10 Ways to Add Exercise to Your Day

Exercise for preppers is important for a couple of reasons.  First, it can reduce you risk of a variety of health problems, and second, it can help you physically respond to a disaster.  Here are ten simple ways to add exercise to your day:

1. Leave some hand weights on the table and do ten reps before each meal.
2. Stretch each morning while watching the news.
3. Take a walk around the neighborhood before breakfast.
4. Take a walk around your work site after lunch.
5. Skip rope for ten minutes before dinner.
6. Do some sort of calisthenics each day--10 push ups, 10 sit ups, 10 squats, etc.
7. Do a handstand/headstand each day (up against the wall if necessary).
8. Play a Wii fitness game with the kids after dinner.
9. Stand up during commercials when you are watching TV in the evening and do some leg lifts/balance exercises.
10. Stretch each night before bed.

Get Walking

Now that your finances are off to a good start (yesterday's post), it is time to get busy working on your health.  The very simplest way to improve your health is to exercise.  The very simplest way to do that is to walk.  You don't need to join a gym, commit to hours of workouts each day, or dress up in neon spandex and run with the masses.  All you have to do is put on a pair of shoes and start walking.  You can walk around the block, walk around your work site, walk down trails in your town, or walk around your city/county/town/waterfront/etc.
Not only will you feel better if you walk everyday, you will make some pretty spectacular physiological changes which can lead to a happier, healthier life (and give you the strength, stamina, and mental clarity that would be very useful if you do end up facing a major disaster).
So your second task (after starting your emergency fund) towards becoming prepared for anything is to commit to walking everyday.

• Walk 30 to 60 minutes a day; preferably outside in fresh air on a variety of surfaces with hills and flats (barring that possibility, a treadmill would be OK).
• Get a good pair of walking shoes (although any pair of comfortable shoes will work, if you are serious about walking, shoes made specifically for walking will make a huge difference in your comfort).
• Dress for the weather (obviously)
• Find a walking group if you like (like this one)
• Set some walking goals (X miles per day/week/month)
• Take a small daypack with you if necessary (to carry your wallet, keys, bottle of water, etc)
• Be aware of your safety at all times (cross at crosswalks, beware of walking in secluded areas alone, maybe carry a walking stick or Mace to fend off dogs, etc)

Volksmarching...Exercise and More for the Prepper

I got out on my first Volksmarch in years this morning. It was a balmy 25 degrees and the black ice kept us on our toes, but over all, the 10k walk was a welcome way to spend a weekend morning. Here's the details:

• Volksmarching is a popular organization that sanctions walking events in nearly every city in the US, many smaller cities in the US, and in many countries around the world.
• Although you can walk the routes at any time, most Volksmarch organizations schedule walks where a whole group of people show up to walk together most weekends.
• Many Volksmarching clubs schedule bigger events on occasion that include marathon-length walks (most normal walks are 10k, about 5 miles, in length), swimming, skiing, and biking events.
• Like all organizations, you will have some die-hard club members who walk every event, some walkers who show up fairly regularly, and some people who try one walk and never come back.
• Volksmarching is excellent exercise. The people I walked with this morning included quite a few who were age 70+. And they were FAST, even on the hills.
• The walks take place around the local community along pre-planned routes. The cool thing about this is that you get to see corners of your community that you wouldn't normally even notice. I went on one walk some years ago that mostly followed trails that I had no idea even existed (a good thing to know if you need to bug out from point A to B without being noticed).
• The only thing you need for the walk are shoes, way less of an investment than, say, golf.
• Joining the Club is a bargain. With a $6 membership fee and $3 cost per walk, this is a much cheaper thing to do than playing at the casino, going to the outdoor store, or many other thing that people usually spend their weekend doing. As a bonus, you get little rewards (pins, patches) as you accrue mileage and attend walking events.
• The people in the group are both active (obviously, they are out and ready to walk at 9am on a freezing morning) and interesting. On today's walk I learned about the best gear for wet weather walking (there were many opinions and lots of good advice), picked up some history about the area we were waking in from some of the people who had lived in the area for 50 years, and heard about people's latest travels to points all over the world.
• For more information on this organization or to find a walk in your area, go to the Volksmarching website at www.ava.org.

The bottom line is that Volksmarching is not only excellent exercise but it is perfect for the prepper. You get to learn you local area even better, can cull all kinds of useful advice, and be more prepared for any bugging-out scenario.

DPT--Set a Goal and Exercise

You need to be as healthy and physically fit as possible because good health has a number of survival implications. For example, you may be able to get off meds for chronic conditions such as high cholesterol or diabetes (always a good thing during a disaster when medications may be hard to come by), you will be better able to haul your carcass out of a second story window during a fire or run from your neighborhood carrying a fully filled BOB, and healthy people tend to recover better if they are injured in a disaster or other type of accident.
Now having a routine exercise program can bore the socks off of you, especially if you are working out with no real goal. To "get in better shape" is too vague and unmeasurable to be very effective. The military has physical fitness goals in writing that recruits can strive for. The "Biggest Loser" has a competition to lose more than the other people to strive for. The runner has the New York Marathon to strive for. Get the idea? If you want to get in optimal (or even just better) shape, it is quite helpful to have a worthwhile goal to reach. A girl in our office is now working out with a group of beginners who want to enter a mini triathlon. Sounds like a big goal for someone who doesn't exercise but she is enthusiastic, she has a goal with a set deadline, and she has the group to help her be accountable. This is an excellent way to pull yourself back into shape. Consider setting a reasonable goal (ie: start off with a 5k run instead of a full marathon), work your way up to the condition necessary to be successful at your goal, then sent another, larger goal. You will thank yourself for this foresight should disaster strike.

DPT--Go Walk!

Here's one of the easiest daily preparedness tips you will find--go take a walk.

Who--anyone with two working feet (although I know a guy who lost both legs in a skydiving accident and he actually runs faster than I do). So basically if it is at all possible for you to walk, go out and do it.

What--walking for exercise, walking as an alternate form of transportation, walking as a way to get prepared in the event you need to evacuate on foot.

When--anytime but preferably as part of your morning routine so you don't run out of time later in the day.

Why--because if you are among the 70%+ of the Americans who are overweight, this is the most basic exercise you can do, because it is an excellent form of exercise for core strength, and because it's a good cardio exercise as well.

Where--anywhere...you can walk at the mall early in the morning, you can walk around your neighborhood, you can walk on a treadmill placed in front of your TV, you can walk just about everywhere.

How--walking is the simplest physical activity there is. You don't need special equipment or clothing, just put on your shoes and get moving (actually shoes are optional as well, there are plenty of people around the world who walk miles everyday in their bare feet because they don't have shoes). If you are really fit, give yourself some tough goals to reach such as walking a marathon; if you are really not fit, walk to the end of the driveway or the end of the block at first and call it good but keep increasing your distance.

Resources:

• Volksmarching (http://www.ava.org/). This is a wonderful group of people that can share with you all kinds of unknown trails and little used roads around your neighborhood and around your city.
• The Walking Site (http://www.thewalkingsite.com/). Good info for the beginner.
• Mayo Clinic Walking Info (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/walking/HQ01612). Ditto.
• AARP (http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/walking/). More walking info.

Health and Fitness Online

As you know from reading other posts on this blog, health and fitness is the most important part of personal preparedness. The basics of health and fitness are pretty straight forward--exercise more and eat healthy food. Of course it is not always that simple. Working exercise into a hectic schedule is always a challenge and eating healthy food is easier said than done. I would hazard a guess that 75% of the food sold in supermarkets today is patently unhealthy. To get a grip on your health and fitness, check out the links below and follow these simple rules:

1. Exercise for an hour every day (work in strength, cardio and flexibility exercises)
2. Eat reasonable portions of fruits, vegetables, grains and protein while laying off the junk food.
3. Reduce stress.
4. Sleep eight full hours every night.
5. Drink only water as much as possible (skip the coffee, cola, alcohol, and other not-so-good-for-you drinks)

• Dr Weil
• Prevention
• Worlds Healthiest Foods
• Dr Dean Ornish
• Food Revolution
• MediterAsian
• The Science of Being Well
• Real Age
• Healthy Living TV
• Gary Null's Natural Living
• Health and Fitness Tips
• Health Food Stores
• Chet Day
• Hooah 4 Health
• Bottom Line