Whenever I meet preppers, I’m typically fascinated by their level of preparedness. The majority have ample supplies of food and water, weapons and the latest technological gizmos. But most appear to be failing to prepare their most indispensable asset, their body. You can have all the fancy gear cash can buy but if you’re not able to run, climb a tree, jump over a fence and push that big boulder out-of-the-way, you ain’t gonna survive for long.
Why does a prepper need to be in good shape?
When the SHTF your normal routine can go bust and you’re gonna have to get that lazy ass of yours from off the sofa and begin doing all kind of manual chores. From cranking that water pump to installing barricades to your house, everything takes a toll on your body. If you propose or are forced to bug out, the demands on your body will be even greater. You’ll have to walk for miles, sometimes with a significant pack, full of your fancy equipment, and when looters get you in their targets, you’ll have to run with that pack. If they catch up with you, you have to fight your way out of it.
To me it looks obvious that a prepper should be in best physical form. A prepper is a dormant soldier who has to spring into action when the need arises. so it comes as no surprise that a prepper should have similar physical capabilities as an active duty soldier.
How to make sure you are in shape?
There are many ways you can adopt to make sure your body is at an equivalent level of preparedness as the rest of your provides and equipment. The following is a guide to get you preppers in shape for a SHTF scenario. I start from the very basics so that even the couch potato preppers amongst us can slowly but surely achieve this.
If indeed you happen to be a couch potato you need to begin slowly and build up gradually. Get into a routine of normal exercise, at least three times a week, and base your training on the principle of progression; i.e. making each workout more difficult than the previous one. Start with thirty minutes walk and every week add some minutes. Once you’re able to walk for more than an hour start increasing the intensity as well. You can do this by walking at a quicker pace or by carrying some type of weight like a backpack.
Once you feel comfortable with long walks at high intensity you can progress to incorporating short sections of running. Don’t use any weight/backpack when you first start incorporating running. Weekly increase the time/distance you spend running vis-à-vis the time/distance you spend walking. Once you start running relatively long sections you can start wearing your backpack. In a few months time you’ll be ready to go for long runs with a decently sized backpack on your back. Your body is now able to start different cardio exercises that increase stamina like cycling, swimming, cross skiing. The choices are endless.
Let’s take care of your upper and lower body strength
Now that you’ve got a decent level of stamina and some lower body toning, it’s time to start out putting on some muscle. You could enter with a fitness center or set up a home gym in a room or garage. The choice merely boils down to your personal preferences, availability of space and current finances. Setting up alittle home gym will require an initial investment of a few grand but there’ll be no annual fees to pay. You’ll also get to workout any time you want and there’ll never be a waiting time for using any particular piece of equipment. On the other hand a fitness club membership can only set you back a few hundred bucks but it has to be paid annually. You’re likely to possess a larger type of equipment at your disposal and there’s also the social aspect of attending a gym. Besides exercise you need to take care of your diet too, with the right food, and maybe a supplement or a shake like https://healthyusa.co/310-shake-review-the-most-healthy-meal-replacement-formula/ that will help improve your results and get you ready faster.
Irrespective of whichever approach you choose, here are some of the key exercises you should be performing in order to achieve overall strength and muscular endurance. You will need to get your hands on the best workout bench that will last forever to do these exercises like a prepper.
Upper body
Hard
- Pull Ups
- Bench Press
- Military Press
- EX Bar bicep curls
- Dips on parallel bars
- Decline sit ups
Easy
- Lateral Pull Down
- Chest Press
- Seated Shoulder Press
- Hammer Curls
- Triceps push downs on cables
- Crunches
Lower body
Hard
- Weighted Squats
- Dead-lifts
- Weighted Seated Calf Raises
Easy
- Air Squats
- Leg Curls
- Standing Calf Raises
Raising the bar
After many months of doing cardio activity (running, cycling, etc…) and strength exercises, you can progress to more difficult activities which are very satisfying and also offer lots of functional strength and endurance. Functional strength and endurance is a fitness concept whereby you improve your physical abilities and at identical time get your body used to doing activities that assist you in your everyday life, job, or in our case in a SHTF scenario.
Such functional benefits can be achieved from exercise routines like weight training exercises also include jumping up and down from boxes, throwing and slamming medicine balls, flipping tires, climbing ropes, swinging kettle-bells, hammering with sledgehammers and several others. These exercises mimic directly or indirectly activities a prepper could be doing in a SHTF situation. Attending combat classes like kick boxing, Muay Tai and MMA is another good alternative. These categories usually include very intense workout. apart from that, being competent in unarmed combat is another feather on your prepper’s hat.
Test yourself
Once you have achieved a decent level of physical fitness and the needed mental attitude to go with it, you could offer yourself a ‘trial run’ and subscribe to an adventure / fitness race. The idea of such endurance challenges is a run of many kilometer (usually 10km-15km) combined with various obstacles which range from crossing ice ponds on monkey bars to running across high voltage wires. Few activities could get you as mentally and physically prepared for a SHTF situation as these challenges.
The bottom line
Start investment on your physical fitness now and ensure that you and your family can depend on your stamina and strength if the need ever arises. ensure you could jump over that wall to take cover from the barrage of bullets coming your way and lift that downed electricity pole to free your trapped son. Being in good physical form will also come handy in your everyday life.
