(This too is an excerpt from the forthcoming new book, which should be released and available around the first of September.) It seems that most Americans have convinced themselves that either (a) they are actually in phenomenal physical form, regardless of what their personal physician and the mirror tells them, or (b) being in shape doesn’t really matter, as long as you’re mentally prepared. While it is reasonably fair to argue that in the current world, being in good physical condition is an optional exercise, the number of “preppers” I’ve met over the years who are obviously not physically prepared for the events and circumstances that they claim to be preparing for is mind-boggling to say the least. Fundamental health and welfare considerations aside—which is absurd on the face of it, since being in good health is sort of fundamental to human survival, when defined as the continuation of human physiological function—actual survivors of catastrophic situations have long recognized that survival activities require a significantly greater physical exertion than day to day living within the protected climes of civilization. While mental aspects are inarguably more critical than an Olympic physique, the individual who lacks the moral fiber to actually perform the work to condition his or her body for the physical demands of survival activities can be fairly assessed to not possess the mental fortitude to endure the challenges of a strenuous survival event. Physical fitness conditioning for survival is work. There are no shortcuts or ways to get around that very simple fact. Physical and psychological effort must be put forth. It’s part of the process, and ignoring that reality, in the pursuit of comfort and homeostasis will do nothing to increase or improve your chances of survival in a critical event. The simple truth is, regardless of whether you “want to” or not, if you work through your hesitancy and do the work of physical conditioning, you will be both physically and mentally better prepared when you find yourself thrust into a survival situation. Your welfare, under adverse conditions, is largely going to be determined by your mental attitude and will to endure. Expert bushcraft skills and a pack full of equipment will certainly help, but the level of your mental commitment will determine your effective employment of those assets. Mental attitude is the most powerful force in any human activity. Developing the will to endure, including the stoic acceptance of a bit of pain and suffering now, in pursuit of a delayed reward later is challenging in a society where comfort is considered to be far more virtuous than physical toughness, and where “work ethic” is largely defined by the pursuit of mammon. Unfortunately for the lazy, in the real world, survival requires a dedicated pursuit of physical fitness, because under survival conditions, machines and other people cannot be relied on to fulfill your basic physiological survival needs. You’re on your own. Survival situations place a noticeable premium on physical attributes. Whether you’re sprinting through alleys to escape a riotous mob in an urban environment, hiking off a mountain, carrying a stretcher-bound companion, or simply trying to get home after the lights go out, there’s no escaping the physical demands, if you expect to actually survive. In a post-grid, or even just a collapsing socio-economic environment, world, success will demand a greater level of physical conditioning than most modern Westerners are accustomed to. While the last twenty years of combat have emphasized the use of all-terrain and off-road vehicles and airborne assets like helicopters, it is entirely likely that future travel, especially in survival scenarios, will focus greatly on the slog of the foot march. As fuel supplies and other resources, including simple replacement parts for vehicles and off-road transportation become increasingly expensive and difficult to procure, the physical demands of walking—and carrying things while walking—will increase to levels not seen in centuries1. The Demands Are Different Unlike tactical operations, where the ability to carry large loads, over reasonably short distances at high speed, to sprint from position of cover to position of cover, and to engage in brutal hand-to-hand combat, general survival does not place the same emphases on the same energy systems. While pure strength training, and conditioning of the anaerobic energy systems are still critically important to survival preparedness, the most important physical energy system to be trained in this context is the aerobic oxidative. This, of course, is almost diametrically inverse of what many of us have been preaching about combat fitness specifically, for much of the last decade and a half, plus. Join the team, and read the rest: https://www.patreon.com/posts/found...paign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link Continue reading...
