Strength is relevant to body weight; basic PT type exercise (sprints, pushups, pullups, situps, dips) will get you where you need to be. Well rounded diet and 30 minutes everyday will keep your ass alive.

 

Spartacus workout is great.

 

Basic traning was a long time ago for me . You're right , there was no weight training then - don't know about now . A LOT of walking/marching , and running - sometimes with gear sometimes without - and lots of pushups & situps. At the end of basic , I had lost about 20 pounds and was in great shape . The military training is all about stamina & endurance .
I've also done some boxing traning . It involved running , wind sprints , jumping rope , pushups , situps , dips , speed bag , heavy bag and sparring . It was amazing how winded I got after just 3 , 3 minute rounds of sparring . I was weight training before I started the boxing and thought I was in really good shape . The only weights we used were for curls . . It got me in the best shape of my life .
Both types of training were geared more for cardio , endurance and stamina .
Some weight training is ok but I'd put more emphasis on cardio and endurance training . I think weight training is good but , just weight training makes you look good and bulks you up but doesn't do much for stamina/endurance .
I used to be a fan of boxing . More often than not , when there was a bulked up muscle bound boxer in the fight . If he didn't knock the other guy out in the 1st few rounds he would fade early and lose the fight or get knocked out by the guy prepared for a long fight .

 

I've also done some boxing traning . It involved running , wind sprints , jumping rope , pushups , situps , dips , speed bag , heavy bag and sparring . It was amazing how winded I got after just 3 , 3 minute rounds of sparring . I was weight training before I started the boxing and thought I was in really good shape . The only weights we used were for curls . . It got me in the best shape of my life .

I have been doing Krav Maga for the past year and it is amazing what it has done to my body and my conditioning. People tell me I lost weight but in reality I weigh the same, it's just that my body fat turned into muscle. Woodswalker is right, a 3 minute sparring drill does more than an hour of weight training in terms of stamina and endurance. Now imagine having a two dozen of them in a row. :thumb: If you have to pick one type of training, martial arts or boxing is the way to go.

 

A bit expensive but a really good way to start is to get a trainer at the local gym. Shop around, they come in many different price and quality ranges. Look for national certification of the trainers (not by the gym). The reason to start with a trainer is to get your form correct. It is really easy to do some serious damage to knees and back with poor technique. Don't worry about weight - focus on technique. Once you have that down weight will come. Figure you will need a dozen or so sessions to get it right. Then put your self on a schedule ie Tue & Thurs @ 4:00 gym then don't give your self any excuses for missing.

Getting into shape is a very do-able and good goal. It is also a win-win, if the SHTF you will be in shape which will improve your odds, if it doesn't you will be in shape and it can improve your quality if not quantity of life.

 

Just prior to joining the army I was given a leaflet with some basic exercises to get into some sort of basic shape....

Triceps

Chinups

Crunch (although now they teach you to keep hands to the side of the head to stop people pulling)

Running

1.5 miles in 10minutes or less

Squat Thrust

It really is worth scouting local gyms if your able just to see what sort of offers they have on. When we joined the gym 5/6months ago we didn't have much of a clue about what to do (I'm along time out the army and out of shape).

We were tied into a 3month contract but we got 5 free personal trainer sessions in that package spread out over the 3 months. Weights and measurements were taken along with notes on goals wishing to achieve. Then they take you through a training program with each personal trainer session the program changed slightly, at the end of all 5 sessions we had enough knowledge to work out our own programs.

I lost roughly only 1 stone in 5/6 months but I've lost an incredible amout of inch's all over : it gets kinda addictive too, I haven't been this morning because I hurt my leg yesterday ............ itching to get my fata*s there but I know I need to rest it at least for today.

 

I don't run unless I'm out of ammo and my knives are broken.

Eat a lot of chicken, fish and veggies.

Get proper sleep.

Swimming is one of the very best forms of building cardio and flexibility.

Wall sits to build the muscles around your knees. Lift your toes, lift your heels 20/20. Excruciating at first but it builds muscle very fast and will stabilize your knees.

I try to go for a walk every day. Walking your dog everyday with a pack is a great idea. I was hiking a good mountain every day this fall while moose hunting.

Don't take extra vitamins or drugs or supplements as your system comes to depend on them. Drink some milk after your workout and eat a good meal.

 

I believe that kettlebells and bodyweight exercises tainted with a bit of heavy odd-object lifting is all you need to get into and stay in peak physical conditioning.

The site http://www.dragondoor.com/ has the highest quality kettlebells available, in my opinion. They also have great instructional recources as well (specifically "Enter The Kettlebell" by Pavel Tsatsouline).

For bodyweight training, there are a few really good resources. "Never Gymless" by Ross Enamait is a fantastic book. "Combat Conditioning" by Matt Furey and "Naked Warrior" by Pavel Tsatsouline are also great resources. I haven't read "Convict Conditioning" yet by Paul Wade, but intend to soon.

Heavy odd-object lifting is a somewhat forgotten training method that has been proven to give fantastic results in terms of massive all-around strength. Odd-objects are basically anything that isn't perfectly symmetrical and balanced, such as large stones, sandbags, barrels, logs, etc. There's a fantastic book detailing this and more called "Dinosaur Training" by Brooks Kubik. It is all about "old-fashioned" strength training (no machines, no ipods, no mirrors, no AC, no steroids). "Rock Iron Steel" by Steve Justa is a great resource as well.

All these can be found on 3 websites, namely http://www.rosstraining.com ("Never Gymless"), http://www.dragondoor.com, and http://www.oldtimestrongman.com/books_and_courses.html. The latter is owned by John Wood, who is a great guy and has a fantastic e-newsletter available for free on his site. He also owns http://www.functionalhandstrength.com, which is where I found out about Captain of Crush Grippers for the first time. I have one in my bag at all times, and train heavy with them 2-3 times a week. I can currently close the #2 gripper 22 times... I have a ways to go yet before closing the #3, though.

Anyway, I hope you find this information useful. It took quite a number of years to find it all. I consider the above resources the cream of the crop when it comes to functional (not about looks!) physical fitness. Use it well, make it a lifestyle, and train hard!

- Phil

 

I run 3 miles each night, during the week. After the run I do sets of three push ups, pull ups and crunches. I also do ammo can lifts for shoulders. I usually do pyramid pull ups and push ups, meaning i work up to a certain number, starting at 1 and then when i reach my goal work back down to one. So it will go like this, if three is my goal, which it never is I would do 1 pull up followed by one push up, then 2 pull ups followed by 2 push ups, then three pull ups followed by three push ups, then down to 2 and then back to one. Then three sets of ammo can lifts.

 

This would be a perfect thread for the health & fitness section.

Poster, for an effective answer, you need to answer a few q's:

1. What shape are you in now? It's no use for me saying to do chinups if you can't do a chinup or run a mile if you have asthma bad enough.

2. What is your goal for fitness? Survival fitness to someone may mean being able to run long distances or to be able to do physical labor etc.

My opinion in general:

Running:
Running more than 5 miles per week is a waste of time.
(ex. That 10-20+ minutes of running you did could've been used to circuit train.)
If you are running to lose weight you are doing the wrong exercise.
The time you run for can be used to do other exercises that will give you a better benefit than the running will.

Body weight exercising:
Excellent stuff. I do chinups and pullups like crazy. I'm at over 400 pullups per month. I do a lot of dips too. I'm over 500 with dips. I mix these in with free weights and machines.

Mixed Martial Arts:
I train as much as I can with this.
You will work different muscles that don't / can't get worked out effectively with any other type of training.

Also, I wouldn't throw training with weights out the window just because you might not be able to train with them after the fall. You will have incredible strength built up from training with weights that can be used for the period during the collapse that will be priceless.