Survival of the Fittest: Get in Shape Before the Apocalypse

By Bob Berkowitz

With an imminent apocalypse looming, many are beginning to consider what they should do to prepare themselves. Many are in their backyard, digging space for a fallout shelter, some are stocking up on water, canned food and supplies and still there are others, who have decided to train their bodies to be more prepared for supposed impending doom. Understanding how to survive in the wild. Make a fire, hunt and build a shelter from debris will definitely separate the “boys” from the “men” in the event of an apocalypse. Learning these survival tips will help, but how can you prepare your body for the end of the world?

If you are like the many who are arming themselves and family with tools for survival, just in case, then you will be happy to know that many fitness coaches, like Mark, from SurvivalCache.com and Jedd Johnson from MensFitness.com have come up with a few helpful ideas that are sure to be useful to you and your family in times of disaster as well as in times of stability.

Assess Your Current Health

Before you prepare anything, you will want to consider where you and each member of your family, living in one house, fit on a scale of physical readiness for an apocalypse. Maybe even write out a plan of action and add that to your mademan manual of survival tactics. How will you escape with your family? What are the possible dangers that you could face in your location? What are the weaknesses that will stand in the way? How long are you giving yourself to prepare for this occurrence? Once you’ve answered some of these questions, then you can develop a working plan of action.

Got Skill?

As explained in Survival Cache’s article on survival fitness, there are 10 general skills of physical fitness. They are:

• Cardiovascular Fitness
• Stamina
• Strength
• Flexibility
• Power
• Speed
• Agility
• Coordination
• Accuracy
• Balance

Once you decide how you rate in these categories, then you can see what areas need more work and develop a workout that enhances the skill that needs the most amount of work. For example, if your weakness is balance, you might try holding poses for lengths of time or even taking a yoga or tai chi class; where poses are held for a longer period of time.

Workout Without Spending a Dime

Seeing results from a workout takes persistence more than expensive equipment or a gym membership. Jedd Johnson’s Armageddon Workout in this month’s Men’s Fitness issue online, includes easy to do workouts that requires a few pieces of equipment that are easy to find and not too expensive. Some of the exercises don’t require any equipment, like the lunge jump, push ups and chin ups. These simple exercises, coupled with easy weightlifting exercises, are beneficial and will get you pumped for action, if you do them consistently. You can only reap the benefits of a workout, if you adhere to it regularly.

Why not get started on a prepping workout today? You can use these ideas as an outline to get yourself started, before you know it, you’ll be a pumped person of steel, ready to battle it out with zombies, the elements or whatever disaster the Mayans believed will be arriving soon.

About the Author:  Bob is a part-time accountant and freelance writer who spends time with his girlfriend and looking after his elderly mother. He is content to live the simple life, even though it’s hardly ever simple.