Survival Training, How to do it all

Try carrying a sandbag on your shoulder for distance

So how can we train all the physical abilities mentioned in the last couple of posts in an effective manner and still have a real life?  Can it be done?  Absolutely! Just make sure you get reality training with good tools that cover a lot of ground at once.  Here’s a sample schedule:

1)      Once a week pick a distance workout.  That could be a run, swim, row, weight carry, animal crawl, hill sprints, sled dragging, road work, exercise walk (i.e., walking swing or snatch with kettlebell, walk/jumping squat/squat thrust, etc.) or a combination of the above.  You can rotate these for unpredictability or stay with one style until you accomplish a particular goal, etc.  This will take care of some training for health, stamina, sprinting covering a long distance and not quitting.

2)      Pick a heavy lift, a conditioning move, an agility move and a fighting style to train together in a circuit.  For instance you could do deadlift and carry, sledgehammer swing, vaulting an obstacle and straight punches to an opponent or heavy bag.  Do five reps deadlift and carry, then 1-2 minutes each of the others.  This will give you a 4-7 minute circuit that ought to wind you significantly and can be repeated 3-5 times.  In this you will have trained health, recuperative ability, strength endurance, pure strength, hard fighting ability, injury resistance, agility or the ability to negotiate an obstacle all together compounding the effectiveness of training.

3)      Add in adverse conditions and problem solving.  Sometimes do the workouts when you’re tired or at an unusual time, or in the rain, heat or cold or when you haven’t eaten, etc.  Occasionally take it to new locations or to a previously unexplored length of time or distance to challenge yourself and knock down mental and physical barriers. At the end when you’re gasping for breath, do a math problem or a puzzle or a skill movement, etc.  This forces your brain to work when your body is fatigued.

4)      Rotate in other exercises or skills you need to learn or practice.  Sometimes lift stones or sand bags or people instead of barbells.  Definitely work in the kettlebell.  Work your neck and abdominals. (Injury proofing).  Work in other forms of fighting, grappling, knives, improvised weapons, shooting, etc.

If you’re familiar with us a lot of this ought to sound like a regular thing here with just a slightly different emphasis.  It should, it’s the basics of how I/we train anyway with a twist on the rocks – shaken not stirred – for rugged health, incredible strength and unbelievable endurance all together.  Find more ways to put it all together in Twisted Conditioning and Twisted Conditioning 2.

God bless,
Bud Jeffries