Many of us are prepared for a variety of things; from pandemic to economic collapse and a host of other things. However, the biggest threat to most of us is our poor health, in more ways than one. We have a much higher risk of heart attack than we do seeing most of the things we prepare for and hope. I’m not going to scold you and tell you that you should lose weight or exercise more, you know if you should or not. Instead I’m just going to give my thoughts on health and preparedness; you pick what applies to you.
Another threat that being in poor health plays is how it will impact you in a true survival situation. If you’re out of shape now and do very little in the form of physical activity, your body probably won’t rise to the occasion in a survival situation, at least not for long. I’m in this group. With Information Technology (IT) as a living, I’m at a desk all day, as well as 3-4 hours after work, doing various projects for the website. By the time I’m done, I just want to relax, both mind and body. Due to an injury I mention below, my physical activity is a bit limited. Once healed I am going to make a lot of effort to get back into shape…other than round. Lol (“I’m in shape! Round is a shape!”)
I think most of us probably should be in better shape. Until then, we’re Prepper’s, we should prepare and mitigate our limitations until we are in better shape and there are no longer limitations. If you have a permanent physical limitation, you probably have already done this. If not, I think you should figure out how to mitigate those limitations as well. A reader commented recently that she was using a suitcase with wheels, until she got stronger. Fantastic! She’s working to improve and has a plan for what to do until then.
Functional fitness
The same reader asked my thoughts on functional fitness. I’m not an expert, but here is what I think; I don’t care about how much weight I can bench press or how many crunches or pushups I can do. I care about being strong enough to get through my day and being able to lift the TV when it’s needed or complete a similar task. I read an article on functional fitness that said many people who spend hours at the gym aren’t functionally fit. That they can leg press hundreds of pounds, but can throw out their back reaching for something at an awkward angle.
I did a bit of reading about functional fitness. The goal in training functional fitness is exercising multiple parts of the body at the same time. For example, while doing a squat, holding a medicine ball or something similar with your arms extended as you bend your legs. When you stand, you bring your arms back to your body. Another example I saw was doing a one legged squat. You might only be using your leg, but the rest of your muscles are providing stability and balance. Many articles mentioned the exercise balls and balance boards. I think these ideas are great and for many people, are a much better idea than spending time at a traditional gym.
I know of a few people who spent so much time at the gym and while they looked great in their youth, their joints are now shot. One guy I know was in so much pain he was prescribed pain killers, which he then became addicted to.
Find What Works For You
Many physical therapy clinics are using functional fitness to rehab their patient. This might be a good option for some. There are a lot of trainers using other approaches that might be good options. There are many videos available and you can get balance boards and exercise balls at many retailers or order them on line.
I think walking is great as well. If you can walk in an area with hills, that’s even better. Going up a hill uses different muscles than going down a hill. It is something that you can start doing now at any level and can keep doing.
Yoga and Tai Chi both have their roots in some mysticism, but if you can find an Americanized version that has stripped that out, these both have huge benefits. They both offer a full body workout and will aid in flexibility and strengthening. I was able to find a digital version of a beginners Tai Chi video on Amazon for just a couple bucks. There are also plenty of YouTube videos available.
Self-Analysis
I think it is very important we all take an honest look at ourselves to find physical limitations. Sometimes, as we get a bit older, we think we can still do the things we did when we were younger. The man that teaches my Haganah class told us that he kept having a problem with his neck, so he went to see the doctor and explained he had hurt it a few weeks ago, but it just kept nagging. The doctor said “That’s because you’re getting older and it takes longer to heal”, to which he replied “I want a second opinion!”
I don’t mean this for a way to get down on yourself. We just need to be real with ourselves so that we can take steps to mitigate any limitations.
Here is a personal example. I hurt my good knee a while back and it hasn’t been quite right since. If my leg is bent for any period the muscles around my knee cramp up, and the knee cap itself feels like it wants to pop off. There are days when walking is a chore. I’m in physical therapy and taking steps to get better, but until then, my leg is a possible liability. If for some reason the car broke down and I had to walk for help, I could muscle up for a while, but for how long? What if I, for some reason, had to head out on foot for a longer distance? For these reasons, as I mentioned, I am in physical therapy, I have gotten a couple of braces and I even have a cane. Will I need them? I hope not, but one of the prepper motto’s is “I would rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it”. I purchased the cane for other reasons, but it is available for this as well.
They say that necessity is the mother of ingenuity and this is often true. If you found yourself in a survival situation, you might be able to get creative and find a means to get by. But I’m not one to leave things to chance if I can help it and want to avoid making a bad situation much worse.
