Physical Fitness as a method to Prep

[Lawdog2705]

I haven't been able to do much physically due to SI Dysfunction but, I finally got tired of doing nothing and knowing how much I needed to. SO, all though it's not much, I've started walking around the backyard...up to seven times now. Doesn't sound like much but, I've also given up the pain meds, so I'm feeling every step. I WILL OVERCOME though. My doc had told me exercising would aggravate the situation, I say BS. I'm already feeling better and have lost a few lbs. I've given up my cane for the most part too. Pulling up the boot straps and womaning up!

[cowgirlup]

Good for you! Have you tried any stretching to keep the muscles from being so tight? Might help.

[urbanprep]

I have been doing some yoga, but this is an excellent idea/plan also.

I saw on another forum a while back where some guy said his wife was ok with him prepping. They had a good homestead, gardens, animals, supplies, and weapons. Then she said to him, what is the big deal, with out all the meds you take because you are so overweight and out of shape you will be dead in a month when they run out. He had lost 25#s when he posted that and was feeling much better already.

[Lawdog2705]

Aug 21, 2012 15:43:13 GMT -7 urbanprep said:

I have been doing some yoga, but this is an excellent idea/plan also.

I saw on another forum a while back where some guy said his wife was ok with him prepping. They had a good homestead, gardens, animals, supplies, and weapons. Then she said to him, what is the big deal, with out all the meds you take because you are so overweight and out of shape you will be dead in a month when they run out. He had lost 25#s when he posted that and was feeling much better already.

That's exactly why I am just dealing with the pain. Of course, right now, I have a pulled muscle in my neck...don't ask, which is about to kill me but, other than ice and ibupropen, that's all that is working. Once again, deal with the pain. Good experience I guess, wouldn't have much out in the field! My only med I don't know what I'll do without is my epilpesy meds.

[alabamadan]

My wife and I run our first 5k tomorrow morning! She runs slower than me, but I plan to stay with her stride for stride. We're also going to stay on the schedule I posted (She's on week 7) and run in a 10k in September. Having the races is a good motivator to keep you going.

MissJ, I'm not a morning person either but after a year of making myself get up at 5AM, it's easier. In fact I feel sluggish on the days I don't get up and run.

After the 5k I plan to start working on upper body. I feel the cardio is going well and now it's time for some strength. We're both going to start working on push-ups with the goal of doing 100 at once. I'm no where even close to that now.

[missj]

I'm with you there.

I am on Week 2 Day 2 of the 100 pushups challenge. it's hard, but I am managing. Today I had to do 15-15-11-11-16 with 60 second breaks in between. Let me tell you it sounds a lot easier than it is....

[woodyz]

For Survival Fitness,Try Thinking Outside “The Box”
Posted: 24 Aug 2012 06:32 AM PDT in suvivalblog.net
Fitness in a box is the latest craze; P90X, Insanity, Tae Bo and Hip Hop Abs are just a few examples. There are also some great online fitness sources such as crossfit.com and tacticalathlete.com.
I know people who have used all of the above and have had great results. If these programs are already working for you, then outstanding! At least you are doing something. However, this article is geared towards those who don’t necessarily have time, space and/or money to invest in to the above mentioned programs.
Disclaimer: Prior to attempting anything mentioned in this article, please consult your doctor to make sure that you are physically capable of doing such things. You are responsible for you!
Fitness Walking
Walking is obviously something we all do pretty much everyday and during a WROL-type event, we may be forced to do it a lot.
There are several significant ways to achieve good fitness with walking as the base and the first way is walking with a weighted backpack. As a husband and a father, I always planned on carrying a majority of the load should my family and I be forced to escape/evade our area on foot so I have included this in my fitness regimen. However, I quickly realized that carrying just 25 pounds over a 4-mile trail was very hard! It took over an hour to walk this four miles and I was spent. And, this doesn’t counthaving to walking over obstacles, maintaining noise discipline and other OPSEC considerations required during a WROL-type event. If this is part of your bug-out plan, then it is something that you should be doing on a regular, maybe even daily, basis.
The second type of fitness walking is to walk inclines,specifically stairs or steep hills. Most of us have stair steps in our homes or apartments and one of my regular workouts is to walk up and down my basement steps for at least 25 minutes. Want to take you stairs walking to a whole new level? Add the backpack or a set of dumbbells. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, I walk my steps a lot as part of my regular workouts. Adding the weighted backpack puts my workouts into overdrive.
When using dumbbells, you have a couple of options. First, you can carry them with you for the entire hike/walk and do a variety of exercises while walking, such a curls,shoulder presses and flies, one arm rows and tricep extensions. Stop long enough to add some push-ups, squats and lunges and you have a total body workout in 30 minutes or less. This is especially refreshing if you are hiking through a metro park or around a lake.
Another thing that I sometimes do is carry smaller dumbbells while walking up and down the steps. Then I pause every 2-3 reps of stair-walking to do the above mentioned exercises only with heavier weights.
Resistance Training
Several good exercises using dumbbells and a weighted back pack were mentioned in the previous section. However, there are some other exercises and options that can be of benefit to you. Along with those previously mentioned, these exercises are designed to help you with a concept known as functional fitness. Functional fitness is basically exercises that are designed to enable you the user to be able to meet the demands of your daily life and to do so in way that doesn’tbreak you down but rather enhances your ability to thrive.
The first functional fitness option that we will discuss is calisthenics and the first things that come to most people’s minds are push-up sand sit-ups. While these are important exercises, realistically they should only make a small portion of your regimen. More emphasis should be placed on pull-ups, tricep dips and bodyweight squats. This is because that in a WROL-type scenario, your chances of having pull yourself up over an obstacle, especially while carrying a weight on your back, are quite high. This is especially true if you have to bug-out for some reason and/or escaping from two and four-legged predators.
Another awesome resistance option is the kettle bell. Kettle bells basically look like cannon balls with handles on them and they come in various sizes. I like kettle bells because they are more of dynamic motion as opposed to dumbbells or other weights and, when used properly,they enhance flexibility. Many of the exercises used in kettle bell routines are known as compound exercises, which mean that the exercise works two or more body parts at the same time. Also, many of the exercises also elevate your heart rate, which is an added bonus. One of my favorite kettle-bell routines is to do a warm-up and then do a 10 minute workout consisting of nothing but kettle bell swings. During the 10 minutes, I will swing the bell for 30 seconds and then rest for 30 seconds of each minute. This will rock your world!
The final form of resistance exercises that I will discuss at this time is power bands or some other type of flexible cord, such as a fitness bungee. There are a lot of things that can be done with these types of bands to enhance flexibility and strengthen a certain body part. This is actually one of main devices used in Pilates. I will use these in my warm-up at times but for the most part, I only use them for an area that I have had to rehab, such as my shoulder and when I had a severe MCL strain in my right knee. Other than rehab, the main reason I mention it here is that many times women are more comfortable using, or at least starting out with these bands.
Before I finish this section I want to mention why I did not put standardized and Olympic-style weight training on here. I do this type of training myself by following the workouts in crossfitfootball.com so I am in no way opposed to it. In fact, for those who can, I encourage it. However, I also know that for whatever reason there are many people without access to the equipment/facilities necessary for this type of training.
Many times, kettle bells, dumbbells, power bands and quality backpacks can be found at a discounted price at the usual spots; re-sale shops,garage sales, craigslist, etc. This makes them more affordable and you really don’t need any other specialized equipment. They also take up a lot less space and if you are including walking into your exercise regimen, then you are getting lots of fresh air too!
Some Final Thoughts
If you have a working garden and/or take care of larger animals, then you should be getting at least some functional exercise already. Carrying hay, straw, bags of feed/mulch/dirt, buckets of water, digging and turning a compost pile on a regular basis all work to enhance your fitness. Mixing hard work with other regular exercise, plenty of fresh air and consuming the quality food that you are raising will all work together to enhance your health and your overall wellness.

[alabamadan]

Great post. I actually started carrying small 2 lb dumbells with me when I run and making a concious effort to do curls with them as I run. You'd be amazed how much of a difference just a few pounds makes. I know when my scouts trained for Philmont last year they practiced hiking each day with a backpack full of water.

[karatediver]

Aug 30, 2012 8:39:05 GMT -7 alabamadan said:

Great post. I actually started carrying small 2 lb dumbells with me when I run and making a concious effort to do curls with them as I run. You'd be amazed how much of a difference just a few pounds makes. I know when my scouts trained for Philmont last year they practiced hiking each day with a backpack full of water.

I jog with a three liter camelbak. It's hard at first but after you get used to it you hardly notice it and on hot days it's nice to have the water. It also makes it easier when on day hikes to carry a heavy day pack because my back and shoulders are already used to doing it.

[Lawdog2705]

Since I made it to 12 rounds around the backyard, I added the backpack today. I thought it might cause me to cut back on a few of my rounds but, I hung in there and made it the 12 even with the backpack...woohoo! Onward I go!

[Deleted]

I am doing well as far as getting in shape...at least a heckofa lot better than I was. I started out at 288# on June 1. As of August 31, I weighed an even 245#. Still a fata**...but at least I am not being asked when my baby is do any more!!! I have 100# left to go, and at this rate, I think I will easily be there by next year.

I got oober sick from a tick, lost a few #s and when I started feeling better decided since I was on the road to weight loss, I would keep it going. I am NOT on a diet. I simply changed what I eat, how I eat and how much I eat as well as the exercise I get in every day.

Mind you just a little over a week ago my new neurologist yanked me off of several pain narcotics I have been on for over 20 years along with muscle relaxers and anti-seizure meds...so I am going through some NASTY withdraws at the momment...BUT I have a set routine and am keeping to is as best as I can. I do allow myself 1 free day per week to enjoy anything I want. I find myself NOT wanting the old foods of my bad habits. I have noticed I can only eat a portion of what I could only a few short months ago, or I get sick. I am sleeping better, my A1C and all other blood tests are in a healthy range...and my BMI has dropped so I am only 1 point from leaving the morbidly obese range!! THAT alone makes me feel pretty darn good! I want my BMI of 22 back!!!

BREAKFAST: Unsweetened Cheerios and 2% milk...or...some other whole grain unsweetened cereal.
LUNCH: Oikos greek fruit in the bottom yogurt...sometimes a healthy sandwich with it
SUPPER: a regular meal with suggested (or smaller) portions.
SNACKS: generally I allow myself 1 fruit freezie, a cup or 2 of grapes or other kind of fruit or raw veggie, popcorn, etc...but I keep track of what is going in.
FLUIDS: 1-2 GALLONS of ice water daily, 1-2 cups straight black coffe 2-3x per wk, 32oz unsweetened ice tea 4-5x per wk
EXERCISE: work in my garden EVERY SINGLE DAY from 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on what needs done. There are 13 steps from the basement to upstairs, I walk them as fast as I can 10 down/10 up at least once a day. I make sure to get in a minimum of 1 hour but closer to 2 hours of walking every day. And I keep track of things like the length of time spent cleaning, cooking, canning, etc.

I keep my calorie intake under 1400 BEFORE exercise (down from 2500-3000 avg), and keep track of EVERYTHING through www.myfitnesspal.com then with the exercise added and everything calculate, I generally consume an unburned 800-900 calories per day. Which is WELL under what I need. I am experienceing a slow steady weight loss, which is the healthiest way to get in shape and in better health.

The pain I am experienceing in my spine is unreal, and I am hoping he does something for me, as it has slowed me down a LOT...but I am still headed in the right direction.

Should SHTF any time after I reach the 200# mark, I am pretty sure I will be able to hold my own. People argue that I cannot possible weigh as much as I say, and even my doc is adamant that I do not look that big because its "not sloppy fat but farm fit" as he calls it...but I know how big I am, and I know what it is like to be healthy...I WILL get there sooner than later! I wish you all luck on getting fit as well!!