I think that to be a survivalist, at least an ideal survivalist, you'd have to have an equal mix of all necessary traits, lest one suffer at the expense of another. You'd have to become a proverbial Jack of All Trades.

 

And you have to keep in mind that the situation is probably very temporary. A week, maybe 2 if it's a bad natural disaster. Most likely SHTF scenarios probably involve order being restored fairly quickly.

 

http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=184220

There are actually three attributes that would be important for your physical condition in a SHTF scenario. Please read my post here on this thread.

 

Endurance. Ever heard the phrase, "Run for your life"?

 

There's no such thing as "A" survival situation. Each one differs. And what is needed differs. Endurance may be the critical factor in one, and power in another. Being healthy and in shape is what matters. Trying to prepare for a particular "scenario" is silly, because there are too many different possibilities.

 

Speed is key, endurance is key to maintaining speed:

1. "Rapidity is the essence of war." Von Clausewitz
2. "Get there fastest with the mostest" Nathan Bedford Forest
3. "Rule #1: Cardio" Zombieland

CSM101

 

Speed is key, endurance is key to maintaining speed:

1. "Rapidity is the essence of war." Von Clausewitz
2. "Get there fastest with the mostest" Nathan Bedford Forest
3. "Rule #1: Cardio" ZombielandCSM101

Love that movie! It was so over the top. "Sorry Bill, a band-aid's not gonna fix this one"

 

I think the maximum strength-to-weight ratio is what you want.

 

I would add stealth in there somewhere. Better not to be seen at all if possible.

 

During the Vietnam War, Ho Chi Minh compared the Vietcong to a tiger and the United States to an elephant - locked in a battle to the death. He said that the tiger with relentless repeated strikes and ambushes would exhaust the elephant and cause it to die from loss of blood. However, if the tiger were to stop moving for just one moment, he would be impaled upon the elephant's mighty tusks.

So if history is to be a guide, endurance can trump power

 

endurance.

 

As a confederate soldier said before Gettysburg when he saw a rabbit run through the brush," run ole hare, If I was old hare I'd run too". Seems like in your scenario endurance would be best, but I'd still have enough firepower to still any threat I might run into. However, and there is always a however in life, leaving would be my very last option.

 

Im going for a balance of both. Not to bulky from excess muscle weight, but still able to run or keep moving without being cashed out.

 

I would generally say endurance. The only exception are the ones with the super BOL that they can confidently say that its secure and reliable for the long run. If that is the case, i'd side with power. If you can blast your way quickly to it, more power to ya.

 

From a military point of view endurance would be more important. However, we have to also consider, that in absolutely worse SHTF you will not spend 100% of your time fighting or running. You will spend majority of your time simply interacting with other members of society. Physical power is usually characterized by impressive physique or by size. Both are visible and will earn you respect in your interactions. This in turn, helps in all sort of situations (bartering, conversation, request for help or info).

All in all both are darn important, but in my opinion, if you are not a 100% dedicated fighter, power is more important.

 

Physical power is usually characterized by impressive physique or by size. Both are visible and will earn you respect in your interactions.

Yes and no. Typically, the whole "bigger is better" thing is pretty much an American thing.

Secondly, from my own experience, bigger does not necessarily equal stronger or more willing to fight. Most of the really big guys I know are giant *******. A couple of the bodybuilder types aren't even that strong. They're 2 times my size, but barely lift any more weight than I do.

This is a perfect example of strength + endurance. Try this sometime and see if you're strong enough. Note how skinny this guy is.

Az

 

I agree with wilson412 you'd have to have an equal mix of all necessary traits. I have tried allot of different approaches to physical conditioning (it is sort of my hobby) If you want real good advice as well as info you can check out rosstraining. com he has a no bull**** approach to conditioning and all the info is free.

 

Like all things in life you should strive to achieve balance.... As long as you have the strength to endure you will survive.

 

Before you ask the question, make sure that you are clear in your terms. So often people will talk about endurance in a vague fashion. There is a HUGE difference between being able to run mile-after-mile at a x-minute/mile pace (fill in the blank for whatever pace you can do), and doing multiple FULL SPEED wind sprints, then trotting, then sprinting, then walking, then sprinting, etc. Physiologically they are different beasts. I have competed as a distance runner and a mountain bike racer. They would both be described as endurance sports, but the physiologic demands are quite different. Running can be best described as a 'steady state' activity, whereas bike racing has a lot of easy 'rolling along' bits interspersed with massively anaerobic efforts. To perform at your best, you need specificity in your training.

The climbing video linked above is awesome. In my experience, the really great climbers have better fitness for a wide variety of activities than most other athletes. This requires a great degree of anaerobic bursts of power, with brief recovery, and then again, and again, and again...

I always encourage a lot of bodyweight exercises, such as pullups, dips, and various body core exercises. You need to move YOU around, not a bunch of iron plates. Yes, I move iron plates as well, but would challenge many of you who think you are fit: how many pullups can you do? Heavy iron lifters may or may not be so ready to do what is needed.

 

Look at all the people around you who work for a living. I mean real hard physical work. What do they look like? Are they big muscle men? No. They're lean, but not big. The toughest SOBs I've ever known have all been wiry. Big guys are all show.

 

I agree. I have a friend that is well over 6 feet tall and weighs 280lbs. He is slightly over weight.

My cousin is 5'11 and weighs no more than 150lbs and is strong as an ox.
Works 6 days a week on average and guess what he does to maintain endurance?

Tai Chi and advanced Yoga.

My larger friend has been out of work for over twelve years (His choosing) and sits in front of the computer all day. Nice guy, but really lazy.

At first glance you would think that my larger friend would be alot harder to bring down. I would rather go up against him in a hand to hand fight than my leaner cousin any day.

I guess the old saying is true. Don't judge a book by it's cover.

Ultimately I believe it comes down to wisdom. Knowing how to stay healthy, strong, and also keeping your mind sharp.

 

Endurance.

You can count on mechanical leverage, hydraulics, fuels, etc for power you can't create yourself.

Most of the time, endurance is what you'll need.

Real world example: Look at US Army Rangers. Marine Recon... SEALs.. Most of them aren't huge guys. They're compact, able to run long distances, fight longer, endure more.. If you need to move something with you or out of the way, mechanics and intelligence will do the job. But mechanics and intelligence wont let you go longer.

 

I agree also with the bodyweight resistance exercises. Endurance trumps strength when it comes to hard living in hard times.

Various types of Push-ups> Hands close, Hands wide, Feet Elevated,One handed

Pull-Ups> Hands close, hands wide, palm grip inward, palm grip outward,One handed

Dips> done upright for triceps , done leaning forward for chest

HandStand Presses> heels against wall and head between 2 cinder blocks for full range movement

Squatting with just your bodyweight , harder version- One Legged Pistol Squats which take a lot of balance and stabilizer muscles

Rev Ham Glute Raises > will hit the often neglected hamstrings and lower back and can be done with putting your heels under a weight bar like this>

There are dozens of exercises for abs,obliques,and lower back online.

I'm not anti-weightlifting. When it comes to bodyweight exercises, you can get strong and have endurance too. Most bodyweight exercises are compound movements that hit multiple muscles so you get a lot of bang for you buck.

I was watching Navy Seal instructors on a BUDS episode and they were saying how they see many well built muscular recruits come in, the types weighing 220 lbs with no fat on them dropping out by the end of the 1st week while at the end of BUDS training they see the smaller 160 pounders still hanging in.

There is one exception to heavier guys that comes to mind who was an ardent fanatic of bodyweight training, Herschel Walker , he is 6'1" and weighed between 222-225 and his NFL team mates couldn't believe how he never got tired when they would all be exhausted by the 3rd quarter he would still be trucking.

Herschel took bodyweight exercises to a new level of extreme but what I believe made him was he started at the age of 12 , real young and by the time he was a senior in high school he was doing insane numbers of reps with bodyweight exercises. He would also drag a tire by tieing it with a rope to his waist and run up hill pulling it. I don't know why his book "Herschel Walker's Basic Training" went out of print but I used to check it out a lot at the library back in the early 90s.

Herschel also had a 365 lb. bench press when tested by his college football coach during his GA Bulldog days, that is phenomenal for a guy who just focused on bodyweight exercise, but then again a heavier guy like him would have a greater maximal strength than a smaller Bruce Lee type guy.

Real world strength is where its at , I saw a few big muscle guys into weightlifting when I was in my teens working in construction that didn't last long when it came to toting plywood , and lumber , they'd be hired in and gone after a month. They just had no endurance. There are a few exceptions but most hardcore bodybuilder types often are just "showy" and often are in office type or salesman type professions.

Most of these type of people with Herculean weightlifting type builds will perish fast after the SHTF if your wanting to compare the 2 types of physical training as to which is better.

There are 2 types of muscle fibers...fast twitch and slow twitch. The slow muscles are more efficient at using oxygen to generate more fuel (known as ATP) for continuous, extended muscle contractions over a long time. They fire more slowly than fast twitch fibers and can go for a long time before they fatigue. Therefore, slow twitch fibers are great at helping athletes run marathons and bicycle for hours.

Fast twitch fibers use anaerobic metabolism to create fuel, they are much better at generating short bursts of strength or speed than slow muscles. However, they fatigue more quickly. Fast twitch fibers generally produce the same amount of force per contraction as slow muscles, but they get their name because they are able to fire more rapidly. Having more fast twitch fibers can be an asset to a sprinter since he or she needs to quickly generate a lot of force.

Most bodybuilder types are using the fast twitch fibers compared to the endurance type trainers, therefore this probably explains why I've seen bodybuilder types fatigue so fast when doing the same movement over and over.

I worked in a kitchen counter top warehouse loading skids for a year when I was 23. I remember then a new guy got hired that was around 5'11" and 240 lbs , he loved talking about what he could do in the gym. He was always going to the water fountain and would sweat like a pig even though he had very little fat on him.After about 2 months he just quit without notice.

Especially for SHTF , if your into working out, put more emphasis on being able to handle your own bodyweight.

 

we had alot of big steroid fed muscle bound guys quit at our warehouse. they could lift a ton but they couldnt lift 20 to 50 pounds 3000 to 4000 times a day. i'll take endurance, especially the ability to walk all day for more than a few days, over being able to bench 350#.

 

This quote has probably been posted here numerous times but I think it is as applicable in this case as in any.

Personally I think you would benefit most from good overall conditioning, combining attributes such as Endurance, Power, Speed, Strength, Agility, Flexibility etc etc.

You ideally would want a good amount of muscle but not too much as to slow you down, a little bit of fat so you have energy reserves to call on during times of need, but not too much fat as to be a burden.

I am aware that many of those attributes seem contradictory but In my opinion theres no single attribute that you would want to focus on to the point where others are neglected.

Survival is about being prepared for all eventualities, or at least trying to, and being able to adapt to situations as they happen, not trying to predict the future and planning exclusively for the scenario(s) that you think are most likely to occur.

Here's that quote I was referring to.


"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

-Robert A. Heinlein

 

In that war, What actually happened was the owner of the Elephant got fed getting tomato's thrown at him and packed up took his elephant and went home. If it wasn't for all the stupid drug addict protestors and selecting politically correct bombing targets all those soldiers that died over there would not have died in vain. I'm not saying I agree with us even sending troops over there. The loss we suffered in great men is terrible. But if people would spend the time researching it we quit as we were very near victory. Our military didn't lose that war. The Hippies did.

 

I vote for edurance for all the above reasons. But the most important quality to have in a bad situation will be smarts. Keep your head and you usually can figure everything else out. In all the events we as preppers/survivalists read about, the ones who kept cool under pressure are the ones to survive. I think if something bad was to happen nation wide were bugging out was necessary, a lot of people would end up in a n early grave because of stupidity. My family will rely heavily on me, so this is the area Im most trying to imrove on. Everyone on this list is doing the same thing by just being here.

 

Train for this:

www.toughmudder.com