I just realized I'm way Way to out of shape for Armagedon!

[Rockrivr1]

I get a call from my cousin last week asking if I could give him a hand clearing some land he's going to build his house on. Of course I say no problem as he's helped me many times in the past.

I get there with my trusty chain saw, machete, axe and maul and we get to work. We started at 8AM and by the time we stopped at 5PM I was pretty worn out. We got a lot done and was a pretty good time. A good time that is until the next day. HOLY CRAP, I couldn't get out of the bed yesterday and when I did I had to shuffle my butt around the house. Man was I sore. I was thinking that today might be a little better, but DAMN, it was worse. If that is even possible.

Now I'm a pretty active person, but I do sit my butt behind a desk in front of a computer for work. I do hit the gym regularly and I thought I was in pretty decent shape. I thought wrong. A full day of physical labor has tought me that pretty well. My body just isn't ready for that.

It got me thinking though. In the event of a SHTF scenario where I had to displace fast, I'd be hauling my BOB, AR-15 (keeping this gun related), Sig 229 along with ammo etc. My soon to be wife would be doing the same. I'm thinking that the first day we might be ok, but after that I bet I'd be almost as sore as I am now.

I really think I need to train better so I won't be this sore and as such incapacitated. I couldn't even think of hauling my BOB and other gear around feeling like this. Geez, talk about feeling old! lol

 

[HighVelocity]

I know exactly how you feel. My wife and I moved the last time by ourselves.
(3 bedroom house full of furniture, appliances and big gun safe).

It took the whole day to load the truck drive across town and unload it. Started at 7am finished at 3am.
After 10 hours of sleep my body was not at all happy when I woke up. I could barely lift a full coffee cup.

I promised myself that I would focus on getting into better shape. Yeah, that happened.

Anyway, you'll feel better after some stretching and good sleep.

 

[Harry Paget Flashman]

Good to know that I'm not the only one unready. 50 pounds heavier than when I retired from the military. No PT, gravity and unlimited access to Krispie Kream does combine to take it's toll.

 

[ShaiVong]

I stay barely active enough to not really get that from manual labor (considering I've had a few summer jobs that were just that), but one thing that I think helps is occasionally doing some full body sport. I dont think anything beats snowboarding for this, but football or soccer helps. If you can do that for like an hour or two every month it keeps my muscles from completely falling asleep.. Paintball (woods ball) is good for that too.

 

[psyopspec]

If there were one specific physical exercise to practice for SHTF (not counting skills such as hunting/shooting), ruck marching would be it. YMMV, but many of us have a ruck or other BOB that we could end up schlepping. Advantages to taking your pack out and going for a brisk walk: learn where your limits are, improve those limits, and drop weight faster than most other exercises. Also get an idea what your equipment needs are. Can you comfortably walk 2 miles with your BOB? 5? 10? Is it you or the equipment? Like Nike says, Just do it.

 

[Gordon Fink]

And add some ibuprofen to your bug-out bag.

~G. Fink

 

[Farnham]

Just played paintball for the first time on Saturday, and I'm still hurting. I know I'm way out of shape, but had no idea I was this bad. Granted, the knees weren't in real good shape even while I was still in, but adding another 60+ lbs and not getting any regular exercise for a couple years...

I'm hoping to make paintball an every other weekend event now, just for the exercise, along with my usual yard/shop work. Humping a full pack around (not just a couple miles, either, start at 6 or 8 and go up) is great exercise, but start light, or you can really jack your knees and lower back up. Just find it funny that a couple of us found out at the same time we're gettin old...

Farnham

 

[Fastlane]

Rockrivr1:

You made it to 5 PM. You are better than me. After 4 hours of post hole digging I had to take a break and rest. Maybe several weeks from now I will try and finish the last four or five.

 

[trickyasafox]

nothing says fun like DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) i dont get it yet and wont for another few years cause im in constant football training. however the best way to get rid of it is to go do a light workout in similar movements to that which you performed. contrary to popular belief, its not lactic acid that gets you the day after. that has worked its way out of your muscles within 4-6 hours after your activity. Mainly its the torn and disrupted protien and muscle fibers that cause the discomfort. the only way to get better is to get blood flowing. if your legs are really sore, force yourself to do 2 sets of 10 squats with a bare bar (45lbs) or if that feels like too much, do it with a broom stick. then do some intense stretching. it'll make a world of difference. also have a glass of wine, you'll want ur blood to thin a bit so your body can work blood into the problem areas faster and with less resistance.

also try contrast showers immediatly after activity. 2minutes with water as hot as you can take it, then 30 seconds with water as cold as you can take it. repeat cycle 3-4 times ending on cold. this forces the blood through out the muscles all over your body and really limits soreness.

ice baths also help, but i doubt anyone here wants to go through those if its not absolutely necessary.

also to prevent leg soreness, hold your legs up in the air forming an L when your laying down before sleep. about 15 minutes will do. your legs will burn, but as the blood drains out of ur legs it takes a lot of the nasty muscle soreness causeing agents with it.

if you feel ur flexibility isnt where it should be (trouble touching toes, things of that nature,) use a towel to help you. wrap it around ur foot and now pull. it gives you a little more room so you dont hurt yourself, but you can still get a great stretch. remember to breath out while trying to reach maximum stretch, at least 15 seconds per hold. if you wanna get seriously limber, spend 8 minutes on each body part, thats huge in my off season workouts, and you dont see a lot of 315lb men who can do jazz splits. a lot of people on this forum are large, thats no excuse not to be flexible. and if you are flexible it will seriously reduce a lot of your soreness. even if your not active stretch.

people always preach about going to the gym, i live at the gym 4 days a week, but if you dont suppliment other activities your statically training your body for an unrealistic situation, no matter hwo dynamic you think your workouts are. none of my squat/clean/snatch workouts do anything for extended stress situations, like carrying a ruck for 3 miles. this is where you have to suppliment stuff in.

people laugh but one of the best inventions to the training world IMHO is the eliptical. low impact for those of us with arthritus (im 20 with horrible tendinitus, they say i got till im about 25 before its arthritus) you can still be active with these limitations. it'll never feel perfect, but with proper warm-ups, a lil ibeprofin to keep swelling in check, you can accomplish some pretty amazing athletic things regardless of age.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Fastlane, Don't get me wrong. I was ready to stop a LOT sooner then that. Problem was is that my cousin's wife was there working just as hard as the rest of us and refused to quite even though she had tweeked her knee. Figured if she was still working there was no way I was going to stop. Of course this was the fourth weekend in a row they were doing this. I told them they should of called me sooner as I would of helped. On my way driving home I was secretly thanking my lucky stars that they hadn't.

Oh man, digging fence post holes is damn hard work. A buddy of mine did that a few years ago to fence in his back yard. I ended up doing the auger with another friend. At first we thought we were lucky as they were the ones lugging the fence polls around. We soon came to realize that we made the wrong choice. The ground was so full of stones that the auger got jammed at least three or four times each hole. Of couse then you have to get the damned thing out of the ground and pry the big stone up. :banghead: Hope your having an easier time then that.

 

[ShaiVong]

"and you dont see a lot of 315lb men who can do jazz splits."

Lucky me!

 

[Rockrivr1]

Quote: "however the best way to get rid of it is to go do a light workout in similar movements to that which you performed"

Trickasafox I got a good chuckle when I read the sentence I quoted above. My back was so stiff I could barely bend over to tie my shoe laces.

Actually you gave some good advise. I'll give some of that a shot. Thanks

 

[cpileri]

workout

Besides adding motrin or tylenol or whatever is a safe antiinflammatory/analgesic fo ryou, you could try some 'bug out specific training'.

Take your BOB and make sure your rifle or whatever is either hidden, not there, or legal to carry around where you live; put it on and start walking. Build up to walking at a reasonable pace, one that may mimick how fast you will be hoofing it out of dodge, for howevermany miles.

It will give you an idea how heavy your gear is to move, how well it is packed/ weight distributed, how well padded it is (or how much it chafes your skin!), and how yopur feet and footgear hold up. A couple blisters can really slow you down, too!

On rainy days, rather than taking the hardcore approach- you can backpack on the stairstepper. Just set the weight to match your combined weight with the pack.

C-

 

[Harry Tuttle]

i find taking ibuproferin before, during and after a 26 hour paintball game keeps me operational

drinking lots of water helps too
after i added a camelback reservoir to my rig, i noticed alot less fatigue
taking a drink every 10-15 minutes keeps the bonk away

another joy are heated seats in the truck

 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Make sure your load is as light as possibile, stretch often, and drink lots of water. These simple steps will go a long way to overcoming any perceived lack of physical fitness, as well as minimizing the soreness later.

If you can clear a field for a full day you should consider yourself to be in fine physical condition.

 

[mbs357]

When you do a lot one day and hurt the next day, it helps to move around more.
Moving slowly and constantly thinking "wow that hurts" will actually make it hurt more than not thinking about it and moving like normally.
Especially when you HAVE to get back to it the next day.
In a SHTF situation you'll probably get some adrenaline along with the necessity...those two will help you out.*







*But then again, I am an idiot.

 

[Wildalaska]

You guys are mere amatuers when it comes to bein so out of shape...me..my belly is so big that if I get prone with anyhting other than a 22lr, the recoil just spins me aroound...sort of like putting a turtle on its back and givin it a spin....

But then again, at least I can get prone

WildneedaboytocarrymystuffAlaska

 

[TamThompson]

I'm a 46-year-old woman who's been extremely hard-core athletic all her life, and as a result I've had three surgeries on one knee which has very little cartilege left in it. I can't run anymore, nor carry heavy loads like I used to. Thus, I will have to rely on others to carry for me, and this has been a SEVERE come-down for me.

What I CAN do is:
shoot very accurately
reload .45acp
do minor gunsmithing, including field-stripping and cleaning
lead others
plan
organize
problem-solve (I run a company, and I used to be an engineer)
cook
write and communicate very persuasively
ride a bike
reverse-engineer lots of things

Having skills ain't just about humpin' it, guys.

 

[Standing Wolf]

They're just going to have to hold off having the end of the world as we know it until I'm back in shape.

 

[trickyasafox]

TamThompson.

i feel for you, i hear once your down to bone on bone not only is it painful but there isnt terribly much they can do outside of replacements. not to sound biased, but if your a woman your mcl probably went first (women statistically tear them more frequently then men, i think its the nature of female sports), how are your acl and pcl holding up? they gone as well? they try that laterial release on you? i think thats a miserable surgery that really needs to stop being performed. i refuse to let em do it to me. how did your pad go? just wear out? or did they end up pulling it with something like a cracked petella? im not sure if you can lose it any other way then it wearing down. . . .

mind if i ask how they prescribed ur PT? did you feel any of it was worth while?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I'm 63 -- and am fortunate that my knees aren't gone yet. I hike -- again, I'm fortunate. I live on my farm in the Ozarks, and can hike up out of the valley where I live and get a few hundred feet of stiff climbing in.

Next month, I'm walking the Ozark Highlands Trail, 170 trail miles.

 

[Kamicosmos]

They're just going to have to hold off having the end of the world as we know it until I'm back in shape.

that was great!

I think the same thing, I get winded moving furniture, mowing the yard, hell walking the dog will get me sweating. And I'm not overwieght! Just a desk jockey...

I even have one of dem fancy eliptical trainer things....it makes an excellent coat/hat rack! sigh...

 

[Dave Markowitz]

I'm in shape.



Round is a shape!

 

[Derby FALs]

I'm staying home.

 

[AZLibertarian]

Derby FALs

I'm staying home.

I'm with you. I don't plan on going anywhere--at least not right away.

Dave Markowitz

I'm in shape. Round is a shape.

Hey! I'm with Dave too!! Cool!!

I do try to exercise, but have to admit that I am well into my middle ages, and frankly, I prolly wasn't all that good when I was good. So, we have to do the best with what we've got--in my case, about 30 extra pounds.

I don't know if this is a rationalization or not, but I think that the fact that many of us have even thought about what to do when the SHTF puts us miles ahead of most of the sheeple.