Physical condition

I realized the other day that one thing I have not seen much about on this forum is discussion of physical conditioning. I had the opportunity to play in a full basketball game with my high school students. By the end of 3-4 minutes I felt like I was going to pass out. If this had been a situation where I needed to move quickly i.e. bugout, I don't know if I could go very far carrying my gear on my back. I am dependent on my P/U to move everything

The law of the jungle baby!

only the fittest survive!

live by it or lose by it - your choice.

Good point. I think that some of us (including me <img src="images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> ) get bogged down in gadgets and reading and don't pay atention to our waist lines and lung capacity. I started running last summer/fall but that has gone by the wayside with the frigid weather. I would buy some snowshoes or XC skies but we're really trying to save $ for a house. I suppose there is always mall walking but that ins't too appealing to me. I guess I'll have to wait unti lthe warm wx arrives.

Chris

There's always enough room for a jump-rope and some situps and pushups. Even if you live in a closet. Works for inmates double bunking in a closet at the state house why wouldn't it work for you?

But - hey, it's your choice and your waist, lungs, heart and loved ones depending upon your choices.

To stand up for the relatively unfit amongst us:

"Works for inmates double bunking in a closet at the state house "

I doubt thier loved ones will benefit from thier workout! May be the queenie two cells down...
But - Hey, you can always train your wife to carry your BoB! <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The number one survival tool you have is your mind, which will direct your body to do what you need to do to survive IF your body is up to the challenge.

That team - mind & body - only works if you excercise BOTH.

If you're too fat to run, to weak to climb, or too medicated to think clearly, then there's a good chance you'll die in a serious emergency situation. On 9/11 there were people who DIED for no other reason than they got too tired to make it down the stairs before the buildings collapsed. They sat, sweaty and puffing on the stairs and the buildings came down on them. Imagine that.

I have learned from the fire service that you can't say "adrenaline will get me through a real emergency" because it won't. I've been in enough real emergency situations with the fire department, and I've been in realistic live fire training exercises, and in both situations, I learned that you need sustained, aerobic fitness to be of any real use in an emergency situation.

When the time comes and you ARE carrying a backpack full of 80 lbs. of crap you think you "need" to survive make sure your mind isn't preocupied with your body asking for the next place to sit.

And that's what I think.

Being able to walk from here to there is essential, and I’m amazed that so many folks talk about disaster preparation, etc. and totally ignore personal physical fitness. <img src="images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I’d recommend being able to pass the APFT in the “male 18-21” group. Road marching would be good too, say 12 miles in 3 hours with a 45lb ruck. Beyond that, I’d say work on being able to run a 10k at an even pace, tread water for 15 min, and bench press 300lbs.

With a little work, these are all attainable goals for men in the 20 to 50 age group. For women, I’d move the bench total down to 125% of their weight, and keep the other stuff. If you can achieve these goals, you will be reasonably fit, and live a lot longer too... <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Gary

You are totally correct. I am annoyed at myself for letting inactivity sneak up on me. This post has actually been a boost for me to get out of hibernation and start moving around again.

Chris

I've been taking Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido for the past few months, and would highly recommend it for fitness, mind-body discipline, self defense, and overall physical preparedness. I love it!

Very well put, Martin. Not only does a strong, fit body materially help one's survival effort, it has a strong effect on our mental confidence as well.

IIRC, Vince Lombardi said something to the effect that "...fatigue makes cowards of us all".

I couldn't agree more. The amount of space needed to do push ups, jump rope, shadow box and stretch is minimal. And don't count out stair climbing in a two story house or apartment building. 15 minutes of that can be done in the worst weather and is a great workout.

Amen. Similar to jogging in place, I can practice my Tae Kwon Do forms in the corner of a hotel room, during my lunch break at the office, even in the handicapped stall at the airport restroom. Sounds funny, but it's true.

I agree. during my free lesson time I go for a run. Once a day, everyday. As I cant afford the gym (£30-£50 a month in the uk!) I bought a pair of weights. my work out regime is using these every third day. Not only improves this my physique but also works as a confidence booster and get (even) more attention from the females <img src="images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Go out there and enjoy!

APFT???

Where's the link? What are the full criteria? Is there a training regemin that is suggested to getting you to these goals? Do tell!

apft

How are you mean't to read the charts?
What are "Reps"?
Excuse my ignorance, I just can't see what relation the numbers have to age or push-ups.
Martin

You need 60 points in each criteria, push ups, sit ups, run, as a minimum to pass.

Still doesn't explain what the numbers mean.
In addition to my previous question, what makes up a point? Are points "Reps"?
If I'm a 32 year old male, what does "75" and "100" signify?
Martin

The reps, down the left, are the actual numbers of push ups you do. So if you do 50 push ups, and are 32 years old and male, you get 74 points.

Enough said.. means very little to anyone outside the army!
Can anyone post any meaningful stats or an answer?
This would make more sense:

http://www.fourmilab.to/hackdiet/

Must disagree. I found the charts immediately understandable and I have no military background. The columns beyond the first indicate how many to do the header signifies the sex and the score is available on the first column. Age groupings as marked. The goals may be more than a civilian needs or not but the charts themselves, I found to be fairly self explainatory.

I was hoping for more tho. For example what about chin-ups? What about squats? The situp / pushup / running combination is minimal in terms of a workout. There are whole muscle groups and joints that will never be stressed by just that.

I have been aiming for a goal something like this

50 pushups

100 situps

20 chinups

50 squats

5 miles running / jogging (the aerobic nature not the speed is the goal here) under 1 hour

15 mile walking in one day with 35 pound pack

I'm not there yet but that's the goals so-far.

The APFT has always been kind of weak in what it actually tests, it may be some kind of bench mark for something, but probably not combat fitness. a 2 mile run is ok, but a better measure is how fast you can march 12 miles in full kit. Or how fast you can sprint 100 meters with two ammo boxes of .50 cal ammo and full kit. Anyway, this is a link about how to prepare for the Special Forces Assesment School. (I think that is what SFAS stands for) It might be more of what you are looking for. Preparing for SFAS

APFT isn’t the ultimate test of fitness, that’s why I also included some other stuff in my first post. I mentioned the APFT because it is one objective measure of being “reasonably fit”. Active duty lightfighters (11-X, 18-X and the like) routinely score 275+ in the “18-21 male” group without too much effort, …at least we did when I was soldiering for a living.

APFT scores are calculated by how many pushups and situps you can do in 2 min (meaning 2 min for each event), and by a timed 2 mile run on a flat course (like a school track) while wearing PT clothes.

SFAS stands for “Special Forces Assessment and Selection” aka “selection” and is a prerequisite for the Q-Course. It’s several weeks long and consists of mostly ruck marching and orienteering. It’s a weed-out course designed to cull the SF students prior to the phase training.

Gary

A good subject..having spent more hours than I would care to recall trying to keep in shape, may I suggest a couple of things which have worked for me [ sixty years young and still learning ]..

Point One: experiment to find the type of exercise YOU ENJOY. For some, it will be jogging or hiking, for others it will be swimming, for others it will be aerobics, tai chi, boxing, weights, etc etc...
which leads to..

Point Two: fitness is a full time job. If you don't believe it, start your favorite exercise regime, practice religiously for a month or so,... and then drop off for a few weeks. Your decline in fitness will be depressing, which leads you back to Point One.

Point Three: Consistency and Persistency... I see a lot of guys at my local gym come and go... dead keen for a couple of weeks, and then they drop away. Instant results are the stuff of dreams and slick marketing.

Point Four: You need a goal... may be it is losing/gaining weight... being able to beat your son at squash... [ mine ] or whatever... otherwise boredom sets in...

Point Five: related to Four... tailor your fitness regime to your pastime... for me it is seakayaking... and all the gym work I do means very little if I don't spend time with my butt in my kayak, actually paddling. Call it 'match' fitness, and it sure helps your mental attitude under stress.
my 0.02c

Peter Rattenbury, Australia.

Aye, physical condition is important. Just this Tuesday I injured my knee when I fell and smashed it directly into the concrete. Right now I couldn't see myself Buggin' Out! <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Plus I had to work all week so first aide could only be administered in the evenings. But it'll heal in a few days.

It's reasons like this that I tend to pack as light as possible. I.E. the crowbar stays in the car, even though it can be handy in the woods too! <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> But I also know I wouldn't have gotten hurt if I was in better shape... <img src="images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

In most military PFT's they list the minimum standards for passing.A service member can allways perform better to score higher.