I've had some experiences lately that prompted me to post a similar thread. Luckily I used the search function first!

My wife and I have always maintained a good baseline of physical fitness. We have spent all of our years together hiking, rock climbing, and working hard in the gym during the week to support those weekend/holiday adventures and enhance our general health.

Lately we've been training extra-hard & specific for our latest planned adventure: a rim-to-rim hike of the Grand Canyon. We're going to do it in a day, but don't tell the nannies at the National Park Service.

For months we've been cranking out many hours & miles on steep trails, and it has occured to me many times: "I would not want to be out of shape & then get thrown into a survival situation".

Look at the survival stories on Doug's main site (all excellent material, BTW). Read about the people swimming, on foot, etc. In every conceivable case, being in reasonably good physical shape will help you, not hurt you.

I have to take issue with some of the above replies to the original post. I see people saying "well, being Mr. Universe could actually hurt you... all that bulk... so what if you can lift 300#... Donner Pass... blah blah blah.

You know what? The original poster never said a thing about looking like Swarzenegger. Plus, in my experience the people most concerned about the detriments of exercise are the ones MOST in need of it! They get smug about not being overly muscular... and ignore their own shortcomings.

We all agree that the mental side (knowledge, skill, attitude) is the primary survival tool. But once you've got that base covered, the fit survivor will have a better time of the ordeal. It's a well-proven fact that good physical condition ENHANCES your mental state and ability to deal with stress, both psychological and physiological.

As with most things in life, it's wise to avoid extremes. Fitness is no different. But I guarantee you this: if you persist in being a couch potato while you "harumph!" at the reasonably fit people, you will be the loser when the balloon goes up.