100 Physical Fitness Activities for the Prepper

In a SHTF situation (or even just a basic disaster) physical fitness is important.  If you are physically fit you are less likely to suffer a heart attack shoveling snow, you will be able to walk some distance for help, and you won't wrench your back out of place while doing the drop, cover, and hold thing during an earthquake.  Here are 100 physical fitness activities...pick at least one to do each day to stay in shape...

1. Running
2. Walking
3. Hiking
4. Yoga
5. Zumba
6. Calesthenics
7. Basketball
8. Soccer
9. Baseball
10. Swimming
11. Bicycling
12. Archery
13. Tennis
14. Golfing
15. Lifting weights
16. Karate
17. Parkour
18. Stair climber
19. Treadmill
20. Jumping rope
21. Kayaking
22. Canoeing
23. Water skiing
24. Downhill skiing
25. Roller skating
26. Ice skating
27. Yard work
28. House work
29. Gardening
30. Roller blading
31. Ballroom dancing
32. Line dancing
33. Horseback riding
34. Racquetball
35. Pickleball
36. Windsurfing
37. Scuba diving
38. Skateboarding
39. Cross fit
40. Kickboxing
41. Rock climbing
42. Tai chi
43. Triathlon
44. Paintball
45. Fishing
46. Hunting
47. Volleyball
48. Table tennis
49. Shooting
50. Bowling
51. Disc golf
52. Mountain biking
53. Ultra running
54. Water aerobics
55. Pokemon Go
56. Orienteering
57. Children's games (tag, hide and seek, etc)
58. Obstacle course
59. Dodgeball
60. Snowboarding
61. Trampoline
62. Gymnastics/tumbling
63. Tug of war
64. Boxing
65. Active video games (Wii Fit, etc)
66. Juggling
67. Play catch (football, baseball)
68. Unicycling
69. Dog agility training
70. Wrestling
71. Judo
72. Skydiving
73. Cricket
74. Horseshoes
75. Mountain climbing
76. Spelunking
77. Fencing
78. Axe throwing
79. Rugby
80. Miniature golf
81. Water polo
82. Curling
83. Sailing
84. Cross country skiing
85. Track and field activities (long jump, javelin, etc)
86. Rowing
87. White water rafting
88. Off-roading (ATV, BMX, etc)
89. Darts
90. Geocaching
91. Chopping wood
92. Snowshoeing
93. Canyoneering
94. Bouldering
95. Bootcamp training
96. Squash
97. Pilates
98. Bocce ball
99. Kite flying
100. Hacky sack

Extreme Challenges

How fit are you?  Could you outrun an attacker?  Could you do an entire P90x workout without requiring medical assistance?  If it comes down to run, hide, or fight and the first two options aren't available would you be able to do the third?

Since I believe everyone should be relatively fit and everyone should have a goal, and since a friend of mine is getting ready to do the Colorado 200 (yep, that's a no so leisurely 200 mile run), I thought I would suggest you set a physical goal and go for it.  For some people this might mean a marathon and for others it might mean walking a community 5k fun run.  No matter what point you are at physically, make it a goal to get in better shape.  If you really want to set a very difficult physical fitness goal, consider these options:

• Do a race (from 1k fun walks to marathons)
• Do a mud run (these range from Spartan Races and Tough Mudders to Warrior Dashes and Rugged Maniac events)
• Hike a long distance trail
• Complete a martial arts training program (complete all of the belts)
• Compete in the National Senior Games (for us oldsters)
• Compete in one of these greatest outdoor challenges
• Do the Barkley marathons (if you can figure out how to get in)
• Do one of these world's toughest challenges

5 New Years Resolutions (That Will Help Avert the Most Common Causes of Death)

Most people become preppers because they want to be able to keep themselves and their families safe from harm.  And when they think of harm, all manner of problems come to mind (rape, robbery, active shooters, kidnapping, et al).  But when you look at the actual statistics of how people die in the US, you will find that the most common causes of death have nothing at all to do with the aforementioned threats.  In actuality, people's bad health habits have much more to do with their future causes of death than any social/political/economic/etc issue.

First, check out this list of how people actually die in the US.

Then, consider that if you can avoid accidents (a declining cause of death) and suicide (unfortunately, an increasing cause of death), the rest of the top 15 causes rest heavily on how you treat your own body.

With that in mind, here are five New Year's Resolutions you may want to consider (that can do more for preventing your untimely death than, say, having a nice collection of firearms or a stockpile of food).

1. Walk everyday.  For at least an hour, preferably longer.
2. Engage in other physical activities.  Consider this list of sports.  Consider what you need to motivate yourself to do these sports (join a bowling league to keep you accountable, set a big goal like a mini triathlon and work towards that goal, join a hiking club, etc).
3. Make your diet healthy.  The paleo diet and the Mediterranean diet seem to be the most popular.  Both seem to limit junk food and both seem to limit mixing starchy carbs with protein.
4. Stop eating junk food (easy to say, not so easy to do when you consider more than 50% of the stuff in stores these days is junk).
5. Reduce stress.  Stress negatively impacts nearly every facet of your life if you don't get a handle on it.

Prep Tip #4: Get Fit

If you want to be able to save yourself, and others, during a disaster, you will probably have to exert some physical effort in order to do so.  That means you will need to be in some semblance of good physical shape.  How good a shape are you in?  Really?  Would you care to prove that?
Some years back we were working with a group of executives on preparedness and all had great ideas for their section--get together a first aid kit, hold fire drills, etc.  Then a few days later we walked into their office and held and impromptu earthquake drill which required everyone to get under their desk.  A few wouldn't fit under their desk, period, and a couple ended up needing medical aid for pulled muscles.  Yeah that went well.
So while most of us remember our glory days complete with spectacular feats of physical greatness like they were yesterday, the reality is that our stiff, crunchy bodies would be hard pressed to perform any sort of difficult physical survival maneuver without serious medical consequences.
Here's some idea for getting fit:

• Attend yoga class (no better way to improve your flexibility)
• Walk daily
• Swim often (it's easier on the joints)
• Do a challenge like this
• Join a regularly schedule group activity (bowling league, volksmarch group, softball team, etc)
• Do something physical everyday: tennis, golf, fishing, etc. (for added inspiration, take your kids/grandkids with you)
• Keep a small hand weight set at home and lift weights while you are watching TV
• Do calisthenics (a la Jack Lalanne) at various times throughout the day
• Stretch morning, noon, and night

The bottom line is that if you don't use it, you lose it.  You don't want to lose it because you may need to save yourself some day by running away, climbing over debris, sliding under debris, or lifting heavy objects.  If you can't do those things you may end up dead.  That's counterproductive to being a prepper/survivalist.