Survivalism health and fitness challenge

bonniebede

So, given that its summer out there (I know this by the sound of rain water sweeping down my window)....

How about motivating ourselves with setting a few health/fitness goals which would contribute to our personal preparedness and survival capabilities.

Now I know mostly you guys and gals are all outdoorsy, hill walking, mountain stomping fitness Gods, who could plant a twenty acre field of spuds before breakfast and follow it up with a twenty mile swim just to see it that remote island had any interesting edible seaweed, but...

Some of us, well me specifically , might be more couch potatoe than root cellar, survival seed supply potatoe, if you know what i mean.

So I'm going to set myself some targets that are right for me, in the lose weight, get fitter category, and if anyone would like to join me for a 'hey, what do you mean you're giving up' ''well done, good onya' encouragement sort of thread then feel free to choose your own goals and lets get going.

Think i would also like to set a target of being able to walk/climb somewhere that i currently couldn't do by the end of the summer.

fluffysierra

Sure, I'll give it a lash

krissovo

For a stretch challenge that will bring you to a decent fitness level target 8 miles in 2/2.5 hrs by the end of summer across mixed terrain carrying around 15lbs of weight. Most people should be able to hit or get near in about 8 to 12 weeks with 1 hike a week.

The pace is good for weight loss and will take you slightly outside your comfort zone and build stamina.

From a survival point of view 8 miles is a nice distance, it will get you out of most cities and away from trouble spots. 8 miles is also the distance the British military to test combat fitness however the weight is more and your wearing a helmet carrying a 10lb rifle :-(

Killarney has a fabulous route around that distance for a final test on and around Torc mountain. Also another great challenging route around Mahon falls in Waterford

baords dyslexic

I just try and walk the dog a bit further each day, at least then one of us is getting some benefit I do a min of 3 miles dog walking each and every day rain or shine and carry a small pack with me (probably a bit more than 3 miles as walk takes a min of 1hour 10mins at a fast pace). I can only go over the 3 miles if I catch the tides just right, which messes up any training plan, a good week (up to and and after a full moon) I'll have 5-6 days when I can catch a really low tide for up to 6 miles (2 hours min fastish so again maybe more than 6) but on neap tides I might only manage one day week. If I used the road I could go further but won't take the dog on the road unless I have to. btw do I get extra points for walking that in steel toe capped industrial wellington boots :rolleyes: - I cross a stream a river and often have to fish the dogs ball from the sea so its just easier with wellies on.

@bonniebede I think there are a few backs here that might not be up to planting even one row of spuds before breakfast.

@kissovo Mahon Falls Waterford Hmmmmmmmmm we must have a few members in or near that area so I wonder if we could all make a day of it?

Doc Ruby

From a survival point of view, there's been a lot of talk about the benefits of hormesis. This works along the same lines as taking vaccines to activate the body's immune system - the flu vaccine actually gives you a small dose of the flu. Except this works on a macro level...

Wim Hof can raise or lower his body temperature at will, overriding his autonomic nervous system. He is able to sit in a box of ice for almost two hours. He can swim 50 meters under arctic ice. Wearing only shorts and going barefoot, he has run a marathon in Lapland and climbed through snow to the summits of Mt. Everest and Mt. Kilamanjaro. In carrying out these feats, he is able to avoid hypothermia, the normal human response to extreme cold. Monitoring by physiologists show that he keeps his core temperature constant and normal during these challenges.

Yet Wim is not a genetic freak or Tibetan monk. He is a 52 year old Dutch man without much body fat. He believes that anyone can adapt to the cold and learn to control body temperature.

For the purposes of the thread though maybe incorporate some weights or "short sharp shock" routines into your regime, of course without overdoing it, just build up over time.

Cork boy 55

What about the theory that one should fatten ones self up for the SHTF

Like a brown bear gourging on salmon before winter hibernation.

baords dyslexic

Cork boy 55 wrote: »

What about the theory that one should fatten ones self up for the SHTF

Like a brown bear gourging on salmon before winter hibernation.

I'm one of those lucky ones that can eat and eat and eat and your mam might still want to feed me up but the flip side is I know I can train and train and train and increase very little in overall strength. Best I can do is build up stamina.

Esel

Doc Ruby wrote: »

From a survival point of view, there's been a lot of talk about the benefits of hormesis. This works along the same lines as taking vaccines to activate the body's immune system - the flu vaccine actually gives you a small dose of the flu. Except this works on a macro level...

Sorry, but this bit is frankly incredible - unless it has been edited along the way.... (not by you, obviously).

Wearing only shorts and going barefoot, he has run a marathon in Lapland and climbed through snow to the summits of Mt. Everest and Mt. Kilamanjaro.

Climbed Everest (through snow....) barefoot and wearing only shorts? Rheinhold would be puking in his chateau!

Doc Ruby

Esel wrote: »

Sorry, but this bit is frankly incredible - unless it has been edited along the way.... (not by you, obviously).Climbed Everest (through snow....) barefoot and wearing only shorts? Rheinhold would be puking in his chateau!

Apparently he did Kilimanjaro but failed Everest due to a foot injury. He seems to have run a full marathon in the Namib desert without water, and trekked for five hours at -20 in his shorts. His reason for doing these things was apparently "lol". Cross him with Ray Mears and even Chuck Norris would be afeard.

Anyway thats a bit advanced for these purposes, sorry for threadjacking BB, just saying some short sharp shocks should be incorporated into the exercise regime. Do a few weights once a day and next day do one more or something similar. The benefits can be significant compared to the cost.

baords dyslexic

, watched this a couple of weeks ago http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17177251 on BBC 4 so guess it will get repeated there again sometime.

No6

Getting back slightly on track, I climb Croagh Patrick nearly every year on Reek sunday. I was brought up having the picnic on the top of mountains so if I go so does the picnic. One year I was climbing with my kids and a few friends so I put the picnic and waterproofs into a large rucksack. It looked a lot heavyier than it was, I was plodding slowly up the mountain when some Travelers who climb every year for penance (some barefoot) siad to me " you must have done a lot of sinning for that load" I nearly fell off the mountain laughing!!

Zamboni

Just an opinion...
There is always too much emphasis on endurance when it comes to survival training imo.
Strength is the forgotten aspect of fitness.
You never know when you might need to carry a person(s), move obstacles, free a person trapped or when it comes to building, lift rocks/trees/vehicles etc with your muscle power, brain and some levers.
If somebody is a current couch potato they could do an all round strength training programme like Starting Strength. A twelve week intro would be an excellent challenge for the summer.
Strong people are harder to kill :-)

baords dyslexic

Zamboni wrote: »

Just an opinion...
There is always too much emphasis on endurance when it comes to survival training imo.
Strength is the forgotten aspect of fitness.
You never know when you might need to carry a person(s), move obstacles, free a person trapped or when it comes to building, lift rocks/trees/vehicles etc with your muscle power, brain and some levers.
If somebody is a current couch potato they could do an all round strength training programme like Starting Strength. A twelve week intro would be an excellent challenge for the summer.
Strong people are harder to kill :-)

I'd be a big failure then. I worked outside labouring for about 20 years and no way would I ever say I much strength, endurance (which I lack) now, yes.

btw I've lifted plenty of, rocks/trees/vehicles on my own with suitable leverage but at over 6ft tall and under 10 1/2 stone you wouldn't find much other than skin and bone. - OK so I'm heavier now but my excuse is I gave up a 40 a day habit

krissovo

Zamboni wrote: »

Just an opinion...
There is always too much emphasis on endurance when it comes to survival training imo.
Strength is the forgotten aspect of fitness.
You never know when you might need to carry a person(s), move obstacles, free a person trapped or when it comes to building, lift rocks/trees/vehicles etc with your muscle power, brain and some levers.

Strength does not add much value for survival in my opinion, endurance/stamina really does matter. The only good thing for focusing on strength is that you may have additional muscle that the body can absorb when its starved.

In my military experience the best example of this is the US military compared to the British. The US focus(ed) mostly on strength and short distance explosive power and the Brits was endurance based. The US Army were huge and built like the side of a house, Brits looked weedy in comparison

Most military competitions the British would run rings around our US colleagues, stamina was only targeted at the special forces in the US at the time but I expect things have changed now from what I can see.

I once did a international competition "The Cambrian Patrol" which is a 40 mile patrol in 2 days with military tasks along the way. One task was casualty evacuation where you found loads of casualties and had to move them to safety. The Brit's could pick up people their own weight and almost run to the safe area 500 meters away. The US "beefcakes" struggles to get any momentum and took them 3 times as long to complete the task.

Zamboni

krissovo wrote: »

I once did a international competition "The Cambrian Patrol" which is a 40 mile patrol in 2 days with military tasks along the way. One task was casualty evacuation where you found loads of casualties and had to move them to safety. The Brit's could pick up people their own weight and almost run to the safe area 500 meters away. The US "beefcakes" struggles to get any momentum and took them 3 times as long to complete the task.

Hi krissovo, this is my point though. Strength does not necessarily mean bulk.
The ability to throw another human over your shoulders and run can be a valuable commodity.
An untrained Joe Soap would probably never have singlehandedly lifted anything weighing 70Kgs.
An all round strength training programme would be beneificial in conjunction with endurance training.
To train one to the exclusivity of the other would be detrimental.
Well rounded ftw

waterfordham

krissovo wrote: »

Killarney has a fabulous route around that distance for a final test on and around Torc mountain. Also another great challenging route around Mahon falls in Waterford

Do you mean just the loop up and around the falls, or is there a specific route you mean? I managed a few hours up around Farbreaga myself weekend before last, good excuse to use the kelly kettle for a brew

bonniebede

Time to stop speculating and start moving.

My goals for week one (which will actually be next 5 days):

Weightloss 5lbs
Dietary changes - back to low carbing, meal timing, food prep and planning

Exercise (aargh)
Flexibility: Simple stretches daily (testing out nearly healed injury)
Weight training: 2 sessions
HIT: 1 session
Walking: 15 mins daily

thehomeofDob

Have you considered a running programme like the Couch to 5K. It's 9 weeks, 3 runs a week, that will get you to either a 5k run or a half hour run, whichever you prefer. It will definitely help get your metabolism up for the weight loss and help build endurance.

I've done this and have now started to incorporate small hills into my runs and plan on running Glendalough sometime in the summer.

bonniebede

as it is definitely the end of the summer, I would like follow up on this.

Happy to say i have achieved my goals, and enjoyed a glorious sunny afternoon last saturday on top of one of wicklows fine mountains. couldn't have done it before the summer. Mind you I was not carrying much weight in the back pack, but then I am still catrrying some extra weight anyway.:o

Anyway, why not set yourself a goal for Christimas - for me its more of the same, waslking/climbing, weightloss and adding a bit of weightlifting and other fitness training. I would like to be fit enough by christmas to take a krav maga course in the new year.

judging by the rain outside, a bit of swimming might be in order too.

Tabnabs

bonniebede wrote: »

Happy to say i have achieved my goals, and enjoyed a glorious sunny afternoon last saturday on top of one of wicklows fine mountains. couldn't have done it before the summer. Mind you I was not carrying much weight in the back pack, but then I am still catrrying some extra weight anyway.:o

And you call yourself a prepper I always carry too much water, too many outer layers (just in case), heavier than necessary knife and invariably a hammock, tarp or poncho/tarp - just in case I find a nice set up spot...

Well done on your hard work and keep it up, the Dublin & Wicklow mountains in Autumn/Winter can be a very beautiful and solitary place.

Doc Ruby

bonniebede wrote: »

Happy to say i have achieved my goals, and enjoyed a glorious sunny afternoon last saturday on top of one of wicklows fine mountains. couldn't have done it before the summer. Mind you I was not carrying much weight in the back pack, but then I am still catrrying some extra weight anyway.:o

That's the style, keep setting everso slightly harder goals for yourself, and once a week or fortnight take it up a a notch.

bonniebede wrote: »

Anyway, why not set yourself a goal for Christimas - for me its more of the same, waslking/climbing, weightloss and adding a bit of weightlifting and other fitness training. I would like to be fit enough by christmas to take a krav maga course in the new year.

I'm conditioning myself by taking longer and longer icy showers, following in the footsteps of Wim Hof, so hopefully I'll be celebrating the season with a half hour dip in the sea. I must write up a review of his book now I think of it.

bonniebede

Tabnabs wrote: »

And you call yourself a prepper I always carry too much water, too many outer layers (just in case), heavier than necessary knife and invariably a hammock, tarp or poncho/tarp - just in case I find a nice set up spot...

Well done on your hard work and keep it up, the Dublin & Wicklow mountains in Autumn/Winter can be a very beautiful and solitary place.

well yes of course i had that stuff:rolleyes: I mean, like go out WITHOUT SURVIVAL GEAR????!!!!:D

Thanks for the encouragement.

Anyone know any good wild camping spots in wicklow they would care to share, or places to avoid?

bonniebede

Doc Ruby wrote: »

That's the style, keep setting everso slightly harder goals for yourself, and once a week or fortnight take it up a a notch.


I'm conditioning myself by taking longer and longer icy showers, following in the footsteps of Wim Hof, so hopefully I'll be celebrating the season with a half hour dip in the sea. I must write up a review of his book now I think of it.

The sea has looked so tempting, but I think I'll wait till next year.:)