As a brief introduction about me,
aside from being an MPH student, I am an exercise physiologist and personal
trainer. When I am not correcting peoples’ form and working in cardiac rehab, I
spend my spare time backpacking, lifting weights, and reading economics books.
Let’s say that you were a prepper. I
say “were” because, for the point of this article, The Big Event has already
happened, and now you’re not so much prepping as you are surviving. You
stockpiled food, medicine, water, and ammunition. You read all the books. You
built a secret retreat. Now there’s not much for you to do but to wait the
whole thing out.
Unfortunately, you’re going to have
to do all of this sitting out while stuck between the same ol’ four walls for
yet another day, and slowly, day by day, as your activity levels drop to a bare
minimum while you’re cooped up, you begin to grow weaker. You begin to grow
slower, and your energy levels begin to plummet as well.
Before The BIG Event, you were in
reasonably good shape. You could run a few miles with no problem and spent a
couple of evenings per week at the gym. However, during this survival
situation, going to the gym is out of the question.
Sure, for the beginning of any
survival scenario, you’re probably not going to be worried about your level of
conditioning too much. You’re gonna focus on surviving. However, if this
scenario begins to stretch out for any extended period of time, maintaining a
high level of physical fitness suddenly becomes a much bigger issue. So, what
can you do when you’re stuck in the same one-story cabin for who knows how
long?
Well, here are four exercises that
can be done with minimal space, next to no equipment, and that will strengthen
your entire body:
- Push-ups
Did I
really even need to say this one? It’s probably the first one that came to mind
for most of you. This is for good reason though. Push-ups are one of the best
body-weight exercises out there.
By doing
these, we’re not only targeting our chest, we’re also hitting the triceps,
anterior shoulder, core, and spinal erectors as well. Good ol’ push-ups will
not only help to build up your upper body strength (which tends to be the first
thing that people lose over time), but they also do an excellent job of
strengthening the core.
Why is
this important?
If you
want to be able to push a car, throw a wicked right hook, or shut a door closed
on an intruder, you’re going to need a strong chest and powerful triceps.
What if
you can’t do a normal push-up?
That’s no
problem. Every exercise out there can be adjusted for intensity. If a normal
push-up is too tough, start off by doing push-ups off of a wall. As you
progress, start at the bottom of a stairwell and do push-ups off of the third
or fourth step, or which ever step is comfortable.
Eventually,
you’ll get strong enough to do normal push-ups.
Are knee
push-ups an option? Absolutely. You could do them, but just be aware that you
have to keep a straight line from your shoulders to your knees if you want to target
the right muscles. Don’t point your butt toward the ceiling or get into a
cobra-about-to-strike looking posture; none of that stuff is helpful.
Your body
needs to come up as a unit. If you’re having trouble with this, I highly
recommend just starting off with some wall push-ups and slowly progressing
yourself.
- Dead Bugs
Where did
the name “dead bugs” come from? Well, it is named that because, for this
exercise, you’re going to start off laying on your back on the floor with all
fours in the air. It’s gonna look like you were giving a horsey-back ride to
your kid when you suddenly froze, got turned over on your back, and then got
stuck like that.
From this
position, you’re going to SLOWLY lower your left arm and RIGHT leg until they
are parallel to the floor. Raise them back up to starting position, and then
repeat the process for the opposite arm and leg.
Lastly,
you’re going to want to focus on keeping your lower back pushed into the floor
throughout the movement on this one as well. This drastically increases the
number of muscle fibers recruited through the core. Your back is going to want
to arch so that it can cheat. Don’t let it.
Why do I
recommend dead bugs?
Did you
know that your core musculature tightens up before you ever even begin to do a
bicep curl? Did you know that doing a pull-up requires massive amounts of core
strength? Guess what you need to chop wood, carry heavy stuff, or throw a rock.
Yep. You
guessed it– a strong core.
The core
is literally the foundation to just about every movement you can possibly make.
Without a strong one, your movements are going to be weak and inefficient.
On top of
this, the core muscles also play a vital part in the protection of the spine.
Take a moment to imagine what it would be like attempting to survive by
yourself with a tweaked-out back.
It stinks,
doesn’t it?
And that’s
yet another reason that a strong core is essential to survival.
Therefore,
I recommend dead bugs. They’re a fantastic core-conditioning exercise that
you’re going to predominantly feel in your abs.
Don’t be
fooled by how silly these things sound or look. They can be pretty brutal when
done properly.
- Bodyweight squats
You never
know how much you use something, until you hurt it.
If you’ve
ever twisted your knee, you know what I mean. All of a sudden you come face to
face with the reality that you use your legs WAY more than you thought you did.
Need to
run away from a mob/angry creature/bad guy? You need your legs. Need to stand
at the stove to cook a meal? You need your legs. Need to haul heavy equipment,
push a car, jump to safety, and much, much more? You need your legs.
So, why
not build them to be strong? Stronger legs mean that you can run faster, jump
farther, hike longer, and carry heavier loads. In a survival situation, this
could mean your life!
How can we
work out the entire musculature of the legs, targeting our quads, hammies, and
glutes? The answer is bodyweight squats.
All you’ve
got to do for this one is to sit down on an imaginary toilet, and then shoot
right back up, as if the seat was cold!
Things
you’re going to want to keep in mind on this one are to keep your back flat
throughout the movement, slightly point your toes out, and put your feet just
outside of your shoulders. I cross my arms, too. No cheating with your hands!
Sounds
easy enough, right?
Hit 15+
reps, and then let me know how you feel.
- Let-me-ins
You’re
going to need a door or a post that’s not going to move, for this one.
Let’s say
you chose the door. You’re going to place your feet so that you’re straddling
the door on both sides, with your feet just a little beyond the door knobs.
Each hand
is now going to grab onto one of the door knobs. From here, you’re going to sit
down on that imaginary toilet again, using your legs to support your weight.
While
keeping a firm grip on the door knobs, straighten out your arms so that you are
now kind of hanging there by your hands. Now, pull yourself back to the door.
Once you
get into the rhythm of it, it’s going to feel a bit like you’re a pole dancer,
but this is going to be one of the best back and arm exercises that you can do
with little to no equipment.
Too easy?
If this is
the case, just know that the closer you can slide your feet to the hinges, the
harder these are going to be. Just make sure to maintain the squat pose while
doing this one.
Why
let-me-ins?
Let-me-ins
target the lats (the V-shape of your back), your biceps, posterior shoulder,
and really blast your grip as well. Pulling is one of the six basic human
movements, and you’re going to need to have these muscles well conditioned if
you intend to survive.
Without
strong lats and grip, you’re going to have a hard time hanging anything by a rope, climbing a tree, or
pulling your wife up from a cliff for that matter.
Seriously,
if you got the chance to do that, she’d think you were the bomb-diggedy.
Okay, I’ve got the exercises. Now
how should I make my workout?
Ahh, I thought you’d never ask.
Here are the two options I would
suggest.
Personally, I like circuit workouts
the best, and they would be the best option for staying in good shape.
To do a circuit workout, do one set
of push-ups, and then do one set of bodyweight squats. Rest 60 seconds, and
then repeat the process. Rest another 60 seconds, and then do a set of dead
bugs, followed by a set of let-me-ins. Rest another 60 seconds, and then do
another set of dead bugs, and let-me-ins.
You get the picture.
If this is too hard or too easy of a
workout for you, there are always ways to adjust the intensity. Change the
number of repetitions you do, increase the intensity of the exercise, or add
another round to your circuit.
Here’s the workout I would do:
Circuit A: Push-ups 1 x 30 Circuit
A: Dead Bugs 1 x 5 Rest 60 seconds, and repeat two more times
Circuit B: Bodyweight squats 1 x 15
Circuit B: Let-me-ins 1 x 30 Rest 60 seconds, and repeat Circuit B two times
With working out, there are a few
basics you’re going to want to understand.
Rule #1: If it hurts, don’t do it.
This sounds like common sense, but
you’d be surprised. Exercise may make your muscles a tad tender, but if you end
up with any kind of pain (there’s a difference), you need to find out what’s
going on and switch things around.
Rule #2: Do what you can do.
Don’t go out there trying to impress
people. That just leads to your getting hurt. Be wise with how you program your
workout. If you can only do ten repetitions before your form starts to break
down, then by all means, stick with ten reps.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and
neither are strong muscles. Take your time with this. It isn’t a race.
Progressing slowly is the key to preventing injuries.
Rule #3: Rest.
When it comes to resistance
training, I typically recommend resting a day between workouts. Give your
muscles time to recover. This is when they become strong. Also, if you’re new
to working out, don’t feel that you’ve got to do this workout four times a
week.
This goes back to Rule #2: Do what
you can do. Starting off, I’d say going through the workout two or three times
per week is fine.
Rest in between sets as well. For
this type of workout, I say 15 seconds between exercises while you’re in the
middle of a circuit, and 60-90 seconds at the end of a circuit. However, once
again, remember Rule #2.
Staying in good physical condition
is essential to surviving during a disaster scenario, especially if you’re
going to be holed up for any length of time. With these four exercises, you’ll
help to further guarantee that your body stays in peak shape while cooped up,
plus you’ll further increase your chances of being able to pull somebody off a
cliff, Dark Knight style, and you KNOW you wanna do that.
From the Survival Blog
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