Handler exercise and staying healthy - Page 1

What do you handlers do to keep in top condition? What is your diet? How many calories do you take in each day? Do you take any (LEGAL) supplement? (muli vitamins, herbs, etc) What kind of exercise do you do? What do you mostly focus on?

Brittany,

Good questions.  I hate to see dog/handler teams limited by the girth of the handler.  Funny that we put so much emphasis on diet and conditioning for our dogs and completely neglect our own bodies.  It's a TEAM sport.  LOL.

For what it's worth, here's what I do...

My favorite exercise is all natural, with my dog, in the Great Outdoors:  mountain biking and hiking.  No fancy health clubs required.  I ride my bike with my husband and Chaco runs or trots along side us on the trails.  We enjoy multiday backpacking adventures in the wilderness areas in our native West Virginia.  Of course, Chaco and I also go for long walks, but it's power walking, not just a stroll. 

I try to eat well, with plenty of fruits and veggies.  Whole grain breads instead of the white crap.  Healthy fats like olive, walnut, and safflower oil.  I avoid foods with trans fats or loaded with sugar.  It's much more expensive than the usual swill that lines the grocery store shelves, but I've only got one body so I better take care of it.

I take a multi vitamin and drink green tea and herbal tea, but don't use any other odd supplements. 

I try to balance my excercise with both aerobic and anaerobic activities so that I'll be conditioned to both modes of performance.

I wish had more time for exercise.  It's hard to keep a disciplined schedule. 

Best wishes!

Yvette

I hike and run in the mountains with a  45-50lb pack. I eat whatever I want. I don't take vitamins very often.  I try to cover about  8-10 miles a day depending on terrain. Sometimes my schedule doesn't permit that much and I  might leave the pack home and cut it down to 5 miles or so. I'm not a good example when it comes to diet.  I never go to health clubs--too boring for me.  I eat alot of GORP with M+M's. I drink lots of water.

I focus on getting from one place to another.

100% of my exercise is working and caring for the dogs. (9 adults/youngsters + little pups) My training field is at the bottom of a long-ish hill, kennel and house nearer the top. That hill gets pretty steep in hot weather after a few trips, believe me. I have been known to "cheat", driving the van up to switch dogs, partially to save aboth mine and the dogs' energy/strength for the work, and also to save time. Add some road work (read: riding the bicycle) playing with pups, kennel chores, toting 40# bags of dog food, and there is little need to count calories or worry about going to any aerobics classes. :)  I admit, when the weather is awful in the winter I don't do so much, gain a few pounds. By June the weight has fallen off with the layers of clothing.

For those of us not "blessed" with ALL THAT WORK, I would suggest running, or at least power walking for stamina, with short sprints, and possibly some weight training for strength.

SS

Oh and I forgot to mention another key component of my diet... Guinness for carbs, red wine for flavinoids, and Single Malt Scotch for whatever miracle compound that is surely in it but has yet to be discovered.

Cheers!

Yvette

I was just kidding. I don't really do all that anymore but it's a good way to get in shape.

Yvette- you forgot the antioxidants in the red wine