gyms who would otherwise be on the couch with their Doritos and Big Gulp. At least they're making some attempt to change their lifestyle. I'll give them credit for that. Also, gyms provide employment to a lot of college kids who would otherwise be painting houses in the summer to defray part of their college costs. ;)

As far as fitness, if you really want to go bare bones, all you need is a pair of shorts/running shoes, a few free weights, a DIY pullup/dip rig, and enough room to do crunches and pushups. Feel free to substitute your alternate choice for the running shoes/shorts, that was just my personal choice for most of my adult life. Anything else is optional, IMO.

My Super Secret Golf Course workout.

Start at 1st tee and do 25 push ups and 25 sit ups,
Run to 2nd tee then do 25 push ups and 25 sit ups.
Run to 3rd tee 25 PU – 25 SU
Do for 18 holes…….. if you can.

thats running about 5-7k and 450 push ups and 450 sit ups.

Jog the par 4s and 5s, sprint par 3s

Disclaimer: do this at night when the course is closed or off season. It can also be simulated on any trail. If you can do 18 holes you are in wicked shape. Do fewer reps per hole on the back nine if needed or even decreasing reps as you go.

Enjoy

By the way, I am with Tom above. The best treadmill is the earth. It just rotates under you as you run, walk, skip, bike. Use trees for pull ups, benches for dips etc. An amazing workout machine gym all in one.

I usually do workouts involving running, push-ups,pull-ups, and sit-ups… i find this most effective in staying fit (not bulking up) and I can definitely feel the difference when hiking. I have in the past done the lunges, squats, benching, etc…. and while I certainly was physically more muscular I don't think I was anymore physically fit then i am now doing mostly workouts sans weights.

Sean- I like that :) golf course w/ some trees to do pull ups and you'd be GTG!

I've added some weights back into my workout (used to be my entire workout!), but focused much more on basic movements (squats/bench/cleans) and less about high weight, low reps- body weight exercises still comprise the majority of my workout

One of the Best full body workouts I've ever come across is simply nonstop scrambling on class 3-4 or low 5th class terrain for a couple hours.

It works best if you scramble around near your danger limit, but on easy enough terrain so you can move fairly fast to keep it aerobic. This will make you focus, and every move will contribute to the workout.

i got to the part where it talked about warming up being a waste of time, and promptly stopped reading it…

"i got to the part where it talked about warming up being a waste of time, and promptly stopped reading it…"

Hmmm. I missed that part. I did see the part where the author says multiple studies have shown stretching before exercise can have a negative effect, but that's a whole lot different than warming up. And he's right, multiple studies have come to that conclusion.

How many times have you been told to start with a little stretching? Yet multiple studies of pre-workout stretching demonstrate that it actually raises your likelihood of injury and lowers your subsequent performance. Turns out muscles that aren’t warmed up don’t really stretch anyway, and tugging on them just firms up their resistance to a wider range of motion. In fact, limbering up even has a slackening effect on your muscles, reducing their stability and the amount of power and strength they’ll generate.

i even see the words "warmed up" right there. like i said, stopped reading right there.

Josh, we're looking at the same paragraph and seeing two different things, I guess. He does not say 'don't warm up,' he says 'don't stretch cold muscles.' In fact, where you see 'warmed up' is where he says that muscles that aren't warmed up don't stretch anyway. In other words, if you're going to stretch, you should warm up first! Again, stretching and warming up are two different things. If you're reading that paragraph as the author telling you not to warm up, then I believe you're misinterpreting what he's saying.

maybe you are right – perhaps i jumped the gun. i personally find warm up invaluable.