Run Prepper Run

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.
Run, Prepper, Run!

A Complete Guide to Survival Fitness
by Dan F. Sullivan
chief editor of www.SurvivalSullivan.com
ISBN 978-973-0-20690-6

Disclaimer
No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any
means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written
permission of the publisher. It is illegal to copy, distribute or create derivative
works of this book in part or in whole, or to contribute to the distribution, copying
or creation of derivative works of this book.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information

regarding the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the
publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If legal, accounting,
medical, psychological, or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a
competent professional person should be sought. The author and publisher
specifically disclaim any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the use or
application of any information contained in this publication.
It is highly recommended that you visit your physician before employing any of
the advice given in this course.

Table of Contents
Disclaimer .............................................................................................. 3
Table of Contents................................................................................... 4
Introduction ........................................................................................... 5
Chapter I: Warm-Up ............................................................................ 11
Chapter II: Endurance ......................................................................... 15
Chapter III: Strength ............................................................................ 48
Chapter IV: Speed ................................................................................ 66
Chapter V: Flexibility ............................................................................ 67
Chapter VI: Making Your Own Gym Equipment .................................. 80
Chapter VII: How to Stay Motivated ................................................... 82
Chapter VIII: Further Recommendations ............................................ 85
Chapter IX: Thinking of Joining a Gym? Read This First ...................... 90
Chapter X: Dealing With Injuries ......................................................... 92
References ........................................................................................... 95

Introduction
How long have you been prepping, now, 6 months? A year? More?
I bet its not every day that someone comes to you and say:
Look, youve been doing it wrong. Youre neglecting a critical aspect of
your preparations that could potentially kill you in a disaster.
I know, I know Everything is crucial and anything can kill you if you
choose to ignore it. But this is different. In fact, this is a game changer.
Your physical ability to run, climb, walk long distances, carry a heavy
bug out bag, work the farm, fight multiple attackers, carry an injured
person and so on, these all depend on how fit you are.
And when I say fit, Im not referring to having a six pack and look
like a supermodel. Im not talking about being the next Iron Man or
turning into a competitive bodybuilder.
Im talking about a balance between strength, speed, endurance and
flexibility that will help you get you to safety when your life is in
danger.
Too many preppers, although are well stocked with food, water and
ammo, are so overweight theyll not be able to run for a hundred
yards when disaster strikes. Yes, they are good people but theyre
completely blind to the fact that theyll be among the first to die
should they ever have to run for their life.
Well, its not really just about running. When bugging out, even a long
walk can exhaust some of the preppers that arent even overweight,
just not in good shape.

40% of the adults in the United States are overweight. 40%! Obesity is
more frequent in adults between the ages of 40 and 59 than those
aged between 20 and 39. In other words, if youre over 40, you
probably have way more pounds than you should.
Those extra pounds are just a few of the reasons that might prevent
you from moving to safety when you wont have a choice.
In a post-survival scenario, the number of situations where your
physical and mental strength are going to make the difference are so
numerous, I dont even know where to begin. Things like:
running for your life from a disaster;
bugging out into the woods at a medium-paced walk;
jumping over obstacles;
pulling yourself out of the water (fast river, flash flood etc.)
with a string/cord
climbing various things;
jumping from a distance (which may potentially cripple you);
fighting or outrunning one or multiple attackers;
working in the garden;
digging a well;
hunting and fishing;
and many, many more activities that are going to wear you
out completely if youre not up to it.
What Im trying to suggest is that getting in shape is not only
important for people who are more oriented towards bush-
craft/wilderness. Pretty much any scenario requires that you get into
shape, including daily SHTF scenarios as I like to call them, such as
electric shocks, drowning (well, you need to pull yourself out of the
water, right?), tornadoes, sinking cars, fire (what will you do until the
fire marshals get there?) and on and on.

Ok, I know what youre probably saying right now. Youre already
doing some drills. Youve already walked 2 miles with the bug-out bag
on your back.
Thats fantastic. Most preppers could barely run to their car to bug
out, let alone through the woods or crowded city streets. If youre
already doing some workouts, you will find this rare course to give
you dozens of other ideas on working out and introducing variety in
your fitness training.
Heres the thing. Doing some workouts may give you an advantage
but you really dont know what you may be up against.
You might have to jump really high or climb a tree quickly or run at a
fast pace for way beyond what youre used to
Your heart might be unable to pump enough oxygenated blood to
your heart and lungs
Your joints might not going to be able to withstand all the pressure,
particularly when you do a lot of sudden movements
Your spine might bend under the pressure of all the heavy things
youre going to carry
And, of course, your muscle are just not going to be strong enough to
help you do some of the heavy duty stuff I just described. The
moment youre in serious s*hit, your body is just going to fail you.
Look, Im not by any means a doctor. In fact, I strongly encourage you
to pay your doc a visit, get a thorough examination and take all the
tests in order to evaluate your current health. Based on that, your
doctor will let you or, on the contrary, forbid you to do some of the
exercises outlined below.
Now, regardless of your current situation, let me say one thing to you:
This is not your fault!

Our modern day of life is extremely different than what we used to be
thousands of years ago. We wake up in the morning, go to our office
job and, even if we dont work at an office, the amount of physical
work we have to do is minimal. We get home and let our appliances
cook our meal for us; all we have to do is move a few dishes around
and press a few buttons.
Let me make it clear: you are not to blame for your bodys
evolutionary response to such a dramatic change in our lifestyle. We
evolved too fast and thats that. But you are the only one responsible
for keeping yourself in shape, fit and ready for whatever may come.
Caveat: you need to be healthy if youre going to do everything I teach
you. Sure, walking never killed anyone (as far as I know) but, again, I
highly recommend checking in with your doctor before beginning to
make sure doing the workouts wont cause bigger problems in the
long runs.
Things like asthma, arthritis, allergies and ankle and joint problems
could restrict the type of exercises you can do as well as the duration
of your workouts.
Of course, I have a responsibility as well. To you. My goal is to take
you from wherever you are right now with your physique and give you
back your strength, your stamina and make you feel better in your
own skin?
Sounds good? Great. Heres my action plan for you. Were going to
focus on four key aspects, namely:
strength
stamina
endurance
and flexibility

Each of them has a set of exercises you can do and youll be the one
choosing them. You dont have to do all of them but the more the
better.
Heres how were gonna do this. In the main course (this one) Im
going to give you the full list of exercises you can do, complete with
explanations and advice on how to get the most out of your workouts.
In the workout bonus, youre gonna get a few dozen workouts that
are based on the exercises presented here. So the two courses are
linked to one another and I recommend you use them in conjunction.
Aerobic and Anaerobic Activities

Every exercise youre going to do can basically put in one or two
categories: aerobic or anaerobic. I know you probably know about
aerobics, right? Maybe youve even taken a class at some point in the
past.
Aerobic exercise is a low intensity long-term exercise that requires
free oxygen. This is also known as cardio and is really getting thats
really causing your heart to work hard at pumping oxygen. Think
running, walking, swimming etc.
Anaerobic exercise is a high intensity short-term exercise. Think
weight lifting and sprinting. Do them to develop power, speed and
strength.
Now, the truth is you need both of these if youre going to become a
fit prepper. Youll need to run or hike as well as to lift heavy objects,
climb trees or fences and so on. Thats the bad new, which really
isnt all that bad because it just means more variety in your workouts.
The good news is that you dont need to train that hard. You dont
need to become an Olympic athlete or the next Iron Man. In fact,
studies have shown that overtraining not only increased the chances
of injury but doesnt do anything to promote a longer, healthier life
than average, medium-paced exercise.

While most people who go to gyms train 4-5 times a week (plus
running and sprinting and, sometimes, doing even two work-outs a
day), you only have to train 2 or 3 times.
Training only once a week isnt enough as it doesnt allow you to
progress fast enough and to give all your muscles a proper workout.
You have over 650 different skeletal muscles in your body and each of
them is more or less involved in your training, depending on the
particular exercise you.
You dont have to train each of them one by one, of course. In what
follows Im going to teach you compound movements/exercises that
will target dozens of muscles at the same time. What you do have to
do is make sure youre CONSISTENT with your workouts and do them
in the long run.
Dont start doing them 3 times a week only to quit after a month. A
month is not enough to really get into shape. Instead, do it twice a
week but make absolutely sure you never miss a workout (unless
youre sick or some unforeseen event has happened).
If you miss a workout because of random things that happen in your
life, you have no excuse. You should have predicted them and
planned better.

Chapter I: Warm-Up
Before we start with the 4 pillars of tactical fitness, we need to discuss
something important: warming up. You may have noticed that every
professional athlete does thorough warm-ups. No exceptions. So, if
theyre doing it, so should you; warm-ups are essential to prevent
injuries AND to have increased range of motion.
The effects of warm-ups are many, including: increased heart rate, a
small adrenaline rush, capillaries dilatation, more elastic muscle fibers
and so on.
Now, there are two types of warm-ups. First we have the general
warm-up before each workout, whether youre jogging, lifting weights
skipping rope and so on.
The second type of warm-up is done mostly before weight lifting and
other anaerobic exercises. If youve been to the gym before, you
know what Im talking about.
So, if you were to do a weight training workout for your upper body,
you would first start with a general warm-up of your head, torso and
limbs. After that, you would do 2 warm-up sets of push-ups and 3 to 5
sets of actual pus-ups. Then, as you would move to over-the-head
triceps curls, you would again do 2 warm-up sets of curls and then the
actual sets with a heavier weight.
If youre not getting it, dont worry, everything will become obvious
when you get to the Run, Prepper, Run! Workout bonus.
You may think doing warm-ups before waking, for instance, is a waste
of time and I would agree that its true for some people. However,

you need to keep in mind your age and your health before skipping
the general work-out.
If youre going for a 2 hour walk with your bug-out bag through the
woods, for example, and you step wrong off a curb or into a hole, if
youre not warmed up you can easily twist your ankle.
Thats exactly what a buddy of mine told me that happened to him a
few hours ago. He went jogging through the woods and it happened.
Of course, hes 26 so he recovered quickly but that may not be your
case.
If youre embarrassed to warm-up right before hiking or by the pool, I
suggest you do the following exercises at home, right before you go.
Warm-up Exercises
Warming up your neck
Lets begin by warming-up top to bottom. Stand straight with your
hands over your hips then, in a controlled motion, move your head up
and down. Simply look up at the ceiling, then down on the floor.
Next, slowly rotate your neck for 5 to 10 seconds clockwise, then
counterclockwise for the same amount of time.
Warming up your shoulders
Note: This doesnt mean your shoulders will be ready for heavy
weightlifting that involves your shoulders, such as military bench
presses. For those exercises youre gonna have to do separate warm-
up sets as I explained to you in the beginning of this chapter.
Standing straight with your arms parallel to your body, move your
shoulders up and down 5 times. Then rotate your shoulders clockwise
and then counterclockwise for a total of 20 seconds.
Warming up your arms and wrists

Simply rotate both your hands clockwise and counterclockwise at the
same time for a total of 15-20 seconds. Dont rush it.
Next, lets do some arm swings. With your elbows straight and arms
at chest level, stretch both of them as far back and try to swing them.
Dont hold the position, just let the arms come back naturally once
they reach the farthest point back.
With your arms parallel around your body, simply swing them back
and forth as much as you can. When one arm is up, the other arm is
down; then switch.
Warming up your wrists is also very easy. With your wrists in front of
you (elbows bent at 90 degrees), simply rotate both your wrists for 10
seconds, then switch direction.
Warming up your midsection
The easiest way to quickly warm up your core is to do torso twists.
With your elbows bent, rotate your upper body to try to look behind
you, first on the left, then on the right. Twist as much as you feel
comfortable, theres no need to push it.
Another good exercise to try is to raise both your hands above your
head (elbows straight) and bend over to try and touch your toes.
Bring them back up and repeat 6 to 10 times.
Last but not least, I invite you to try toe touch crunches. Lay down on
your back and raise both your legs at a 60 degree angle from the floor.
Put your hands above your head and, in a medium-paced controlled
motion, raise them as if to touch your toes (that doesnt really have to
happen).
(Last but not least) Warming up your lower body
With your arms stretched a little bit to your side for balance, raise one
leg forward. Dont hold the position, just let your leg come back in a
natural motion. Do the same for the other leg.

To warm up your ankles a little bit, raise one leg in the air and rotate
your toes in a circular motion, then do it in the other direction. Now
switch legs.
Now, what warm-up is complete without kicking our own butts? Butt-
kicks are great and theres two ways you can do them.
The first one is to raise one heel at a time toward your butt in a
somewhat swift motion. Dont rush it, you dont really want to touch
your glutes but you cant do it slowly either. Raise one leg back then
do the other.
Once youve done at least 10 kicks for each leg, its time to do a
variation of the butt-kick where youre actually running. Now, you can
do this while running or you can do jogging in place. Either way, the
kicks are going to be faster than the ones you previously did.

Chapter II:
Endurance
Endurance is simply the ability to do small efforts but on a long period
of time. Walking is one of them and is also the one were going to
start with. Its pretty obvious that if youre forced to bug out,
particularly into the woods, youre looking at a long hike.
Walking
There are several ways to improve your stamina. The first one is
simply by walking. A lot of people are so lazy that they take the
elevator for one floor.
Now, I dont know about them but I LOVE walking. Ive done it today
for about 7-8 miles and Im doing it with every chance I get. Ive
actually kept my car in the garage for too long right now as Im only
using it 2, maybe 3 times a week. If I didnt need a bug-out vehicle, I
would probably sell it
The benefits of walking are undeniable:
it boosts metabolism;
it aids in digestion;
it induces sleep;
it regulates blood sugar levels;
and improves blood circulation.
Im starting with walking for two reasons:

#1. Its a perfect way to start if youre totally unfit.
#2. Even if you are fit up to a point, walking long distance will greatly
benefit you.
Tip: every step you make burns extra calories. So, the more steps you
take, the better right?
Now, youre probably saying to yourself:
But Dan, if I could have found the time to walk
more every day, I would have done it already.
But I cant because: I have to drive to work,
its too far away or because it takes way too
much time or because I have no real target to
head out to so Ill just look like a lunatic
for walking around!
You know what these are? These are all excuses. Now, I dont care in
what situation youre in, unless your doctor hasnt specifically
forbidden you to walk, youre gonna have to do it. As anything else,
walking is a habit.
I walk with every chance I get simply because I started to enjoy it
while other people take the car even if they just go to a nearby store
to buy bread.
You know the difference between me and them? Its going to shock
you but its actually the maximum distance youre willing to walk to
get somewhere. My distance is way bigger than theirs, meaning I have
no problem walking 5 miles or more to get someplace.
Allow me to take a guess: right now theres a little voice inside your
head that says No way, I dont feel like walking, its too far away.
That voice needs to go away to allow another voice to guide you:
mine.

Youre gonna have to let go of all the excuses you have for yourself for
not walking more and become a man (or woman) of action. Theres
no magic secret to doing this, you just do it.
Scratch that, actually there is. There is an amazing trick used by Navy
SEALs and performance athletes alike. Its called visualization and its
the only way I know of to get you off your butt when you dont feel
like it.
Imagine a situation in your life where you think you could fit a walking
exercise and see yourself successfully doing it. Maybe, right before
you go to bed, you always have 15 minutes to spare where you could
walk around the block or to the store to get some milk for the
following day. Or, maybe you can do that right after you go back from
work and you have dinner. Theres actually research stating that a
short walk after dinner not only helps with digestion but also
improves your blood sugar levels.
Now do you think you can visualize walking after dinner? Or after
whichever meal you want? If you can, youll greatly increase your
chances of actually doing it. Heres a thought: why not plan going to
the grocery store as part of your post-meal walk?
There is not magic pill to having an active life, you just have to plan
things in such a way to help achieve your goals. Thats it, theres
nothing fancy about it, sorry to disappoint.
By the way, research shows you need to walk right after dinner, not
30 or 60 minutes after. Immediately after if you can. And I know you
can.
Take action: since youre reading this, I know you have nothing urgent
to do. Do you think you can stop reading for 15 minutes and go take a
walk right now? Do it even if youre fit and you think you dont need
it. Right now its not about burning calories, its about forming a long-
term habit.

Take a break and walk for 15 minutes or, better yet, load this eBook
on your tablet or kindle and read it as you walk. Thats exactly what I
do whenever I take longer walks: I take my iPad with me. I used to
have a Kindle but the truth is, it doesnt really matter as long as youre
getting youre a*s of the couch.
Back from your walk? Awesome, this means youre ready for your
customized walking action plan. What I require from you (and this is
not a joke) is to walk for at least 15 minutes every single day. I wont
take no for an answer but I will help you achieve this goal.
I forgot to tell you, all the goals I set for you have to be achieved. No
excuses.
So, lets see how you can walk for at least 15-20 minutes a day, shall
we? You need to carefully consider your schedule to figure out exactly
what the best time for your walk is. Keep in mind youre also going to
do daily workouts that will demand an additional 40 minutes a day
from your time. Like I said, it should be right after dinner if you want
it to be really effective.
But dont stop here. Lets figure out other times when you can walk
instead of taking the car or public transportation. Maybe you like to
visit a friend every Saturday or get coffee downtown. Why not walk
there, even if its 30 or 40 minutes away? Yes, this means wasted time
and youre probably busy but there are ways around that.
One of them is, like I said, to read off a Kindle or a tablet. Another one
is to listen to your MP3 player. Maybe you have some audiobooks
that you could listen to. Heres another thought (this works really well
for me): why not call your friends and relatives during your walk?
Youll have plenty of time to talk instead of doing it while youre at
work.
Dont you feel like people are calling right when youre really busy?
Learn to say Ill call you back and then do it during your daily walk (if
its not important).

See? If you really want to, theres ALWAYS time to do what you have
to. And to prove it, heres one last suggestion pertaining to walking:
Do as many things as you can during your long walks. Have a purpose,
it helps a lot.
For example, why not take your clothes to or from the tailor during
your walks? You can also pay your bills or pay a visit to someone. If
you can find 2 or 3 things to do at once then, all of the sudden, your
walk has a purpose.
You cant carry your groceries for 8 miles in bags, you say? First of all,
how are you gonna carry your bug-out bag if a couple of veggies are
scaring you off? Second, why not take a backpack with you and put
the groceries there when you return? This will actually get you used
to having something akin to a BOB on your back for half an hour.
By the way, dont be surprised if you start saving up to 50% on fuel by
taking all these walks instead of driving there.
Taking Walking to the Next Level

Can you make walking more difficult? You bet. One way is to take
routs that involve hills. If your city or town is on a hill (like mine is),
youll have alternate routes you can take that will make you sweat
just a little bit more. And what about stairs? Are there any public
stairs you can take as part of your daily walks? Im sure there are if
you think really hard.
The second way is to, of course, walk faster. All you have to do is
increase the pace. This will help you burn more calories while saving
you time. And to make it fun, why not set goals such as getting
downtown in 25 minutes flat?
Last but not least, how about doing interval walks? I learned about
interval training as part of my old gym routine which was a variation
of HIIT, high-intensity interval training. The idea is simple: bump your
pace for 2 minutes, then go back to regular walking speed for the next

3. These figures can be anything. For example, you can walk really fast
for one minute and slow down for the next 4. This will also make it
more manageable for you when you look at your clock because youll
know that you need to finish a cycle every 5 minutes.
Wow, that was a long talk for such as simple topic as walking, wasnt
it? But Im not done yet. I still have to give you these tips and tricks
that will turn you into a better walker (for lack of a better term):
Watch your posture and keep your back straight. This might be
a little tricky if youre reading a tablet. What I usually do is I
raise the tablet with both hands a little so I can dont have to
tilt my head too much. Also, I make sure I dont keep my neck
bent for too long. I usually read 2-3 paragraphs, after which I
straighten my neck and think about what I read. This works
really well if Im reading survival books as thinking about the
information helps the retention process.
Make sure that, as you walk, you roll your entire foot, from
heel to toe at every step. This will help improve your flexibility
(more on that later on).
If youre planning to read as you walk, choose the streets that
are less crowded, wide and with no bumps and holes in them.
Otherwise youll keep interrupting yourself to look at whats
ahead and thats really bad for your reading experience.
Whenever I realize Im on a crowded street, I close the iPad
altogether because I know I dont have a chance of being
productive.
Keep hydrated. Since your bodily functions will accelerate a
little bit, youll want plenty of fluids. After all, walking is a
sporting activity at least for us.
Focus on your breathing. Not all the time but when you take
deep breaths, your entire body is oxygenated and you feel a
surge of energy which, in turn, will help you walk faster.

Walking on a Treadmill
If you prefer doing your walking indoors, a treadmill will work just
fine. In fact, youll be able to multitask by putting a TV or a monitor in
front of you (if youre doing this at home). Plus, its easier to read on
your tablet as you dont have to worry bumping into other people.
Walking on a School Track?

Thats great! It means you can do something that would look silly if
you did it as you walk downtown: walking backwards. There will be no
raise eyebrows if you walk backwards on the track, I promise, and
doing it activates some muscle that arent really on during regular
walks such as your calves.
Walking backwards has more benefits that youd think. Believe it or
not, it puts less pressure on your joints while burning more calories
than normal walks (for some reason, your heart rate is higher than
when youre walking straight).
Walking in the Woods. Exercising in a natural setting is great. It helps
you relax better and lowers your stress levels. Maybe you have woods
close to you, maybe a lake, a river or even a beach. The fewer
distractions during your walk, the more relaxing you will find it. Well
talk about hiking later on in the course.
Walking on the beach. Youll be amazed how well your leg muscles
will develop if you make a habit of taking longs walks on the beach.
Its just
Hill Walking. I dont know about you but where I live, I have a few
paved streets that are right over a hill at a 30+ degree angle. This
gives me quite a workout and the big benefit is that it activates some
muscle in my feet that regular walks just dont. Very important for our

purpose as you can expect to do a lot of sudden and unnatural moves
during a bug-out.
Finding a Partner
If you ca find someone whos willing to walk with you, thatd be great.
But the best partner for walking a man can have is his dogs. Dogs will
come whenever you feel like it, go wherever you want and never
complain.
Walking Intensities
I briefly mentioned earlier that you can increase the intensity of your
walks but, the fact of the matter is, you can do a lot more than that.
You can play with it! Increase the pace even more, then slow down,
then increase again.
One other thing you can do is to assign a number from 1 to 10 to the
intensity. Lets say youre just starting your after-dinner walk. You
may be at 2, where 1 is walking really slowly and 10 feels almost like
running.
As you increase and decrease the intensity, I want you to do the same
with the numbers. See a big number right in front of you showing you
the intensity level.
For your after-dinner walk, for example, you may start off with a 2 for
the first 4-5 minutes, then increase to 4 or even 5 and then slow down
to 3 as youre approaching the end.
Ok, thats it for now but you should know Ive got some real workouts
for you in the attached bonus. If youre eager to start with them (and I
hope you are), please turn your attention to the exercises from the
bonus.

Ive designed the course in such a way that you can start your walking
workouts independently of the rest of the stuff were going to cover
in the rest of this course.
Also, one other thing you may wish to keep in mind is that in your off
days, meaning, when you wont have a real workout, you can
actually do take longer walks to compensate for the lack of higher
intensity activities.
Use a Pedometer App

There are plenty of apps out there that count the number of steps you
take each day, use one and try to break record after record with each
passing day. Not everyone is motivated by apps to walk or run more
(myself included) but if its your cup of tea and it works do it! Get
the app, let it run in the background and measure the number of
steps you take each day.
Aerobic Running
No matter how much you walk each day, you cant really build up
stamina unless you start doing something more challenging, such as
running. I love running but, as you may already know or experienced,
it can have a big impact on our joints. I know people whove had leg
surgery three times and theyre not even 30 years old. They love to
run but, because they didnt do it right, they are now paying the price.
Im not going to go all scientific on you about what aerobic running is.
Suffices to say that, in our case, aerobic running will manifest itself in:
Short-distance running;
Long-distance running;
and certain aerobic exercises such as running in place or the
boxer shuffle. Well talk about these two in a moment.

The #1 problem for runners are their knees. 40% of injuries happen
there and, even those who get lucky still suffer from knee pains every
once in a while. Now, a lot of times, these injuries arent serious as
they are annoying but consider our situation: we might have to do a
combination of walking and running when bugging out, right? Then, at
some point, well have to do a sprint, maybe even jump. It one takes
one such move to permanently damage our knees and get left behind.
Yes, when youre doing your jogging on the track, you can stop at the
first sign of discomfort, but that wont be the case when youve got
bad guys behind you. In such critical events, not only should you be
trained to run as fast as you can but your knees should be able to
withstand such an effort.
So, before we begin, before I give you the exercises, I encourage you
to go to your physician and do a thorough examination. If youre over
40-45, you should be doing these annually, anyway. If youve skipped
them, thats all the more reason to do them right now, before you
begin any type of training.
You need to check everything, from glycaemia (the level of blood
glucose) to hernia to your knees, spine and on and on. You should
definitely tell your physician the types of exercises you intend to do so
they can tell you what you can and cannot do and, most importantly,
what you should avoid at all costs.
Yes, thats unfortunately true. Your doctor may strongly advise
against some of these exercises and I suggest you listen to them and
dont do them. You may risk injury and that could potentially mean
you need to stop your entire training!
OK, lets get back to the health issues pertaining to running because
thats what were discussing in this chapter.
The most common problem is the so-called runners knee, when
you feel mild pains in your knees, mostly when youre running but

even when youre not. If this is the case, your doctor might ask you to
do an X-ray on both knees to find out whats going on.
It may be because you pushed yourself too hard in training. If could
be because you jumped and landed on your foot the wrong way or
you might be simply overweight. That extra weight is affecting your
knees more than you think.
If the pain is not that big, you can do your training, however, if youve
paused yourself too far, you should probably take a few days off. Its
better to take a week off now than 5 months later, right?
Besides a bad knee, there are other issues runners have, such as
Achilles tendinitis, shin splints and even stress fractures. Whatever
they are, you need to deal with them before you begin, particularly if
youre over 40.
Where Should You Run?

Run anywhere you want! Ive had no problem running even through
crowded streets if thats what I felt of doing. If you dont have a track
near where you live, any road will do, however theres a big caveat
here.
Professional running tracks have a special construction which protects
your joints and knees. On the other hand, running outside the track,
whether its on a park or on the side of the road will increase the
chances of injuries long term.
How to Protect Yourself While Running

Of course, if you have the proper equipment, you can minimize these
problems. A solid pair of running shoes is a must but there are other
things you can do. For example, you can wear straps just below knee
level in order to spread the pressure across a larger area.
Next you have the knee sleeve and the patella sleeve, the latter
having a hole in it right around the knee cap. You should definitely

talk about these options with your doctor to ensure you properly
protect yourself.
The Warm-Up
I cannot stress enough the importance of warm-ups before each and
every session. If youve had pas injuries, your warm-ups you need to
be extra careful and do even longer work-outs.
A basic workout should be just like the one you used to do during gym
class in high-school. Nothing fancy. You start by rotating your hands
(not too fast, though!), then your head with the arms on your hips.
Then, continue with a few leg stretches. Take your time with these
and make sure you dont stretch them too hard. Since your legs are
not warmed up yet a too long a stretch could cause injury.
After the light stretch comes an easy jog of about 100 meters (thats
110 yards). Up to you if you want to do it longer but I suggest you
dont because Id like you to do a few extra warm-up exercises once
youre done. You dont have to do ALL of them before EVERY workout,
its up to you to choose which ones.
The first one is toe walking. You simply walk on your toes for 10-20
meters (dont push yourself if you cant) and really feel those calves
working. The second one is heel walking where you walk on your
heels for the same distance. Were gonna talk about training your
calves for endurance later on.
So to recap, your warm-up should look like this:
Light stretching and movement of body, arms, legs and head;
A light jog for about 100 meters;
Toe walking and heel walking for 10-20 meters.
Were going to start, of course, with low-speed jogging. Now, Im
assuming you havent done this in a while so Im talking it easy but
were gonna gradually increase the intensity with each workout.

For your first one, I dont want to give you a specific distance to cover
because I dont know you. If youre a 30 year old guy whos in pretty
good shape, youre gonna run a lot more and faster than a 55 year old
woman whos a little overweight.
Heres how I suggest you do this:
1. Start running.
2. If you feel bad pain, stop.
3. Run until you feel exhausted but dont stop; run for 50 more
yards.
4. Stop.
5. Repeat 2 times.
The big takeaway here is that you need to find (on your own) your
running sweet spot. That moment where you feel you cant run
anymore and you push your limit by just a little bit, with every
workout. That extra 10% is whats going to help you make progress
from workout to workout.
So, by now, you should have run 3 X 100 yards, thats 300 yards
minimum. I suggest you write that down somewhere because this is
your personal best and youre gonna want to beat the next time you
run.
Now that you broke the ice and you successfully ran for a certain
distance, its time to make a plan that will help you run not just long
distances but also with your sprints. As a prepper, youre gonna need
to do sprints every now and then. One of them may be right when
SHTF, when you need to grab your bug-out bag and just go (assuming
taking your car is out of the question).
The big problem I see with doing this is that you wont have time to
warm up. Its not like disaster will wait for you to finish your
stretching, right? This means that, when it hits, youre gonna have to
be in the best shape of your life if you dont want your knee to fail you
when you have a tornado on your back.

Ideally, youll want to be able to run a mile (or 2 kilometers) without
spitting your lungs out. You get there by always pushing yourself just a
little bit and always stopping when you feel bad pain.
Now, if you cant run that mile without stopping, thats not a problem.
Stop for a few seconds, breathe in and out, then continue running
until you cross the finish line.
Breathing
Speaking of which, breathing is an important part of running and you
need to do it right if you want maximum performance. The way most
people do it is, you guessed it, the wrong way. They breathe in their
chest as opposed to inside their bellies and this gets them tired a
lot sooner. (This is also called diaphragmatic breathing.)
Since right now were more concerned with doing this right than with
breaking a world record, lets try and focus on your breathing, shall
we? Lets focus on breathing inside your belly. How? Simply focus on
filling your belly with air.
Next, lets try and run for 100 meters or yards and focus on this kind
of breathing. Forget anything else, focus on this one thing until you
get it right. If you dont seem to get it, keep running until you do.
Slow down your pace if you have to and make sure you get it right.
Once you do, I suggest you focus your entire session on breathing this
way. Its a little tough to master but youll get it eventually. By the
way, did you know that breathing from your belly as opposed to your
chest cavity also helps you have a deeper voice? Just a fun fact.
To take things even further (and this requires more commitment on
your part), I suggest you remember to breathe in your belly as often
as you can and practice it. Do it when youre walking, do it when
youre watching TV, do it anytime you remember and you can focus
on it.

Ok, lets talk a little bit about how to breathe during running. As you
start to run, your breath becomes more rapid so its harder to control
breathing from the stomach and not the chest. But since you
practiced this beforehand, it should be a problem now.
The way you breathe once you start running is in patterns. The easiest
way to do it is to coordinate your inhales and exhales with your steps.
For example, as you step left and right, you breathe in twice then, for
the following two steps, you exhale twice.
Its something like: left-foot-inhale, right-foot-inhale, left-foot-exhale,
right-foot-exhale.
Of course, as you become more advanced and you start to increase
the pace, you can take three small inhales or exhales for each 2 steps
you take but lets leave that for later.
One other important aspect we need to discuss is the age-old debate
of breathing in through your nose or mouth. Ideally, youll want to do
it through both. Yes, I know youve probably heard the advice of
breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth but that
applies in other aspects of your training, like weight exercises (such as
when youre doing bench presses).
Want to know the very best advice to improve your breathing? Stop
smoking. Seriously.
Dynamic Stretching While Running

Although stretching has its own chapter, its worth mentioning here
an interesting way of doing it right in the middle of your running
workouts. What Im about to show you are called dynamic stretches
because youre not really holding the position.
As youre running do one of the following:
bring your knees as high up to your chest as possible (not too
high, though, your focus should still be running),

bring your toes as close as possible to your buttocks.
As a matter of fact, do 100 yards (or meters) of each as part of your
running warm-up.
The Workouts
OK, were finally getting into the good stuff! Youre healthy and able
to run, you know how to breathe, you have the proper equipment
and youre a warm-up master. Now what?
Well, we need to train ourselves for two things: long distance and
sprints. The first one is easy, you just run for as long as you can,
making sure you increase either the distance or the pace from
workout to workout. Sprints are a lot more fun but well get to them
in a minute.
Long distance training should be done the following way before
each workout, you need to set a goal. You either want to run longer
than you did the last time or you want to run the exact same distance
only faster. This is why having a workout log and a stopwatch help.
So, lets say you ran no more than 100 meters on your initial workout
session, right? You can probably do a lot more than that but we need
to find out just how much. On your second session, after a proper
warm-u, you should go ahead and run as long as you can without
stopping. Really push yourself unless theres bad pain somewhere in
your body. Even if youre barely running, keep moving until you feel
you cant run another yard.
Measure how long you ran and how long it took you to get there, then
write it down (some phone apps keep all this data in your phones
memory). If you want, you can take a break, maybe do some walking,
then run a little bit more if you feel like it.

But on your next workout, your goal should be to be just a little bit
better than on your previous one. If you ran a mile in 15 minutes last
time, your goal should be either to run more than a mile or to finish
that mile in less than 15 minutes.
Notice that Im keeping things simple here while still keeping this a
challenge. Youre not preparing to run a marathon or to join the
Olympics team but its important you have a goal, something to strive
for. Thats one of the keys to keeping yourself motivated long-term
and not quitting, which is the last thing I want to see happen.
So lets say you managed to run 1.2 miles on your second workout.
Then you went for 1.5 miles. Should you go for two? How about you
spice things up by trying to run at an increased pace for a mile? Check
the time it took you to finish on your second workout and try to beat
that.
And on your next workout, you can try and beat the 2 miles mark but
also focus on your breathing. Do you think you can do that?
Inside Your Home

Yes, its possible. Im giving you a couple of aerobic running exercises
that we will later incorporate in our home workouts.
Running in place is, as you probably guessed, a way to simulate
running while not moving from where you are. This is less stressful for
your knees but not as effective as actual jogging. Nevertheless, its a
good place to start if going outside and running seems too much for
you (for now)
Boxer shuffle is similar to running in place, except that you need to
move your feet to the front and to the back (alternatively). As youre
doing this, allow your body to move to the right of the room and then
back to the left as much as you can (you will need at least 7-8 feet of
space both to your left and right for this).
Off-Road and Trail Running

While running on the sports track will make you a better in that
particular context only, consider that, as a prepper, youre gonna have
to walk and run on terrains that are way more difficult. Running
through the woods, for example, is extremely difficult. And what if
you decide to bug-out on the rail tracks, have you ever tried running
on them? I have and its not at all easy
A quick way to start trail running is to simply run around athletic
fields, not on them if its possible, of course.
Of course, the most important thing to watch out for is your step.
Depending on how bad the terrain is, you may fracture your ankle and
even fall. Unlike sports tracks where you dont have to look where
youre going unless theres another runner right in front of you, off-
road running is all about watching your step. Better yet, why not have
a buddy with you who can help in case you trip and get yourself
knocked out?
Oh, another word of advice: do your off road running when the sun is
still up. Even while its still setting, the low light could cause you to
step where you shouldnt.
A Quick Exercise If Youre An Urban Prepper

I just wanted to throw this one out there for two reasons: one, very
few people think about it and two, its actually going to make a world
of difference. The amazing part is, no one will think youre crazy for
doing it.
Im talking about practicing running down the stairs. If youre a city
dweller, you probably go up and down the stairs every single day. This
means that, in case of an emergency (a fire, a terrorist attack and so
on), youre gonna want to go outside as fast as possible, right?
So how about you increase your speed the next time you use them?
No one will ever suspect why youre doing it, theyll just think youre
in a hurry.

Your Posture
Few people are aware that good jogging posture can actually make
them more efficient and prevent injuries. And its really simple to
keep it, you just have to know the following: keep your back, head
and neck are straight, your hands at your side and always land on the
middle of the foot with every step you take.
This last piece of advice is important if youve been doing it wrong this
whole time. Youre gonna have to practice stepping correctly while
running before you move on to the workouts.
Hiking
If you can walk, then you definitely can hike; and weve done a lot of
walking so far, right? Hiking is simply taking walking to the next level.
And that next level may be a forest a national or a county park or
even just going up on the hills near your home.
Before you attempt to go hiking, you should be comfortable with
walking long distances and you should also give your legs proper
workouts. Check the weight training section on all the exercises you
can do. As always, check with your physician if you have or think you
have knee or any other issues that could prevent you from hiking.
Benefits of Hiking
This probably goes without saying but, besides the benefits of getting
you in shape and ready for Doomsday, hiking helps with blood sugar,
lowers the risk of heart disease, improves blood pressure and even
boosts bone density. There are obvious mental benefits to this as
well, such as lowering stress, boosting your mood and making you
forget your daily problems.

If youre wondering about the muscle involved, heres a quick list,
keeping in mind there are lots of other smaller, secondary muscle that
are not listed: quadriceps, glues, hamstrings, abdominal obliques,
calves and your thighs.
Hiking Gear
Now, I dont know if youre planning on going up in the mountains or
if youre just looking to explore the forest near your home but youre
gonna want proper hiking equipment (which you probably already
have as part of your bug out plan).
The first thing I want to discuss are your clothes. Youll need to dress
warm and protect yourself from wind. Im assuming your trip wont
take more than a day so youll only need the clothes you have on you
plus whatever you have in your bug out bag which, of course, youre
going to take with you.
The clothes youre going to wear largely depend on the season in
which youre, the temperatures outside and whether or not youre
going to spend the night in the middle of nature.
Ok, lets talk a little bit about your hiking boots. By now you should
already have a pair of hiking boots attached to your bug-out bag,
ready to be taken with your backpack in case of emergency.
But dont expect new boots to get you through an escape; you need
to break into them first, get used to them and notice if they make you
feel uncomfortable or give you blisters.
With hiking boots, you really get what you pay for. Of course, you
want to save money but getting something cheap is not the way to do
it; getting them on sale is. The ideal boots should be lightweight,
durable, water resistant and provide you with good ankle support.
Getting Ready to Hike

Theres no reason you cant make hiking a fun experience, in addition
to the fitness benefits. Bring as many friends as you want and make
sure the person whos the slowest will set the pace. The last thing you
want is to get into fights which could potentially get some people
(especially kids) upset and render your effort useless.
Even better, you can make these hikes part of your survival drills. For
example, if your bug-out location is within walking distance from you,
you can hike towards it Friday evening, spend Saturday and Sunday
there, living off grid, then hike back Sunday afternoon.
Needless to say, your bug-out bag should come with you. You need to
find out exactly how many miles you can walk with that thing on your
back. In most cases, you might not even make it through the first mile.
Plus, you need to make sure you have enough food and water. Water
is extremely important to keep yourself hydrated during this
sustained effort. Feel free to make changes to your BOB by removing
unnecessary items to make it lighter.
Think about it if youre not fit enough and you take your entire BOB
hiking, what will you do when you wont be able to carry it anymore?
You cant just abandon it on the side of the road. Better to take only
whats necessary (particularly food, water and clothing) and increase
the weight the next time you do this.
In fact, heres a full list of important things to carry with you when
hiking:
water
food
clothes and rain gear (wet clothes can lead to hypothermia
even when its not that cold outside!)
bandana
hat
sunscreen
first aid kit

way to make fire
maps, a compass and GPS
water filter/purifier, just in case you run out
whistle
flashlight + extra batteries
cell phone + extra cell phone battery
signaling mirror
insect repellent
an emergency phone number plus your IDs (or copies of them)
in case something happens
solar cell phone charger
and anything else you think might be necessary. The short list above
is mostly suitable for short hikes and assumes you wont sleep in the
woods.
And lets not forget trekking poles (also known as hiking poles). You
can buy them or, if youre skilled with your survival knife, or you can
make your own from a couple of sticks (though bamboo works best).
If youre not sure you can make it and if the terrain is rough, a couple
of hiking poles are going to make a world of difference.
Now, I understand you may need to adjust your bug-out bag for your
hike but hey the more you move around your items, the better
youll familiarize yourself with them, right?
Now I mentioned you should have maps with you, in addition to a
GPS. One thing a lot of people dont do is study those maps. Its not
just because you might get lost but you also want to know how much
youll walk so you can plan accordingly. Remember, your second hike
should either be longer or be done in a shorter amount of time.
Youll also want to keep a schedule. Mark checkpoints on the map
and establish the departure time and the arrival time in each of those
checkpoints. Dont be afraid to leave markings on your map, thats
what a true hiker does.

Another thing you need to do is obtain necessary passes in advance,
you dont want to miss your first trip for such a silly reason.
Last but not least, check the weather. Better to have perfect weather
on your first hike to make sure everything works according to plan.
After that, Im sure youll be tempted to do it regardless of weather
conditions.
The Actual Hike

The question isnt How long should the hike be? but, rather, How
many brakes are you going to take? The key to a successful first hike
is to take breaks and not fall into the trap of thinking its too easy. I
bet you wont be saying that after an hour and a half. Take breaks,
stay hydrated and what your step!
Youll first want to start with even terrain just to get your feet wet,
then advance to paths that have uneven terrain that will give your
legs quite the workout, improving your overall stability. One thing you
dont want to do is overestimate how much you can hike. As I said,
give it a trial run first on the easiest trail you can find and THEN move
to something harder.
What to Do After the Hike

Just like after any other intensive workout, you should give your body
a nice stretch. This really helps decreasing the chances of injury. You
can do it when you get home or right after you end your hike, up to
you, just dont do it after taking a long break or even sleeping if you
want the full benefits!
Urban Hiking
OK, so maybe you dont have a buddy to accompany you in the woods
and you dont want to look silly walking around town with your bug
out bag. What can you do?

Easy. Just get a smaller backpack, fill it with water, juice, your laptop
etc. and start walking. No one will ever suspect youre actually in the
middle of your survival fitness workout and should anyone want to
know whats inside your bag, youll have no problem taking out your
laptop.
Long Distance Hiking

Naturally, going on longer and longer hikes is mandatory if you want
to improve you physical fitness. Of course, the longer the hike, the
better prepared you must be, and Im not talking about packing more
gear or a tent. Im also talking about your physical condition as a 3 day
hike is enough to wear out most preppers.
It is important to note that some professional hikers (not all of them)
prefer to also do weight training to become better hikers. The other
hikers dont really care about this because, for them, the pleasure of
hiking itself is enough. Where does that leave us? Well, as were
about to discuss later on, strength/weight training is an important
part of survival fitness so youre gonna have to do it. Keep in mind
were not just hiking, were also looking to become faster and better
at it so were fully prepared when SHTF.
Also, keep in mind that you dont know how long youre gonna have
to spend in those woods. Even if you have a bug-out location out in
the wilderness, youre still going to have to work your ass off every
day to procure food, either by hunting, fishing or farming, so
endurance training and stamina should not be taken lightly.
Hiking With Your Family

Heres an idea: why not plan a hiking trip with your family? Its going
to be fun but the one thing I suggest you do is make sure no one
packs any junk food. This way, should any of you feel carb cravings
while up there, youll have no choice. I can almost guarantee each of
you will lost at least 3-4 pounds by the following Monday.

Hiking at Home
If you dont have hills or mountains where you live and if your
farmland is flat, you can easily simulate hiking inside your home by
stepping up and down a box. To make it harder, you can hold two
dumbbells in your arms (this will also give your wrists a good workout)
or simply use a taller box.
To do the exercise, exhale as youre raising yourself up on the bench
or box and inhale as you get down from it.
The key to gaining maximum benefit is to use the heel of the foot
thats already on the bench to raise yourself up.
Other Aerobic Activities

Im not going to describe each of them in detail but its worth
considering these activities which improve your aerobic capacity. Plus,
they bring a very nice variation to your workouts in case you get
bored (which shouldnt normally happen as long as youre passionate
about prepping).
Swimming
I consider swimming to be the holy grail of aerobics. I myself didnt
know how to swim but I tried and I tried until one day I could do it.
The benefits of swimming are undeniable. The list could be a lot
longer but here we go:
it builds endurance
builds strength
improves cardiovascular fitness
tones muscle
keeps weight under control
contributes to the health of your heart and lungs

it burns a huge number of calories
and, best of all, it doesnt put any stress on your knees and ankles
like running does. Thats why swimming is recommended for ALL ages,
even if you have a bad back or chronic problems with your legs.
The only problem with swimming is that, unless you happen to have
a swimming pool in your back yard, youre gonna have to pay for
access to one. But its well worth the money, considering the amazing
benefits it holds.
Heck, you dont even have to buy a full membership. Swimming only
twice a week, in conjunction with the rest of the exercises in this
course, is more than enough.
Also, if you consider going to a gym, find one that also includes
swimming pool access. If youre going to go there more than 3 times a
week, its definitely worth the investment.
Sure, you can just go ahead and swim around freely but youll get
more out of it if youre going to do a full workout.
Cycling
Studies have emerged showing that cycling is actually better than
running because it prevents injury. It makes sense because when you
jog, with each step you take, youre putting pressure on your ankles,
knees and even your spine.
Of course, you need strong joints and tendons so you need to jog as
well, but cycling has the huge advantage of allowing your body to
exercise for longer periods of time. In fact, if youre just starting out
and enjoy biking, you can even skip running altogether (for now) and
start pedaling.
Is cycling always better than running? Not always. For example, if
youre looking to burn as many calories as possible, running is better

because youre using your entire body to move. When cycling, lets
not forget that youre in a seated position.
Ok, here are my top tips for you to get the most out of cycling:
Try different routes. Variety is key as with any workout so why not
take advantage of the fact that you can travel long distances to see
some of your surroundings? This is an excellent opportunity for you to
familiarize yourself with all the different bug-out routes you can take.
Measure your distances and break your records. Challenge yourself to
always bike more than the list time, even if only by a mile.
Wear a helmet. Over 6000 American cyclists end up in the hospital
with head injuries every year.
Skipping Rope
What if I told you that you dont even need to buy jump rope? If you
really dont want to spend any money, you can just use Paracord to
do rope skipping. However, if you have no problem spending 10-15
bucks on a professional one, you can find plenty on Amazon.
Either way, the rope needs to be of the proper length before you use
it, otherwise you wont last that long. To find out, step in it with both
your feet and raise your arms towards your armpits as much as you
can. The length can be anywhere between your waist and your
armpits.
Believe it or not, theres quite a large number of skipping rope
variations you can do (I wouldnt call them exercises).
Is this your first time? Not a problem, Ill teach you how to skip rope
without actually skipping it at first. Simply step on it with both your
feet (like you did previously) and start jumping WITHOUT MOVING
YOUR ARMS OR YOUR ROPE.
Do this until youre comfortable with the movement; only then should
you start rotating the rope.

The basic exercise is when you do small and fast jumps (1-2 inches off
the floor) with both your feet while you rotate the skipping rope from
front to back. You only need to jump high enough to give the rope
enough room to slip under you. The trick to making this work is to
keep your elbows close to you as you do the exercise.
Hows that going, good? Then you can increase the speed a little bit.
Dont worry if the rope gets stuck, continue doing it until it almost
becomes a reflex.
Now, before we move on to the variations of skipping, we have to talk
about the most common rope skipping mistakes as clearing those out
will pave the way for your doing every other variation like a pro.
Mistake #1: not starting correctly
What a lot of people do is they bring both their hands back, they
throw the rope forward and themselves at the same time. That will
never work. To start skipping rope, you need to keep your elbows
tucked in like I showed you and start jumping just 1-2 inches off the
ground while moving the rope from back to front in a rotating motion.
Mistake #2: jumping the wrong way
Man, I rolled on the floor laughing a few weeks ago when my buddy
tried rope skipping for the first time. He was so funny I just had to
make fun of him the whole night. He was putting so much energy to
make sure the rope goes through that he started making these really
awkward movements.
Keep in mind that the rope is about a quarter of an inch think and
only needs 1-2 inches of space to pass through. You dont need to
jump higher or to kick your knees back.
Mistake #3: turning the rope and jumping at the same time
Its in our reflex to turn the rope from back to front and jump at the
same time, but that will only result in the rope simply reaching your
legs while they are on the ground.

So you need to do this in two steps that are something like a third of a
second away from each-other:
Step 1: You move the rope forward like I told you
Step 2: You jump 1-2 inches off the ground
Ready for some rope skipping variations? Theyre not as hard as you
think. Well, were gonna heave the hard ones for people who are
more passionate about this as we have our own purpose in mind.
Variation #1: As youre jumping, move both your feet from side to
side (about 6-7 inches from the original position).
Variation #2: Jump only on one foot by slightly raising the other one 4-
5 inches away, then switch. Do 3 on the left, then switch feet and do 3
on the right.
Variation #3: Move both your forward and back as you jump.
Variation #4: Move your feet apart and then together as you jump.
Somewhat similar to variation #1 only this time the feet go in opposite
direction.
Are there more variations? Of course, but we dont really need them
for our survival workout. If you can incorporate these into your
routine, thatll be more than enough.
Burpees
The burpee is an aerobic/strength training thats done with no
equipment and in very little space. The movement is compound and,
as a result, a lot of people are doing it wrong. Heres the right way to
do it:
Step 1: Stand up straight with your feet wider than shoulder-width
apart;
Step 2: Squat down and put your palms on the floor in front of you;

Step 3: Resting on your palms, jump back with your feet until you land
in the squatting position;
Step 4: Perform a push-up (optional);
Step 5: Bring your feet back where they were at step 2;
Step 6: Raise yourself up and, optionally, jump in the air.
Torso Twists
This is a really easy aerobic exercise that can be done with very little
space. The movement is compound, meaning a lot of your muscles
will get a good workout.
Stand up straight with your feet wider than shoulder width apart and
raise both your hands at chest level with your elbows bent, with one
palm on top of the other.
Twist your arms left and right while keeping your body straight.
Jumping Jacks
This is a really easy jumping exercise taken straight from military
playbooks, where they call it side-straddle stop.
All you have to do is stand straight, then jump until your feet are
apart and your hands are above your head (some people like to clap
when they do that).
A variation of this are power jumping jacks. For this you have to stand
with your feet together, with your knees slightly bent and your back
at a 60 degree angle from the floor. Keep your arms on the sides and
make sure they touch your knees.
Then, in a swift motion, jump into the air while raising your arms high
up, almost touching each-other over your head. Return to the original
position as you descend.
Rock Climbing

The benefits of rock climbing are amazing: you get a full body
workout, particularly your core muscles, and it helps with stabilization
and flexibility.
First of all, you should start doing this indoors where you are safe.
What you really want to do in the beginning is focus on your grip and
getting over your fear of heights. Go to an indoor climbing gym and
make sure you bring someone or that theres someone there who can
help you.
Second, keep in mind you dont just need strong arms to climb. As in
the case of tree climbing, you also have to use your legs to push
yourself up. In other words, if youre looking to become a better
climber, you need to work your feet just as much as your upper body
(if not more).
Once you mastered indoor rock climbing, you should consider doing it
outdoors. This is where things start getting more interesting. For
example, did you know you can do bouldering, which is outdoor close
to the ground climbing without any equipment. Theres even a World
Cup for it!
The nice thing about bouldering is that you dont really need to invest
in equipment but lets not get ahead of ourselves. Whats important
now is that you start your first rock climbing experience as soon as
possible.
Want even more aerobic activities?

No problem. Choose any of the following list:
dancing
football, soccer, basketball etc.
skiing
paintball
homesteading (yes, we can consider it an aerobic exercise)
rock climbing (recommended!)

cross-country
hunting
rafting and canoeing
sailing (with a sailing boat, of course, not a motor boat)
diving
tennis, racquetball, squash, ping-pong etc.
boxing, kickboxing, martial arts etc.
and even martial arts!
Speaking of which, I want to talk with you about martial arts for a
minute. Now, Im no karate expert, Im only a prepper but I want to
share my perspective to help you decide.
Obviously, every style has its benefits but some are better than the
other from our purpose. If you set your eyes on one, you should
probably go with that but if you havent, I suggest you look intro Krav
Maga because, unlike the others. The other martial arts have all sorts
of techniques but this one is focused on punching and kicking, which
feels more natural.
The other benefit is that the moves are explosive, which is something
you need as part of your survival fitness training, anyway. It helps
form reflexes too, useful when youre taken by surprise by an attacker
or a critical event. The only issue is that these explosive movements
could cause tendon injuries.
Other martial arts to learn? Chinese kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu,
Okinawan Karate, judo or plain old boxing are good places to start.
In addition to the aerobic movements above, a lot of the things you
do around your house or yard are also aerobic:
mowing the lawn

mopping and sweeping
scrubbing floors or the bathtub
chopping wood

washing the car
shoveling snow etc.
In short, keeping busy around the house is going to make a world of
difference to your training so go ahead and fire your maid, the guy
whos mowing your lawn and even decide to do them more often
than needed for more free workouts.

Chapter III: Strength
A direct effect of strength training is that it induces anaerobic
resistance in muscle, which is, in a way, the opposite of what weve
been doing so far (aerobic exercise). As long as you do both aerobic
and anaerobic exercises, youll be pretty much covered for any type of
SHTF scenario.
Strength training has a number of benefits to your body and health
which cannot be overlooked. From increased bone density to stronger
tendons and ligaments.
One of the best ways to do strength training is to do weight training. I
fell in love with weight training a long time ago, back when I was a
freshman in college but the good news is you dont have to pay those
expensive gym memberships.
Everyone with some experience in weight training will tell you that
the best exercises are those done with your body weight (plus added
weight) while newbies are the ones who prefer cable exercises.
In fact, some athletes prefer to focus only on 3 key exercises: bench
presses, squats and deadlifts. Well talk about each of them (and
more!) in a few minutes but, for now, the good news is that you can
do weigh training at home, you just have to be creative and, if you
can, to invest in a few basic items such as a few dumbbells and a
barbell.
When I moved into the house I currently live in, before I started going
to the gym, I remember I used to do bench presses with the heaviest
piece of furniture I could find. It was actually pretty light so what I did
was I slowed down my movements and really tried to feel my muscle
contracting.

How do you fit your strength training into your survival fitness
training? The easiest way is to have days where you do cardio and
days where you only do weight training. Yes, you can mix them up but
lets keep things simple for now.
Weight Training Warm-Ups

Warm-ups are critical in strength training as lifting heavy weights can
easily get you injured and then youre out for weeks. And I dont need
to tell you youre pretty much finished should disaster strike when
youre injured
The warm-up should be mostly focused on the body parts you intend
to work out that day. However, you do need a general warm-up just
like the one you do before running (see previous chapter). Rotating
your arms, your wrists and even doing a little leg warm-up do them
all to minimize your chances of getting injured.
OK, now that we got that out of the way, lets talk about each exercise
one by one. If you want to do them as youre reading the course, Id
be extremely happy as long as youve done your warm up.
The first thing we need to improve is your core strength. Most people
think of the abdominal muscle groups when they hear the expression
core training but its much more than that. Were talking about your
lower back and a lot of other tiny muscles that are involved in the vast
majority of exercises and movements youve done or youll do as part
of this course.
So lets start with
Kettlebells
Kettlebells are weights that look like bowling balls with handles.
Theyre used to do ballistic exercises, meaning you lift, accelerate and
then release the weight (as opposed to a controlled range of motion
you would do in most gym exercises).

They help with your core training by working on your lower back, legs,
shoulders and even your grip. The exercises you do with them are
great for the so-called functional training, meaning you train for the
activities that you do in day-to-day life.
Ok, ready for your first exercise?
The Russian Kettlebell Swing
This is by far the most popular and the first thing people try. Stand up
with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart. Grab the
kettlebell with your palms facing down and lower it between your legs
making sure you also bend your knees. Bring the weight as high up as
your chest, then back until it passes your glutes and so on.
Two Arm Kettlebell Rows
Get two kettlebells, stand straight and bend your knees and your
arms. Your back should be at a 60 degree angle from the floor but
whats critical is that it stays STRAIGHT. If you cant keep your back
straight, you cant do the exercise.
Next, bring your kettlebells straight up to your chest in a slow,
controlled motion, then bring it back down the same way. Do this for
10-12 reps.
Kettlebells Russian Twists
With one kettlebell in both your hands, sit on the floor with your
knees bent at a 45 degree angle. Make sure your back is also at a 45
degree angle from the floor.
With the kettlebell somewhere between your chest and your stomach
(make sure it doesnt actually touch them), rotate your torso left and
right. This will work your abdominal obliques. As you move, you
should swing the kettlebell slightly left and right to get a full range of
motion.

Kettlebell Deadlifts
Stand up straight and hold the kettlebell with both your arms
extended straight down. Your feet should be a little wider than
shoulder-width apart. Bend over while making sure your back is
straight this whole time, until it forms 45 degree angle with the floor.
At the bottom portion of the movement, the kettlebell will almost
touch the floor. It shouldnt actually touch it, otherwise its going to
take the pressure off you and the exercise will become less effective.
Raise yourself up and repeat.
Kettlebell Clean and Press
Clean and presses consist of a very compound movement but one
thats dynamite for survival.
Stand with a kettlebell in one arm and your feet wider than shoulder-
width apart. The weight should be in-between your legs.
In a fast-paced movement, raise the kettlebell to your shoulder while
bringing your palm facing up. The kettlebell should now be resting on
your triceps.
In the second part of the movement, raise your arm upward while
bending your knees to push yourself up. Keep the weight close to your
body and let the elbow thats holding it bend to the side as you raise it
up.
OK, those were it! If you can incorporate these really easy kettlebell
exercises, the rest of them (which well discuss right now) are going to
be a lot easier. Remember, a stronger core means a stronger body
and less chances of injury.
On Your Back Lower Leg Raises

I just learned this exercise a couple of weeks ago as part of my
physical training I did for my back problems and, I have to say, Im in

love with it. My knees make those cracking noises that actually sound
good and make them feel a lot more relaxed and ready to take on
heavier exercises such as squats.
Heres how to do it. Sit on your back and raise your upper legs at 90
degrees. The lower part of your legs should be parallel to the floor.
Next put both your hands right under the knees to secure the upper
parts of the leg and raise your head slightly for a more comfortable
position. All you have to do now is simply raise your lower legs until
they are fully stretched and at a 90 degree angle, just like your upper
legs. Bring them back and do this 10 times, or even 15 if you feel like
it.
Since the lower legs are the ones pressing the upper ones, your knees
are going to LOVE it. This is a great warm-up exercise before you start
doing squats.
Squats
You need to make sure your knees and ankles are in good shape
otherwise, youre going to damage them in a matter of seconds and
that could prevent you from training for quite a while.
Squats can be done with or without a barbell on your back. You can
also do them with dumbbells but this is tougher because youre going
to put a lot of pressure on your wrists and triceps.
Lets just focus on doing those squats with no weights attached, shall
we?
If you dont trust your knees just yet and you want to do a form of
squatting that doesnt put that much pressure on them, there is a
way. If you have an armchair, for example, stand in front of it and
slightly bend over in order to hold grab hold of both the armrests.
Next, simply squat down while making sure you use your hands to
hold some of your weight while doing it.
Tip: try to keep all your weight on your heels.

Hows it going, good? Then youre ready to do a full squat. Put both
your hands behind your neck and squat down, and make sure you
dont feel any bad pain in your knees. Do one or two to warm up,
then take a 30 second break and do 3 sets of 10 repetitions each,
taking a break of 30-60 seconds between each of them.
High Knee Pulls

While standing straight or slowly walking, pull up one knee at a time
and stop as youre grabbing it with both hands. The meet-up point
should be at stomach level.
Lunges
Lunges are great if you dont have any knee problems. In the event
that you do, I suggest you skip them and move on to the other
exercises.
Heres how to do them
Step 1: Stand up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart;
Step 2: Take a large step forward;
Step 3: Come straight down with your upper body while making sure
the knee thats in front of you forms a 9 degree angle. If the knee
passes your toes, youre doing it wrong.
Side Lunges
This is a nice variation from the old lounge. As I said, variation is key
to keep working out in the long run.
Stand up straight with your hands over your hips. Raise one of your
legs 5-10 inches off the ground, then side step as far away as you can
(left or right, depending on the foot). Come back to the original
position and continue doing lunges on the same leg for the chosen
number of reps.

Stair Jumping
A lot of people are unaware just how much they can do with nothing
but their body weight and stairs. Scratch that, you dont even need
stairs to jump around. Preferably some stairs that are wide enough to
allow you to run and jump up and down and have at least 15 steps.
Stair jumping is a fantastic way to develop your core muscles and be
able to jump higher (no need for me to tell you how important this is
in SHTF critical events when you might have to overcome various
obstacles to make your way of whatevers coming after you).
The obvious exercise you can do is to simply run up and down the
stairs (this is very good practice if youre an urban prepper since you
might actually face this stair running scenario). Levels 2 and 3 are
running every second and even third step going up, at least, as you
dont want to skip too many steps going down or risk taking a big fall.
The next thing youre gonna want to do are the so-called 2-foot
jumps. You simply jump up the stairs with both feet at a time. To
increase the difficulty, you can try doing the same jumps, only every
second stair.
If you can manage to squeeze these two exercise in your workout,
youll be amazed how much this will help your core body strength and
your flexibility.
Crawling
Crawling through is a must in any tactical military training. Of course,
were not going to be that extreme but it doesnt hurt to install a few
PVC pipes in your backyard on top of some boxes so you can crawl
under them.
Crawling is fundamental to survival training also because it teaches
you how to keep a low profile, which is something not a lot of
preppers know how to do.

Lets face it: nobody does (or teaches) low crawls! You cant do it at
the gym and its hard to do it at home without some guidance which
is exactly what Im going to give you right now.
Heres how to do the crawl Lie down on the ground with your head
to one side. Bring one foot forward while twisting your torso a little
bit. At the same time, move the opposite arm forward to be able to
push yourself ahead. Now that your legs are again at the same level,
do the same movement but with the opposite leg.
I dont want to give you a fixed distance for your crawling exercises
because it would depend on your physical condition and the amount
of space you have available but the more the better.
Initially, you may or may not want to crawl under PVC pipes or
broomsticks or whatever. The initial focus should be on the correct
movement even if you feel the need to raise your head up from time
to time.
After that, to increase the difficulty, go ahead and put those pipes and
to crawl under them without knocking them down with your head.
Deadlifts
Bodybuilders love this exercise but you do need a barbell and a good
back. If you want, you can improvise one from a stick and a couple of
weights added on both sides, such as a couple of milk jugs. Do make
sure theyre of the exact same weight, though.
The deadlift is a fantastic compound exercise, working mostly your
hamstrings and your lower back among other things.
Assuming you have the barbell, lets see how to do this. A lot of guys
grab the bar the wrong way and risk hurting their back because they
get their legs too close to it. What happens is, when they bend over to
grab it, their shoulders are past way ahead of the bar, their back is
arched and their hips are too high all of this because their shins are
almost touching the bar!

Now, the right way to pick-up the bar is to keep your shins 4 to 6
inches (you should be able to see your toes!) and bend over your
knees as you pick it up from the ground. As you raise the bar, you
have to throw your abs forward, keep your back straight and bring the
bar closer to your shins and knees (without touching them, of course).
The moment the bar gets to knee level, thats when you raise it up in
a vertical motion.
Push-Ups
Push-ups are scary for some folks but, as you probably guessed, I can
show you a trick that will help you do them even if you dont have
that much strength in your arms, ok?
But first, lets talk about the proper way to do them. The correct
position is:
hands are a shoulder width apart

keep your back straight
hips forward
your butt back (not too much, though)
your eyes should be looking forward
the imaginary line from one elbow to the other should pass
through the rib cage
To do the push-up, simply flex your elbows and allow gravity to bring
you upper body down to the ground. Keep your elbows in as they
should almost touch your rib cage as you move up and down. Of
course, you dont really need to touch the ground with your chest;
you should stop right before you get to that point.
Remember, the entire movement is done by flexing your elbows. You
should not, in any way, shape or form arch your back or bring your
butt downward or forward. Everything except your elbows need to
stay stiff throughout the movement.

Cant do a push-up? These two variations will help.
The first variation is to simply put a box in front of you and put both
your palms on it. Of course, the box should be wider than shoulder
width. This will make your body be at a 5 to 10 degree angle when
youre at the bottom of the push up and will make it easier because
you wont have to do all the way down.
The second push-up variation is done without a box. You simply rest
on your knees and cross your legs at the back. In the front, your arms
are resting on the ground, shoulder width apart, just like in the
original push-up position.
Calf Raises
This is a great isolation exercise that targets your calves. Stronger
calves mean youll be a better walker, runner, hiker and youll be able
to jump from higher distances without injuring yourself.
You dont need any special equipment to do them, you just need
stairs. Stand straight on one of the steps, making sure youre holding
on to something with one hand. Your feet should be resting on those
stairs with only the toes while your heels should be suspended.
The movement is simple. Raise yourself as high as possible on your
toes and then lower yourself as much as you can. On your lowest
point, your heels are going to be below the level your toes are at. Do a
5 warm-up rep and then 3 sets of 10-15 reps. Try to do one rep per
second, dont rush it.
Once calf raises are too easy with just your body weight, you can try
holding a dumbbell with the hand youre not using to hold on to the
railing.

Bicep Curls
Ok, so you need a couple of dumbbells. But you can make so many
exercises with them that getting a pair of adjustable weights from
Amazon for $50 to $100 and they will last you a lifetime.
While bicep curls are not a compound exercise (like the ones we
previously discussed), theyre one of the best isolation exercises for
your biceps. And youll need your biceps in a SHTF situation
The right way to do them is to keep your entire body stiff, except for
your arms, of course. Keep your head straight, your feet shoulder
width apart and the dumbbells on the same imaginary line (meaning
they are NOT parallel). A lot of guys heft the entire weight up and
their back starts swinging back and forth in order to aid them in
raising a heavier weight. Unfortunately, this will only increase the
chances of you getting injured.
You need to keep your shoulders back and your elbows tucked. As you
raise each dumbbell, try to keep your elbow from moving. It will move
a little bit but you gotta limit that movement as much as you can.
Now, you can do the curls in one of two ways: either you lift both of
them at the same time or you alternate, meaning you raise one arm
and bring it back down, then do the same with the other hand.
I recommend you start with alternating curls because it allows you to
focus on the movement and to do them nice and slowly.
At the start of each weight exercise, including this one, you need to
do a couple of warm-up sets. Youll need a weight youre sure you can
easily do 12-15 reps with minimum fatigue. You want to warm-up
your biceps before you work your way up to something heavier.
Note: these workout sets need to be done in addition to the initial
general warm-up.

Ok, now that youve done your work-out, you also got a feel of how
much you can comfortably raise in order to do 8 to 10 reps as part of
your set. If youve chosen your warm-up weight correctly, youre
gonna wanna double that for your first set. If its too much, not a
problem, use lighter weights.
Breathing: breathe in as you lower your arm and out as you raise it.
Since, on your first rep, both your hands will already be down, youre
gonna have to breathe in and breathe out as you start raising your
first arm.
Tip: I suggest you start with your weakest arm in order to make sure
you always do the same number of reps with both arms. If you start
with your strongest arm (probably your right arm), then youll always
end up doing more reps with that one and your right biceps will be
much stronger than our left. Ideally you want them to develop
together and not have an arm or a leg thats lagging in strength.
The Cobra
The cobra is so amazing because it allows you to work your triceps
without having to do close-grip push-ups that are pretty difficult. In
fact, the initial position for both exercises is similar.
Lie down on your belly with your palms down at chest level and your
elbows bent. While keeping your hips on the floor, raise your upper
body off the floor using your palms.
Elbow Presses
This is a somewhat weird exercise, though not a hard one. There
arent that many upper body exercises that require no weights and
this is one of the few that works your shoulders and your triceps really
well.
Step 1: Lay down on the floor with your knees bent at a 45 degree
angle

Step 2: put your elbows on the floor, and out at a 90 degree angle.
Your forearms should be straight up from the floor.
Step 3: Raise your upper body off the floor by pushing yourself up.
Make sure you keep your lower back on the floor.
Crunches
Let me just say this before we move any further, as its the exact same
thing I told my newbie gym partner last week: doing more crunches
will not help you burn more fat off your abs. Your body burns fat the
same way it stores it: from all around your body. Working out a
certain body part will make that part stronger and burn fat from
preferential zones, such as your hips or belly. There is no way youre
going to lose more abs fat if you do more crunches.
Now that we got that out of the way, crunches are a great exercise for
improving your core abdominal muscles. Your abdominal muscles
assist you in doing the rest of the other exercises even if you dont
feel them working. Having strong abs also means youre less likely to
injure yourself while doing exercises with heavy weights or when
youre doing sudden movements.
There are a number of ways to do abdominal crunches. The easies
one is to lie on your back with your knees bent and raised and your
hands across your chest.
Leg Raises
Another popular abs exercise is the old leg raise. Lie flat on the floor
with your hands stretched next to your body, raise your legs all the
way up to a 90 degree angle. Its ok if you keep your knees slightly
bent, its going to be easier for you.
The movement is to simply lower your legs all the way down to the
floor. The key is to keep your back pressed against the floor and to
avoid arching it at any cost. Thats why you need to take your time
doing the movement to make sure youre doing it right.

Do two warm-up sets of 6 to 8 repetitions and then 3 sets of 10-12
repetitions.
Knee-Ins
Lay flat on the floor, with your arms to the side and palms flat on the
floor. Bring your knees toward our chest, then back to the initial
position.
Triceps Pushdowns
Stand straight in front of the high pulley while holding the bar with a
tight overhand grip. Lean forward just a little bit but dont use that to
help push the weight down.
Move the bar up and down from chest level all the way down until
your elbows are fully extended.
A Word on Dinosaur Training

Dinosaur training is special. Its not advocating training to look good
but focuses entirely on strength and on how our ancestors used to
train back then. Think of it as the paleo training, if you will.
The good news is, you already know some of the exercises involved in
this type of training. We just spoke about them and, who knows,
maybe you already started doing some of them by now.
Dinosaur training is hard work but it relies on squats, deadlifts, power
cleans, military presses, the old bench press, push-ups, pull-ups,
hanging leg raises, all done with low reps (in the 4 to 6 repetitions /
set range).
Now, I hope the title didnt scare you, though. You dont have to train
like crazy to get results, even if youre older. But you do have to train
consistently thats the secret to building strength.
I need you to take a long hard look at your life right now and ask
yourself:

Do I really have the time and the will to do this?
A number of answers may come up. Maybe youre the kind of person
who just cant do anything for the long run. Maybe you have two
small kids and you think you dont have the time.
Whatever it is, if youre gonna do this, something needs to be
sacrificed. I dont know what, thats your decision to make but the
only thing I can tell you is to just do it. Thats it. Whenever you have
20 minutes of free time, do some push-ups. Youre gonna feel a lot
better and pretty soon this new lifestyle is going to become second
nature.
Ok, back to dinosaur training. I know whenever you read those two
words you think massive weight but you dont have to lift massively if
you cant (and you probably wont in the beginning). You need to take
it slow, start with small weights and build from there. Remember that
youre not preparing for any contest so theres no rush.
With dinosaur training, its even more important that you warm-up
thoroughly as youll be going into the 4-6 reps range. Do 3 sets
instead of 2 as warm-up for each exercise as the danger of you getting
injured is even bigger with this type of training.
Speaking of which, I dont need to remind you that if you feel bad
pain you have to stop. Period. I dont care if its your favorite
exercise, I dont care if you have 2 more reps to go. Just put down the
weight and either do something else that doesnt hurt AT ALL or call it
quits for the day. If the pain persists, you should probably see a
doctor.
Now, as part of your dinosaur training, I want to talk about training
with various objects that are not normally found in the gym. This is
perfect for you as a prepper since you probably have a lot of stuff in
your back yard that you can use.

Using Everyday Items for Your Workouts
One of the things that always gives me a good workout is moving my
spare tires and rims up and down from the attic whenever I have to
change from summer to winter tires and vice versa.
Obviously, since the rims are on the tires, theyre quite heavy. Now, I
dont use a special movement to carry them. Sometimes I lift them up
to knee level, then, when I get tired, I start rolling them. I also take
breaks whenever I feel.
Im not trying to give you shallow advice here, such as well, just go
and lift heavy stuff around the house. Any moron can tell you that.
What I really want to do is give you a few ideas on WHAT you can lift.
Heres a quick list to get you started:
your spare car tire(s);
a tractor tire (used for flipping);
two buckets filled with water (we used to do this as
punishment when we were kids and someone would lose
playing cards);
battling ropes;
rocks (lifting and moving);
sandbags (easy to make, you can make a full set of weights if
you want);
one (or two) water cooler tanks;
duffle bags (that you can fill with anything you want).
Now, besides lifting them and moving them, there are other things
you can do that will improve your core strength, flexibility and
explosiveness.
If the tires are smaller and without rims, for instance, what you can do
is thrown them. To throw something, your body uses an enormous
number of muscles. And if lifting the tire or throwing it is too much,

you can simply roll it from one place to another. To increase the
intensity, do it faster and faster.
Ok, lets move on to chairs. Get to sturdy and stable chairs with wide
arms. Put them one next to the other and position yourself in-
between them. Put one arm on each of them and lift your legs and try
to maintain the position as much as possible.
PVC pipes are another great option for your home workouts. Not only
can you build kettlebells (Ill tell you how a little later) but you can
also use them as hurdles, for example. Use them as pull-up bars if you
want but you need to be extra careful. If the pipe is not strong enough
and breaks so will you.
Another great exercise you can do with PVC pipes are dips. You will
need four boxes of about 6 inches high, two PVC pipes and a ball. Put
the PVC pipes parallel to each other on the floor and seat yourself in-
between. Put the ball at your feet, cross your legs and lift them over
so they rest on it. Then simply start raising yourself up and down in
your hands. If you cant do this exercise, its probably best you do
other exercises before you move on to this one.
How to Improve Your Grip

Having a good grip is of paramount importance for SHTF situations as
well as just doing backyard and farm work. Instead of wasting time
trying to come up with every possible scenario it is useful, how about I
just tell you about all the ways in which you can improve it?
For example:
Start doing rock climbing.
Walking home with your groceries instead of taking the car;
Holding some really heavy objects for a long time (dumbbells
work great, for instance). Dont just hold them, tighten your
grip as youre doing that. In fact, you can tighten your grip
during any dumbbell, barbell or kettlebell exercise.

Start incorporating wrist curls and reverse wrist curls as part of
your weekly workout routine;
Add a towel to your barbell as youre using it but be sure to
decrease the weight. This will make the bar thicker and harder
to handle.
Of course, the key to having a powerful grip is wait for it to train it
in the long run. Dont be the guy who trains his grip for a week and
then forgets all about it. Lighter workouts done for the long-term are
better than heavier ones done once every 3 months (like most guys
do at the gym).

Chapter IV: Speed
Youre probably wondering why I didnt put all of this next to the long-
distance running subchapter but its on purpose. Developing explosive
speed over short distances is one of the pillars of tactical fitness.
Developing speed is not complicated but you do have to do
everything in a certain order to make sure you have proper form and
you dont get injured and that you truly develop maximum speed.
The first key to improving your speed is proper warm-up. Enough said.
The second key is to know where you are and track progress. You
should measure how fast youre running right now using a stop watch
(or having a friend do it for you). Ideally, youll want to measure your
body fat as well as your actual weight but those arent really
necessary unless you feel that doing them gets you motivated.
The third key is to do it like the pros. Heres the right way to do it
As youre starting the sprint, youre going to be a little hunched over
with your head forward (assuming youre not starting off the ground).
Either way, in the first 30 to 40 meters (32 to 43 yards) of the sprint
youre gonna want to make yourself as aerodynamic as possible by
keeping body hunched forward. Thats how youre starting, anyway.
As youre getting close to the middle of the sprint, straighten your
back, raise your head and lift your knees higher and higher as you run.
Not too high, obviously, but, as youre getting near the end of the
sprint, your back should be completely straight.
The fourth and final key to sprinting faster is to use your arms. Most
people focus on the legs and forget that the arms can propel them
forward. Now, in order to actually become effective at using them,
you simply need to focus at least 2 or 3 workouts on them, meaning
youre going to actively focus on them until it gets into a habit.

Chapter V:
Flexibility
While most people going to the gym and even some athletes require
little flexibility in what they do, for preppers this is of paramount
importance. The funny thing is, when most people think about
flexibility, they think about stretching but its so much more than
that.
Why do you need to exercise for flexibility? Flexibility will do two
things for you. Number one, it will prevent injuries. Number two, it
allows you to safely move your muscles through the entire range of
motion. See, just because you can bend down this much, that doesnt
mean you cant or shouldnt normally be able to do more. Your range
of motion is limited and you probably dont even realize it.
Want proof? Try doing the splits and see how far you can go.
There are other benefits to being more flexible, such as:
having a better posture;

allowing you to run better due to increased range of motion in
your feet;
and, of course, better sex.
To improve your mobility were going to start with stretching but
were going to discuss a lot more ways to improve it.
Stretching
Stretching has a number of benefits that a lot of people who hit the
gym every day are unaware of. If they were, the gyms would be full of

people doing them. Here are just a few (besides improved flexibility)
according to M. Alter quoted by an MIT article2:
enhanced ability to perform other physical exercises
lower muscular soreness and tension
increased muscle and mental relaxation
increased range of motion for most exercises
What are the types of stretching? There are seven of them, actually:
passive stretching
active stretching
dynamic
isometric
ballistic
and PNF stretching
We briefly mentioned active stretching when we talked about running
(either with your knees high or with your heels almost touching your
buttocks). Right now were going to focus on passive and active
stretching to really improve your flexibility.
The difference between static and passive is that, while passive is just
assuming a position, static is all about really stretching that body part.
How long should you stretch for? Since youre not a professional
athlete nor are you preparing to be one, holding a stretch for a full
minute is really not necessary. Try to hold passive stretches for 10-15
seconds on average, depending on whether or not you feel any
discomfort. Of course, if you feel any bad pain, you should stop it
immediately.
Breathing. Try to breathe normally while stretching. Dont try to
inhale or exhale too much or too fast, youre not pumping weights.
Dont try to hold your breath, either (you wont make it anyway).
The first thing I want to point out is that stretching as part of your
warm-up routine and stretching for flexibility are two different things.

In fact, I encourage you to look at the latter with the same seriousness
you look at squats and push-ups.
This can only mean one thing: you need to warm-up and stretch
before you stretch. Never stretch a cold-muscle for the purpose of
stretching it. The warm-up shouldnt include long stretches you
probably know that by now. Light static stretching for a few minutes
should be enough to get your body ready.
Before we start with the exercises, I just want to point out the
difference between stretching and flexibility, just in case youre a little
confused. Stretching is a form of exercise while flexibility is the range
of motion for your joints.
Ok, lets see a few basic and intermediate stretches you can
incorporate into your workout
Stretching Exercise #1: Stretching Your Neck
This one is easy. While standing up and with your legs shoulder-width
apart, simply tilt your head forward and back as much as you can.
Then tilt it left and right a couple of times. Stretch it as far as you feel
comfortably.
Stretching Exercise #2
Lie flat on the floor. Bring one of your knees as close to your shoulder
as possible and hold it with both your arms. This is very similar to one
of the exercises I used to do as part of my recovery physical therapy.
Hold for 10-15 seconds.
Next, straighten your knee and put both your arms on your calf. Dont
try to bring it closer to your chest, just hold it for another 10-15
seconds.

Stretching Exercise #3
Put one of your feet forward, then bend forward until your hands
reach the toes of that foot. If you cant reach that far, just bend as far
as you comfortably can and measure your progress in future sessions.
Stretching Exercise #4: The Side Stretch
With your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart, raise one arm
straight up and bend your torso to the opposite side of the arm. That
particular arm will go above and beyond your head while you can
place the other one right above your knee. Maintain position for 7
seconds and do the same thing with the other arm/side.
Stretching Exercise #5: Stretching your hamstrings
This exercise works really well for stretching your legs, particularly
your hamstrings. Sit down with your legs spread apart as wide as you
can then simply lower your upper body in-between your legs as much
as possible, with your hands in front of you secured on the floor. You
need to bend your head to almost touch the floor or mattress with
your nose if you can.
One thing you dont want to do is to bounce off when you hit the
lowest point with your upper body. Not only is it ineffective but you
can potentially injure yourself.
Stretching Exercise #6: Stretching your triceps
With your hands behind your head, pull one elbow with the palm of
your other hand to bring the hand of the first arm as close to your
middle back as possible.
Stretching Exercise #7: One-arm wall stretches
Or tree stretches if youre in the middle of nature
With one of your arms raised to the side at shoulder level, twist your
body away and feel your biceps stretching. If you raise your arm even

higher than that when you do it, it will focus on stretching your chest
as well. So there are two variations to this exercise.
Stretching Exercise #8: Seated Calf-Stretches
Sit up straight on the floor, bend one knee while keeping the other
one straight, then pull the toes of your stretched leg with the
corresponding hand. Use a towel, a bandana or Paracord if you cant
reach for your toes directly.
Stretching Exercise #9: Shoulder Stretches
Surely youve done this one before. With your arms in front of you,
grab one elbow with the palm of your other hand and pull it across
your chest.
Stretching Exercise #10: Lower Back Stretches
Lie on the floor and raise your (bent) knees toward your chest. Put
your arms on the back of your thighs and bring your knees as close to
your chest as possible without feeling uncomfortable.
Stretching Exercise #11: Wrist Extensor Stretches
Wrist stretching is just as important as stretching any other part of
your body. It not only helps with your overall mobility but also with
issues such as carpal tunnel.
The wrist release exercise is very straightforward. Keep one arm
forward at shoulder level and use the other one to bend the wrist
from the fingers as far back as you can without feeling any bad pain.
Yoga for Flexibility

No, Im by no means a yoga groupie but I am smart enough to see the
benefits this can add to my survival fitness workouts. There are two
ways you can do this:
#1. You can do yoga at the end of your workout;

#2. You can do an entire yoga session and let that be your workout for
the day.
Yoga is basically static stretching, meaning you either warm up for it
or you do it after your weight training, when your muscles are already
warmed up.
Lets see some of basic yoga positions that you can try right now.
Remember, the key to making this work is practice so I strongly
encourage you to at least try out these positions after reading them,
ok? Just make sure youve warmed up a little bit beforehand.
A Simple Twist
This one is really easy. Go ahead and sit on a blanket or a mattress in
the seated cross-legged position we all know too well. Raise both your
hands up while inhaling.
When exhaling do the following: rotate your upper body to the left,
slowly drop your right arm on your left knee and bring your left arm
down on the floor and as far behind your back as possible.
Lifting Your Hips Forward
Starting from the previous position (the seated cross-legged), spread
your fingers on both hands and place the palms behind you, wider
than shoulder-width apart until you form about a 60 degree angle.
Next, lift your buttocks and your hips and push the forward as much
as you can. Do it slowly then come back to the original position.
The Extended Child Pose
Sit on your palms and knees, move the knees outward until they are
slightly more than shoulder-width apart and bring your toes together.
Lower your buttocks on your heels while raising your upper body.
Stretch the hands forward as much as you can, while tucking in your
head and your foreground reaches the ground.
Hold this position for 6 to 10 long, slow breaths.

When youre done bring your hands to shoulder level while keeping
your forehead on the ground. Only then should you raise your head
and get up on your feet.
This position is excellent for stretching your lower body so I
recommend you do it after a long walk, a run or a hiking session.
The Half-Camel Pose
Stand upright on your knees, with your back straight and your eyes
forward. Make sure your hips are pressing forward throughout the
execution. Raise both your arms upward and do the same with your
head, until you end up looking at the ceiling.
Slowly lower one of your hands until it touches the corresponding
heel. If you cant touch your heel, get it as close as possible to it. Keep
your other arm pointing straight up the entire time. Hold for 10-12
seconds.
Next, bring your arm back up ad repeat the motion with your other
arm.
Joint Mobility Exercises

The reason you need to do joint mobility exercises is not because you
want to train your joints or muscles its because you have to train
your brain. In theory, you can do a variety of movements but a lot of
them just arent stored in your muscle memory because you havent
done them in a while. And thats the goal of these joint mobility
exercises: to practice and improve the neural mechanisms that make
them possible.
Ok, lets see a few of these exercises that improve the coordination in
your brain (which you should do AFTER your static stretching sessions
at the end of your workouts)
Exercise #1: Ankle mobility

Standing straight 2 feet away from a wall (and facing it), put one foot
in front of the other and move your bodyweight forward and allowing
your front knee to bend. Do this until you feel a stretch right abode
the Achilles heel. Just lean back and forth 10 times for each leg (each
rep should take about a second to do).
Exercise #2: One legged bend-overs
Youve probably done this in high-school and it really helps improve
your balance as well as your mobility.
Stand up straight on one leg with the palms of your hands together
and bend over and try to get your fingers as close as possible to the
foot thats on the ground. Keep your back straight as youre doing
this.
Tree and Rope Climbing

I wish I could tell you there wont be any need for climbing when
disaster will strike but consider these scenarios:
Youre in an urban setting and therere fallen trees all over the
place; some of them havent fallen completely to the ground so
youre gonna have to climb them if you want to keep moving.
Youre being chased by a wild animal through the woods and
you need to not only spot a suitable tree to climb within
seconds but do it on the first try.
Youre cornered by an angry mob and your only hope is a fence
that you need to jump if you want to stand a chance.
and on and on.
Lets start with tree climbing.
Climbing trees is not something complicated, you just have to do a
little thinking. The best part is, this is a total body work-out thats way
better for our purposes than most exercises people do when going to
the gym. This is why I say that, if your only SHTF fitness workout
happens inside the gym, youll be seriously unprepared for the event.

Before you climb, make sure you have the right equipment. A pair of
sneakers will work best although your hiking boots (which is what
youll probably be wearing post-SHTF) are going to do just fine. Its
important that you have clothes that give you flexibility with your
movements.
You could also to wear a pair of gloves that you may have in your bug-
out bag to make it easier for you, although you may find you have a
better grip without them. This is why its important to practice so you
know when theyll be useful to you and when they wont.
You may not have time to warm-up when chaos rules around you but,
for practicing purposes, I strongly recommend you do a slight warm-
up that involves stretching. Treat this like any other workout to avoid
injuries.
Before you begin, you need inspect the tree a little bit. Make sure the
branches are strong enough to support your weight. Look for a clear
path that will safely take you as far away to the top as possible. The
last thing you want is to realize you cant go any further and be forced
to come back down and try another way.
Golden rule: never look down when climbing a tree. Even if the height
doesnt scare you, you might still lose your grip and fall.
As you start to climb the tree, make sure youre keep yourself as close
to the base of the branch as possible. Avoid dead and unhealthy
branches. These are very risky and, if you cant find a good one to
continue your ascent, its probably better if you come back down and
find another way up or another tree!
A very important thing to remember as youre climbing the tree is to
use as much of your legs as possible. Most people are looking for
ways to pull themselves up with their hands, which quickly gets them
tired.

Also, if you decide to climb the tree by wrapping your legs around the
trunk (as opposed to using the branches), this becomes easier as
youll be using all four of your limbs.
Tip: Make sure you always have a safety branch that you can grab on
to should something happened.
Rope Climbing
Youve climbed up and down a tree. Now, how about climbing a rope?
A common scenario is when youre looking to climb down a window in
an emergency situation. Maybe your house is on fire and its
impossible to run down the stairs. Maybe you live in a block of flats
and you dont have a fire escape in case someones trying to break
down your door or something.
I bet you already have Paracord in your bug-out bag so why not use
that for practice? Theres a catch, though the Paracord is way too
thin to use directly so youre gonna need to turn it into
climbing/braided rope by making it thicker. Climbing rope on Amazon
is somewhat expensive, around 100 bucks so, if you want to keep
your money, I suggest you make your own.
Ok, assuming you have your climbing rope ready and attached to
something sturdy, heres how you climb it. Youve probably done this
during PE class in high-school but, just in case you dont remember,
heres how to do it.
Step 1: Use both your hands to grab the rope high above your head.
Step 2: Wrap your dominant leg around the rope until it creates an S.
Step 3: Lift yourself up using your arms and raise your legs at the
same time. The trick is to place your non-dominant foot on top of the
one thats already wrapped around the rope, but in such a way that
the rope is trapped between both your feet!

Thats pretty much it, in a nutshell, although youre gonna need a lot
of practice to get the hang of it. This movement relies heavily on your
upper body so, unless you have some strength and, possibly, someone
to supervise you, you should probably postpone it until both
conditions are met.
Ready for some jumps?

Great. Now, I dont need to remind you (I think Ive stressed this quite
enough throughout the course) that you need to have your knees and
your ankles in top shape. Otherwise, one jump and youre out: unable
to walk and left at the mercy of whatever disaster is on your tail.
There are two types of jumps youll need to be able to do in a SHTF
situation because there are two goals you will have: to jump higher
and to jump a longer distance.
Have you seen those triple jump athletes? The way they do it is the
way you should do it too. While in the middle of the jump, you need
to bring your knees to your chest to make yourself as aerodynamic as
possible.
OK, lets talk a little bit about jumping higher, which is another one of
those SHTF skills nobody talks about. So, while everyones focusing on
stockpiling food and on their wilderness survival skills, lets learn how
to jump higher distances.
Practicing the vertical jump is a piece of cake if you have a basketball
hoop. Heck, you dont even need a ball!
Position yourself 10 feet away from the hoop and start running with
your back and your head straight. Dont lean forward as this will result
in you jumping lower than possible. As youre doing the steps, always
run try to increase the speed as opposed to decreasing it as youre
getting near the moment of jump.
Right when youre about to do it, you have to push the ground with
your feet as high as you can. If youve done everything correctly so

far, your jump is going to surprise even you. If it doesnt, just keep
practicing; no notable result can be obtained from the first try.
Tip: the goal of increasing your vertical jump is not to reach with your
hand higher (like you tried to impress your friends playing basketball)
but how high you can actually lift your center of gravity.
What you dont want to do as youre jumping higher is to make
stutter steps. If you play or watch basketball, surely you know what
they are. As the guy is getting ready to jump, he takes a series of small
steps that are not only useless but can actually cause him to jump
lower than he could.
Now, before you start the actual jumping sessions, as always, you
need a thorough warm-up and even a little bit of stretching. The thing
that is critical to stretch is your Achilles tendon.
Remember those calf raise exercises we talked about earlier? This is
somewhat similar in terms of position. Find some stairs and sit on one
with one leg. The way you stretch is you keep your feet straight and
your toes pointing upwards at a 30-35 degree angle. Do a few warm-
up stretches of 5 to 10 seconds and then hold that position for at least
60 seconds.
How About a Massage?

Well, its actually self-massage and if youve never done it before,
dont feel bad. Not a lot of people are aware of the possibility of self-
massage, let alone to actually incorporate it in their workout routines.
Ideally, you want to do self-massage after stretching and Im going to
show you how to do that to your feet.
While seated, bring one foot up to your groin with the knee extended
to the side, while keeping the other leg straight. Simply start
massaging it starting with your calves and moving all the way up to
your quadriceps.

Simply go through your muscles with both your hands, pushing with
your fingers and but not too hard. Do the same with the other leg.
Chopping Wood
This is going to be quite the workout in addition to the benefit of
having firewood to use for heating purposes. Obviously, in a post-
apocalyptic world, with no power grid, using wood to make fire may
be one of your daily chores.
Before you do this, I highly recommend you wear your hiking boots to
protect your toes just in case you happen to miss. Of course, a pair
of steel-toed boots will be ideal but those may not be on your budget.
Make sure you keep your feet at a reasonable distance, though, as
youre doing this.
Before you start splitting the wood, you should examine the flat
surface of the log and notice any cracks. If you have a lumber crayon
or a piece of chalk, you can mark the cracks that are radial, meaning
the ones that are on the imaginary radius of the log. Just use the chalk
or crayon to mark them so its easier for you to see where to hit.
The actual movement is not complicated. Hold the upper end of the
ax with your dominant hand while the other one is holding the tail. As
you lift the axe above your head, your dominant hand gets really close
to the one thats holding the tail to allow yourself to put your full
body into the hit.
If you marked at least 4 or 5 cracks on your log, simply hit them one
by one, in order.

Chapter VI: Making
Your Own Gym
Equipment
As you can see, you can do the vast majority of the exercises without
spending a penny on gym equipment. However, if youre handy with
the tools, you can make your gym equipment right at home and
without breaking the bank. Things like kettlebells can be pricey but
with a few tools and a little imagination you can make them your
own.
Making Your Own Kettlebells

There are a couple of ways to make kettlebells that I know of and,
with a little imagination, I sure we can all find more. But lets stick to
these for the moment. They require a little bit of work so pick the
method youre most comfortable with.
Method #1
Youre going to need a PVC pipe of about 3 feet in length, a drill and
some screws, a bucket and fast drying cement and a pair of gloves.
The first thing you need to do is put the pipe inside your oven (make
sure you cut it in such a way that it fits) and heat it to 350 degrees for
5 minutes. Take it out using your gloves and then bend it in 3 places to
resemble the familiar shape of the kettlebell. You bend it twice to
create the V shape and then a third time right in the middle to give
the handle that rounded look.
Next, drill some screws into the PVC pipe at the bottom to ensure
the cement will keep the pipe from slipping out. Put the mixture into
the bucket and insert the PVC pipe in there.

Thats about it! Now, all you have to do is take it out of the bucket
and start your workout.
Method #2 doesnt require you to heat things or make cement and it
has the advantage of allowing you to adjust the weight depending on
your workout.
All you need is to go down to the hardware store and get 3 pieces of
pipe a flange, two end caps and a T fitting. On the resulting bar you
can load as many standard gym plates as you need.
Making Your Own Punching Bag

There are many ways to make a punching bag but most of them arent
that trivial and require certain tools. The easiest way to make one
(that I know if) is to stuff a duffel bag with rags until youre 10 inches
from the top, then tie the neck with a rope. Last but not least, strap
the bag with duct tape horizontally from top to bottom. You should
add two layers of duct tape, just to make sure the entire thing will
hold from all the punches youll be throwing at it.
What if you dont want to make your own gym equipment? Heres a
tip for you. Go on Craigslist 2-3 weeks after New Years and youre
going to find pretty good prices. You know why, right? Thats men
most people realize theyre unable to keep their resolutions and fall
back to whatever non-healthy lifestyle they had around Christmas.

Chapter VII: How to
Stay Motivated
You know what they say right: disaster is always 6 months away. That
being said, its somewhat of a challenge to keep fit without knowing
for sure if something will happen. In what follows, Im going to give
you a few tips to keep yourself motivated in the long run.
You see, I was always the good guy as a kid and somewhat of a dork.
I would always do my homework and study because I had to. See, I
stuck to doing the right thing in the long run because there was a little
voice in my head that would tell me that, unless I studied, I would
never amount to anything in life and end up poor and miserable.
In my humble opinion, the way you keep yourself motivated for
something it make sense for you to do is to be logical in the long run.
See, most people are emotional. They get comfortable, they get lazy,
they go for quick fixes, magic pills and, even though they logically
know diet and exercise are what they should do, their logical side is
not strong enough for them to actually stick to it.
So heres where you need to start. Say to yourself every single day
that physical exercise might save your life when SHTF. Constantly slap
your emotional side with your logical side and keep the latter in
charge.
Read the news of all the horrible things happening in the world today.
Think about how much being in shape matters when SHTF (probably
more than your food and guns, thats for sure).
Next, lets talk about habits. You know what they say:
Motivation gets you started, habits keep you going.

The key to getting and staying in shape is to do your workouts even
when you dont feel like it and even when you might have other
important things to do. Just say to yourself:
I dont care, Im gonna do my work out anyway.
So how do you stick to habits? How do you keep going once that
initial spark is gone? A few suggestions that worked (and still work)
for me:
Think about your family, your kids and how much theyll need
you in times of crisis;
Think how much your self-esteem will grow because youll be
following through with your plan instead of quitting like the
rest of the sheeple.
Add variety to your work-outs. Try something new.
This is, in a way, the opposite of the above suggestion but find
a few exercises that you truly love and train yourself to love
them even more. This will help build anticipation on your
workout days that include them. I, for example, really enjoy
doing those seated leg raises that work my quadriceps.
In the end, you have to understand that being in shape is more than
just about running and lifting weights. Its a lifestyle. Its a balancing
act between exercise, nutrition, your work and family life and you
shouldnt neglect any of them.
One last thing to remember is that its better to start with one
workout a week and keep that up forever than to do it 5 times a week
for two weeks and then give up completely. You spend too much
energy overtraining because you happen to have time, then life hits
you in the face and you cant go as often as you can. Your motivation
falls and you end up completely discouraged because you remember
about your first week in training and realize you cant keep it up.
On the other hand, if you could hold that energy inside you and start
small, with one or two workouts per week, you actually help build

further anticipation so, the weekend after your first workout, youll be
looking forward to doing another one. After 3 workouts the first
week, if youre not used to this, youll be physically and mentally
fatigued and wont look forward to the following week.
Keeping your enthusiasm up no matter what is key, I cannot stress
this enough.
Set Goals
Lets face it: humans are goal oriented. If theres nothing in it for
them, they wont do it. And, a lot of the times, the reason we quit is
because we lose sight of what we want to accomplish.
This is why its important to measure certain key metrics such as how
fast you run 100 yards or how fast you swim or how much weight you
pump so that, the following week, when youre doing the same
workout again, you have a personal best to beat. This will only make
things more interesting and ensure you dont quit along the way or
start training less and less often.
Try Something New

Surely when you were in high-school or college, you used to like some
sport. Maybe it was ping-pong or basketball or just normal activities
such as long walks or hiking. Chances are youre still going to like
doing them and add some variety to your work-outs.
Although Ive given you quite a few exercises throughout the course,
there are hundreds more you can try:
power skips
foot fire
divers push-up
inchworm
mountain climber
squat jumps

Chapter VIII:
Further
Recommendations
In this last chapter of the course Im going to give you tips, tricks and
recommendations to get the most out of your work-outs. Although
Im not a gym nut anymore, I learned a lot of things back when I used
to be one, things that I want to share with you because theyre
important to optimizing the process.
Stay Hydrated
even when youre just walking. Prolonged physical exercise means
your body will use water. Some of that water (+ toxins) will typically
be eliminated through sweat, of course.
In order to replenish the lost fluid, you need to look no further than
plain old H2O. No need for fancy (and expensive!) energy drinks that
arent all that healthy anyway. Since your muscles are 75% water, you
need to keep them hydrate them to avoid fatigue and, thus, a less
than ideal workout.
Of course, you should also be weary of over hydration. If you start
peeing too often as a result of taking my advice, you should probably
drink less and find a balance point.
Some fitness coaches suggest that, in addition to replenishing your
fluid levels, you do the same with your electrolites. However, this
really isnt necessary unless you have some pretty crazy workouts that
last for more than an hour. So thats one less thing to worry about. If

you eat right after you exercise, the food will be more than enough to
replenish them, anyway.
Dont over-train yourself
Over-training has always been a problem with people passionate of
sports. I get it, they just cant get enough of and, who knows, maybe
youll fall in love with survival fitness too! But you need to know when
to stop to avoid injuries.
Also, theres a study suggesting that people who do above average
jogs have mortality rates similar to those who are sedentary,
suggesting that people who do moderate exercise may live the
longest.
Yes, you need to diet
I dont care what those fitness video presentations tell, you. If you
dont diet, you miss out on a big chunk of the benefits. Your body is a
system and you need the right fuel if you want it to run at its peak,
not just the best parts.
K.I.S.S.
We talked about doing a wider variety of exercises to keep things
interesting but a lot of people feel they need to know more if they
want to take things tot eh next level. The bad news is, becoming more
sophisticated wont help you spend less time or get bigger or stronger
unless you become even stricter with yourself.
Fancier exercises wont make you stronger, either, theyre a way to
add variation to your workouts. The basics (running, walking, push-
ups, squats etc.) will always be more than enough.
Press Play
Particularly if youre running, listening to music is a great motivator.
But one thing I noticed after doing this for a while is that I feel even
more motivated if, every once in a while, I leave my MP3 player at

home. My mind was telling me it got sick of all that music so I tried
something new err old.
Keep most of your workouts short
Unless youre walking or hiking, you should stick to under one hour of
training. Im mainly referring to weights and running, of course. After
one hour your workout stops becoming effective and you have better
things to do, anyway.
Rest between sets
If you dont feel the need to rest, you should probably do more reps
or add more weight. Pausing between sets for 45-90 seconds is
important. Rest less than that and youll get tired a lot sooner. Rest
more and your muscle isnt pumped anymore to do its best the next
set. Again, its about finding your balance.
Dont eat 90 minutes prior to your workout
Its not that youll hinder its effectiveness but you might get an upset
stomach which will cause you to not perform at peak level. Plus, youll
anchor negative feelings to working out, leading to loss of enthusiasm
in the long run.
Theres always time to do your workouts
I dont care how many mouths you have to feed or how many long
hours you have to work. Theres always time to squeeze your
workouts 2-3 times a week. Yes, you will have to sacrifice some things
but whats more important to you?
Dont add too many exercises to one workout
More isnt always better. You should stick to one hour of exercise per
day. Less if you cant last that long but never try and do too much at
one time. If you feel your workout has too many sets in it, you should
probably cut on your isolation exercises first.
Focus on how you do it

I gave you detailed explanations to every exercise on how to perform
it. In time, you might start doing it differently (to lift more weight etc.)
so a good rule of thumb is to come back to this course and make sure
youre still doing them right.
Eat less on off days
Exercise burns a lot of calories so it makes sense to eat less on the
days youre not doing anything. Another way of saying this is that you
need to eat more on on days but I have a feeling youre already
eating too much.
Keep moving as you age
The better you take care of your body now, the easier it will be when
you get older. I dont care how old you are now, youll always be even
older.
Dont train to failure
Training to failure means you do as many reps as you possibly can
until you just cant do another one. I dont advocate you do that
because you stand a great chance of injury, particularly if youre older.
Just stick to a number of reps thats both comfortable and challenging
at the same time and youll be fine.
Dont be too hard on yourself if youre too old and your body cant
do the workouts as recommended in this course
The reason I gave you so many options is for you to have where to
choose from. Check with your doctor and figure out what type of
workout works best for you.
For example, if your knees are fried, swimming might be a fantastic
option. Push-ups and bench presses too, along with any other form of
upper body workout.

Yoga, tai-chi and working on your grip are examples of things you can
consider. Whatever problems you have, please dont quit and find
ways to improve your stamina, strength and flexibility despite them.
One last thing if youre over 50 nutrition plays a BIG role in keeping
yourself fit and injury-free. If back when you were in college you could
hit the gym every day, eat whatever you wanted and still be strong
and look ripped, as you have you really need your macro and micro
nutrients. Your body needs all the help it can get when you start
putting pressure on it with exercise so start eating healthy.

Chapter IX: Thinking
of Joining a Gym?
Read This First
As someone who checked out and even tried almost every gym in his
town, I have to give you these tips before figuring out which one to
join. Of course, Im assuming you have more than one gym to choose
from. If you dont, you should still read my tips to figure out whether
you want to go to that gym or do your workouts at home.
Distance
The gym I used to go when I was back in college was 30 minutes away
from me (Im talking walking distance). That meant 1 hour wasted
each day and keep in mind that back then I didnt have a tablet or a
smartphone to be productive.
Sure, taking long walks is good but you need to figure out if this is for
your or not. If you prefer to do your walks some other time or if
youre already hiking or doing other sports, youre probably gonna
want a gym thats close to you.
Air quality
The last gym I went to (about 7 times) had a horrible smell inside.
Even though its the closest one to my location, Im not going back
there as Id rather focus on home and outdoor workouts for a while
until I find something better.
Gyms that smell have bacteria in the air which is a healthy risk to you
and anyone else going there. If I had to choose between a gym thats
close to me and smells and another one thats farther away but
doesnt Ill go for the latter.

Other benefits?
As long as youre paying, why not opt for a gym that has other things
to offer, such as a pool, a running track (that last one was actually
inside a football stadium so I could just go outside and run after my
weight training session) as well as equipment for functional and core
training: stability balls, medicine balls, TRX bands etc. etc.

Chapter X: Dealing
With Injuries
One of the worst things that can happen to anyone training is, of
course, getting a workout injury. For us, preppers, this is particularly
problematic since, should and SHTF even occur while were unable to
move were pretty much done.
Some of the most common injuries include:
sprain ankles
shin splints
wrist sprains
muscle pulls and strains
hamstring strains
and knee injuries.
Types of Injuries
There are three main types of injuries:
acute
sub-acute
and chronic
The first type is the one most people think when they hear the word
injury. Youre doing your workout when you feel a sudden pain
Preventing Injury
Now, instead of actually dealing with them, wouldnt it be better if we
prevented them? Of course it would. And all you have to do is follow
these tips:
Always warm-up. Always.

Focus on doing the exercise right first. Not on form.
Do not overtrain. Theres always time next time. Also, if youre
gonna do this more than 3 times a week, incorporate rest days
to allow your muscle to recover.
Use the right gear. Use proper shoes, knee wraps, weightlifting
belts, gloves and so on. Better yet, have some of those wraps
in your bug-out bag to minimize injury when youre actually
running away from danger.
Take good care of your wrists. They are constantly fatigued
during some exercise and even when youre just spending
hours upon hours on the computer. Keep in mind that the
carpal tunnel syndrome can occur from typing too much on
your computer as well as from doing the same exercises over
and over again.
When using a stationary bike, make sure you adjust it correctly,
otherwise you can expect knee pain. Adjust the seat such that,
you can comfortably rotate the axle.
Dont use too much weight and try not to go to exhaustion
with every set. Youre training for SHTF, not for maximum
muscle mass.
When jumping, never land on a straight leg or youll quickly
injure your knee.
Dont work out if you dont feel like it. Just make sure you dont
use that as an excuse to do less and less workouts until you
quite completely.
Never ignore sharp (or bad) pain. Always stop.
Youve Done It. Now What?

Ok, so you got injured. Hopefully, Doomsday wont come today for
your sake. What can you do to get back on track as soon as possible?
Here are a few tips

Stop your workouts until youre fully recovered. I know its
tempting go back to training just because you feel better but
that doesnt always mean you are better.
See your doctor. Dont be a hero, this is why youre paying
medical insurance.
Eat right to speed up the recovery process. You need your
macro and micronutrients more than ever.

References
1. Hijikata Y, Yamada S. Walking just after a meal seems to be more
effective for weight loss than waiting for one hour to walk after a
meal. International Journal of General Medicine 2011.
2. http://web.mit.edu/tkd/stretch/stretching_5.html
3. http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-running-
health-20150202-story.html

Run Prepper Run

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Run Prepper Run

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Run, Prepper, Run!

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Aerobic and Anaerobic Activities

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Taking Walking to the Next Level

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Walking on a School Track?

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Use a Pedometer App

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Where Should You Run?

How to Protect Yourself While Running

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Dynamic Stretching While Running

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Inside Your Home

Off-Road and Trail Running

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

A Quick Exercise If Youre An Urban Prepper

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Getting Ready to Hike

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

The Actual Hike

What to Do After the Hike

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Long Distance Hiking

Hiking With Your Family

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Other Aerobic Activities

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.

Want even more aerobic activities?

Copyright 2015 www.SurvivalSullivan.com All rights reserved.