Get survivor fit

Simple tips and tricks to prepare your body for chaos.

Functional fitness is better than fashionable fitness.

I once had this friend who lifted and pumped weights five times a week.

Mostly using the gym machines and gadgets. But he could lift a lot.

He was huge and swole and muscular, a nugget of muscle and bulk. Just about as wide as he was tall.

He would finish his workouts and consume scoops of protein and all sorts of powdered supplements. And it worked. He got shredded.

Yet, whenever a practical use for his muscle came about. Help moving a fridge. To push and jump start a car. To carry goods to work sites. He was as good as useless. Why?

Not all fitness is created equal.

No matter how much you lift, you will not become a better marathon runner from lifting alone.

No matter how much you run, you won't get better at climbing by running.

No matter how much you climb, you won't get better at lugging heavy weights up the sides of hill trails by climbing.

The body always adapts to better deal with any stressors it encounters. It adapts to habits.

If those habits, such as lifting weights are encountered regularly. Your body builds muscle to make lifting easier. It evolves. Unless you use the gym machines, then the big muscles get bigger, but the little stabilizing muscles don't have to do anything and so they don't. And then you end up useless like my friend was.

If you spend a lot of time climbing trees for example. You get strong forearms and back muscles to pull yourself up more easily. Sometimes your body tries to lighten itself too. It's quite clever, it knows that to be better at climbing trees not only must the upper body become stronger (bulk and more muscle) but it is equally advantageous to lighten some of the rest of it to make it easier. This takes a while, but it happens.

If you regularly punch a heavy bag, you get really good at punching a heavy bag, harder and for longer durations. It gets easier.

And so on, and so on.

All exercise is really just creating a habit and the result is the bodies evolution to better cope with the habit.

So, if you wanted to be a better survivor in a post apocalyptic world. What physical skills would you want to possess? How would you make your body adapt to suit it?

Something between an iron man and a cage fighter.

Be prepared to move on foot. When cars don't work and gas is all but gone, grab your pack and chuck it on. And move. Get used to all that weight on your back. Get used to hills and rutted tracks.

Before I joined the army I boxed. And I was pretty fit. Always winning places in school athletics days. But boy did I learn quickly that hills and heavy packs are hard work. Most of my basic training consisted of sore and tired legs.

But get used to climbing and scrambling and anything in between. Most of the world isn't flat either. Hills suck. But they suck less when you are used to them. Some hills are steep, some not so much. Depending on how steep depends on the muscles you use getting up them. Mild hills you walk and thus place the strain on your legs and through your spine. Steep hills is more of a crawl where you have to grope and pull at rocks and roots. Scrambling is that mid point where you sort of do it all. Get used to that too. Because trust me when I say it sucks when you aren't used to it and suddenly have to do it.

Be fighting fit like a boxer as this can be practical and of use too. The short bursts of power are really handy in moments of chaos. Kickboxing or karate. It doesn't really matter what you do. I would argue if anything to go more towards the latter. If you can move your body explosively and yet do so controlled too. That can be a lot of use for you. Plus it never hurts to know how to throw a punch or choke someone out if needed.

Swimming and water skills. Don't jump in and drown. From rescues and river crossings. To spearfishing and gathering seafood. Get used to being in and around the water. Both on top of it and under it.

Lifting and carrying stuff. Sort of tradesman fit. Get your body used to working and building, moving dirt and bricks. This takes endurance and muscle, a strong arm and stronger back.

Easy way forward

That's a lot to work on. How can you possibly do it all? Is there a program you recommend or something?

Yes. And it's not that hard.

1. Learn a martial art or combat sport. Judo, boxing, MMA, karate it doesn't matter. This should be the foundations of your fitness. Find what's easy and local and try to do it twice a week at minimum. Martial arts are fantastic ways to get a bit of everything at once, speed, endurance, strength and mobility.

2. Get a weekend outdoor hobby. And hit the trails, or the local indoor climbing wall or whatever. Walk, cycle, climb bloody mountains. But do this regularly too. Rain or shine. Seriously, it rains out there so get used to it now.

3. Try yoga or pilates routines as a warm up and cool down for your workouts. And do them every day even when you aren't working out. Especially pilates, I love it. It kills two birds with one stone. Building core strength and stretching your body out concurrently. You only need to do ten minutes of it and in a month or two you will notice the difference to your flexibility and mobility.

So what's holding you back?

If I didn't have CFS/ME I'd be doing exactly that.

It doesn't have to become your life.

But it should be done. And better before you find out you need it.

Gasoline will dry up. People will act like predators. You will have to move and find food and fix leaking roofs. Bullets soon run out.

Do not rely on technology to save you. Rely on yourself. So invest in yourself.