Hey I was just wondering how big a role fitness plays in your preparation for survival.

I have always had a focus on being fit, mostly through martial arts training but it seems to me it is critical for survival as well.

Since my son was born three years ago I had to cut out the martial arts training but still keep up with the push-ups, squats, pull-ups , sit-ups, wind sprints and rope jumping.


So what do you do if anything?

Hey Izzy, when I was younger I was like you, then I started martial arts and quickly gained weight and size.

If you focus on the resistance training you might be able to bulk up fairly quickly.

I should add that the type of martial arts I do is jiu-jitsu, so I did a lot of grappling as opposed to sparring.

To answer your question, IMHO, fitness is a very necessary part of being prepared.

Unfortunately, in my day to day working/living routine, I am getting very little exercise. I am riding my bike more, when I am at home. I am trying to develope the habit of walking my tow while I am underway.

The weight-lifting, push-ups, etc workout just doesn't fit into my mindset so I am trying to get my exercise in other ways.

The long slow cardio is probably the best IMHO. Don't get me wrong, strength is great but it is all about the long haul. I'm not a fan of wind sprints due tothe fact they are basically anaerobic in nature. Case in point: When I was in high school on the track team the entire team had to run full-out laps on the track. We'd get about 2 minute to rest then do another one. The "weight" guys (shot put, discus) struggled mightily after about a lap and a half. The sprinters (100, 220, 440) could hold their own for about three laps. However, the distance runners just kept plugging along. The team ended up doing about 10 of these. That was basically the workout for that day. Needless to say the "weight" guys took a beating. The sprinters were OK for the most part, just a little rubbery legged. Us distance guys: we were looking for more.

All that for this: Work on the cardio/aerobic stuff. Add in some strength training, too. Most of all, do something!

That reminds me, I have to start working out again. Good thing I have an Arc Trainer and ESPN at the house.

Enough of that.

Nice regimen!! I'm lucky to jump on my Arc Trainer 4 or 5 times a week.

My wife and I just moved to an urban area and sold our car. We get a lot of exercise without the car.

Biking, running, walking...My goal is to incorporate swimming. My wife is a strong swimmer but I have yet to learn to swim properly. I can have fun in a pool and "not drown" in a lake but gaining distance beyond about a mile in the water is something I am not currently capable of.

Speaking in reference to MoBoB's observation you should gauge your workouts to what kind of stresses you foresee in a survival situation. I'm currently finishing my PhD in Physiology and from my exercise science colleagues I have learned a few things. Repeated environmental stressors signal the body to adapt. Thus endurance exercise stimulates the body to favor muscle types (slow twitch) that are relatively low strength but last over a duration (e.g. marathon runners). On the other hand mechanical stress from weights or sprinting encourage a greater bone density and selects for muscle types that are stronger over a shorter duration. Thus giving the spectrum of performance in running described by MoBoB. Pretty interesting that our bodies will adapt to our environment and our activities.

As a side note I also found out that it is now thought that "lactic acid buildup soreness" is a myth. Research seems to indicate the pain after working out is more likely caused my micro muscle tears and micro bone fractures.

Good luck Hookpunch. I think Martial Arts is a great place to start as it is not only physical training but also mental training for situational awareness and discipline.

Cheers,
Nemo

+1 to this. Of course, there are many facets to "fitness"--muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardio endurance, flexibility, etc., and you ignore any one of them at your own risk, but if I had to pick one aspect to emphasize, it would be cardio. Your metabolism becomes more efficient at burning fats, so you can go longer without "hitting the wall" or feeling those hypoglycemic shakes during a long hike. In a survival situation with little food, this means you function better without feeling awful. I feel that you can withstand stress better, whether chronic or the sudden adrenaline dump, when your cardio system is fit. Of course, there are the long term benefits of blood pressure and cholestrol control, etc.

I do think "wind sprints" or intervals, or whatever you want to call them do have a valuable place, though. Well, there are variations. Going full-out, anaerobic, my-legs-are-burning wind sprints is hard on the body. However, doing something similar but only going to upper range of your aerobic capacity for a time then back down repeatedly also has many benefits that you won't easily get by just going slow all the time. For me, a pulse of about 160 is just at that threshold when I can feel myself getting a bit anaerobic--the breathing gets a bit ragged, my mind suddenly feels busier, and the exercise isn't so easy anymore. If you pay attention, it gets easy to notice when you hit that point without taking your pulse. Unless you regularly push that upper limit a bit, I personally find that it's easy for your conditioning to actually slip over time because your body gets too used to performing only at that lower level, no matter how many hours you can keep up that lower pace.

Don't overdo it, though. I see lot's of people who seem to be training at that upper, or even anaerobic, point all the time. They're the ones who leave the cardio machines looking like someone just hosed them down. I often only see them at the gym for a while and then they disappear. You just can't keep up that kind of workout day in and day out. Even if you can do it physically, it is mentally tiring, too. Like I mentioned, your mind gets rather stressed at that intensity level. It's not really a fun or peaceful place to be. Slow and easy is the base, but periodically pushing the envelope a bit is good, too.

I recently started taking a yoga class for an old back injury, too. It's great! I wish I had tried yoga a long time ago. It's not a miracle cure or anything, but it has worked in ways that "normal" stretching never helped me with. It can also be surprisingly tough. I was so sore every week after class for more than a month before I got strong enough that I could actually feel relaxed while doing the poses. If you're interested in yoga, I suggest taking some classes. It's important to get the biomechanics of the poses correct to prevent injuries and stretch the correct things, and that is hard to evaluate yourself. It really helps to have an experienced instructor guiding and correcting you until you get the basics correct.

Hey Izzy,

I have a similar problem being 6'1'' tall at 155 lbs. I think my reason is stress of grad school and caffeine though. When an experiment starts I typically lose about 10-12 lbs. Do you have anyone in your family that has a similar body composition? It may be genetic more than your diet. Also if you do consider changing your diet for health reasons I would recommend seeing an RD (registered dietitian). They are not expensive for a consult and if you could find an RD student you could get a consult for free as a project of theirs .

I help teach some pre-med and med students and I know for a fact that medical doctors receive little to no training in nutrition unless it is their specialization. Even then I would trust an RD more. I would only trust an MD's advice on disease (such as hyperthyroidism) and general physiology (how the body works). Anything else like exercise and nutrition they are pretty much guessing.

An RD is trained and certified in nutrition topics. Good luck.

Cheers,
Nemo.

I stopped going to the gym ages ago. Instead I get my exercise by taking part in many activities which are much more real.

Long walks with my wife. I'm a member of the local 'outdoor club' which does a lot of hikes, backpack weight training, stair running, bike riding, climbing, camping, and other active events that I can take part in with others...much more motivational than sitting on a treadmill plugged into an iPod. I also walk to and/or from work whenever I can.

It's not what anybody would consider 'hard core' or anything but it's consistent and it's regular and that's the key thing for me...it's easy to get in a rut of not doing anything...and anything is better than nothing.

Hi Gang
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i got a bad cramp once on a summit, mid way through a 22 mile hike.

found 'gookinade' aka 'hydralyte' and now aka 'vitalyte'. you might try that or another electrolyte replacement product.

perhaps you were too hydrated with h2o which diluted your lytes?

i don't think skinny has to do with it.

and cramps are a real drag.

treadmill x 30 mins w/20 lb pack + eliptical trainer x 30 mins w/20 lb pack five days a week.

1) 15 x 3 sets of lunges +
2) 40 x 3 sets stand on toes from flat +
3) 15 x 3 deep knee bends all while holding 20 lbs in each hand, at lunch time 5 times weekly.

10 - 25 mile hike w/min 2500' elevation gain, once weekly.

have recently added a 4.2 mile rt hike with 1650' gain in 2.1 miles once weekly.

saw cardiologist today w/tests - all ok. says many 20-30 year olds couldn't do what i could on his treadmill. made me feel good. the workouts must be working.

As a matter of fact you CAN train that way over a longer time and it works. Works really well!

High intensity training is very effective stuff if you're serious about it and train smart. When I was into boxing and later MMA I gradually progressed to 6 workouts per week (about 2 hrs daily). I did a lot of anaerobic training. Looking back, I made amazing progress from the couch potato that I used to be and I've been able to maintain that kind of intensity for several years.

It is a very tiring way to work out, physically and mentally, probably too hard for most people. If you want your workouts to be easy and pleasant then it's not for you. But it can be done as long as you've developed a solid foundation first and follow a sound training regimen that you adapt yourself over time as you get a better understanding of your body. Working out every day is totally possible. For example, you can rotate hard and easy days so you go nearly all out on one day and easy on the other (which incidentally assists recovery a lot better than just resting).

Different strokes for different folks but I disagree about long, slow distance training. It does have its place but it develops just one attribute. If all you do is run long distance (perhaps without even really breaking a sweat) you will only develop aerobic endurance. But your strength will actually diminish, you'll lose fat as well as muscle. If you think that kind of training translates well into real life long range endurance, you're wrong. Give a casual jogger/marathon runner a 50lb pack and see how he struggles after a couple of hours in the field. I talked to several experienced people, including a veteran Ranger (for those guys long hikes and forced marches literally come with the job) and none of them saw much value in long, slow distance running. If anything, the consensus was that one should focus on 2 or 3 mile runs at a 6-7 minute mile.

Also, you need to understand that different athletes specialize in different areas. Sure, if you're a competitive marathon runner you'll be able to run many more laps than a weight lifter or sprinter. So what? A weight lifter can easily lift several times the bodyweight of a marathon runner and a sprinter can run a lot faster than either of them. That's the whole point, right? What would you rather be? Your call, but if you want to be in good shape throughout you'll need a little bit of everything: endurance, speed, power, strength...

Re: gaining muscle mass for tall, skinny guys (I used to be 155lb at 6'2")... If you want to bulk up I would seriously suggest lifting weights. Focus on major muscle groups and forget about bodybuilding and isolating muscles. Squat, deadlift, bench press, military press, bent-over rows, dips, pullups w/weighted backpack. Great stuff for building muscle.

There are many good routines out there. Personally I prefer something based on the push/pull principle where you follow each exercise by working the antagonist muscle groups. Most of all, squat! For starters, something very basic in the range of 3 sets, 8-12 reps might work so that you get used to proper technique. A little later, 5-8 reps could be better for developing real strength without useless bulk. If you can handle the 20-rep squat routine it will build muscle faster than anything else I've ever seen.

A guy with fast metabolism doing this kind of training about 3x per week can realistically expect very good gains (maybe 6lb per month). But you'd need to stay away from long distance jogging for a while because it kills muscle mass! Substitute with intervals, fartlek or other anaerobic training if you want to work on endurance though no more than 1-2x per week if you really want to focus on bulking up.

Also, eat well 5x per day, lots of protein and consider supplementing with a weight gainer. You will need it if you're a real "hard gainer". There are a lot of myths about supplements and many don't work at all but a weight gainer might be worth trying. If you skip meals often you could also get those meal replacement shakes. Again, very handy and great for faster recovery after weights.

That is my problem with long distance running, it leaves me so exhausted that it is tough to do any strength or endurance training. I substituted 10 minutes of jumping rope instead.

+1 on the brazilian jiu-jitsu.

I also do racquetball 2x weekly, run 2x weekly (about 5km per run) Lift weights 2 x weekly and once weekly MMA. Once weekly I do a hand strength workout. (For some fun, get a #2 Captains of Crush and take it to work and make some easy money taking bets on who can close it) Hand strength is probably the most neglected...and yet most important.

I've found that overtraining is the #1 reason people give up; they just don't know it. It is actually quite startling how easy it is to overtrain. My bench never improved much past 250 lbs. and I was sore, sore, sore when I used to do 3 hour workouts. Now I clear 320 without too much problem and am done in about 20 minutes. Beginners overtrain. Pros pace themselves.

I try to make fitness play a big part of everything. Survival is great, but living period is a lot better and more enjoyable when you are fit.

My routine is based specifically on the things I do at work or play. Cardio such as treadmill intervals and plenty of rucksack marches keeps me Army fit as well as fit for hunting season. Keeping the feet conditioned for walking is uber important for me so the more marches I do the tougher the feet get. I’ve got thick enough skin on my feet from all the marching that I never get blisters and I could probably walk across hot coals if I needed to.

I also have a bow flex and love the damn thing (ultimate 2) one of my favorite exercises is to pull back a rod with each arm as if I am drawing a bow. This keeps those not used much muscles in top shape for bow hunting season. My bowstring is so much easier to pull back because of this.

I top it off with as much swimming as I can fit in, and plenty of hitting the old heavy bag and grip exercises so I can drive my fist clean through an attackers face and then rip out his still beating heart the next time I am required to use self defense. I have a good stretching routine as well, and this has kept a more than a few injuries at bay.(especially now that I am pushing 30)

Fitness is exceedingly important. If you are fat, drink and smoke, and do not get enough exercise then you are doing yourself great harm and should an emergency occur you may find yourself unable to physically perform.