Survival Fitness: An Introduction

When the Emergency Broadcast comes over the radio, TV or you receive frantic calls from your friends, co-workers, loved ones, and it is for real this time. Will you be ready? Mentally? Is your gear in order? Is your bug out location stocked and ready to weather the storm?

This is the first post in a series of posts on “Survival Fitness”

How are you going to get there, with your bug out vehicle, motorcycle, bicycle, or on foot? How are you going to take care of yourself, rescue yourself, your family, and how will you fight to survive?

Do you have the physical stamina to evade invaders or a hostile force? WILL YOU BE READY PHYSICALLY? To fight or take flight for a sustained amount of time, regroup and fight another day and/or survive for a prolonged and indefinite amount of time?

SKIP AHEAD

What is Survival Fitness?

What is fitness and how do you apply the principles of fitness in a survival situation? One definition of fitness is work capacity across broad time and modal domain. What does that mean? It means the ability to do work and generate power over an undefined time and across many different modalities.

For example, having to hike with your bug out bag to your “Get Out of Dodge” location, jumping over walls, carrying a load, pulling someone out of burning building and carrying them away from danger. The ability to be fit and apply fitness in a given situation requires some skills that can be practiced and developed.

These skills are called “The 10 General Physical Skills of Fitness” and they are as follows:

1. Cardiovascular Fitness
2. Stamina
3. Strength
4. Flexibility
5. Power
6. Speed
7. Agility
8. Coordination
9. Accuracy
10. Balance

As I mentioned, these skills can be developed and will improve the level of fitness. Practice makes perfect, right? Perfect practice makes PERFECT EXECUTION!!!

This is merely an introduction to “What is Survival Fitness?” and how fitness can be applied in a survival situation. As stated in the bio line above, I am a former Marine Recon team member. I am also a Crossfit Coach and Endurance athlete. The principles of Crossfit and sustained aerobic endurance training are relevant to daily life and are paramount for success in a survival situation such as Urban Survival or Wilderness Survival.

In articles that will follow , I will expand upon the tenets of fitness, health, and fundamentals of a strong mind and body. I will help you develop the General Physical Skills that will increase your level of overall fitness. I encourage you to not only read and study the excellent information on SurvivalCache.com, but to visit www.crossfit.com for the workout of the day (as known as the WOD).

Your Survival Fitness starts today.

I will leave you with this….

“World-Class Fitness in 100 words”

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, Clean, Squat, Presses, Clean&Jerk, and Snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: Pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. BIKE, RUN, SWIM, ROW, etc. HARD and FAST!

Five or six days a week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. ROUTINE IS THE ENEMY! Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports. – by Coach Greg Glassman

Read “Making the Best of Basics” to make sure your family is prepared.

Stay Survival Fit,
Mark
[email protected]

Photos courtesy of TBC Crossfit of San Antonio

Here are other relevant articles:

Joel Jefferson

Joel is one of the original founders of SurvivalCache.com. After college, he joined the USMC where he served as an (0302) Marine Infantry Officer. Joel is an avid outdoorsman and spends much of his free time in the mountains. Joel’s hobby is researching survival gear & weapons as well as prepping. Read his full interview here.