Fitness For The New Age

While we can store food, water and other survival items, there is something to be said about also getting fit, not just for health or appearance reasons, but also because having a strong healthy body will serve you well during hard times. Worst case scenario:you many need to run away from a group of zombies:) More realistic, you may find yourself having to do manual labor which you never  had to do before or traveling in ways you never would of dreamed of when you owned a car, traveling while carrying heavy loads that is.

You don’t need to pay to get fit. Forget gyms for example. According to my chiropractor who would probally provide scientific proof if I asked him, functional exercise is the best kind. By functional, he means doing things to increase strength and stamina of muscles that are used during day to day activity. Gym muscles are great. Some of them are useful. But did you ever see a buffed person walking stiffly by? They don’t always develop the right muscles and at times the muscles they do develop create a shorter range of motion. So when you think buffed, thing useful.

Walking/running are two things that come to mind when I think of useful. Both increase endurance and strength. Both are done in real life to different extents. Both release endorphines which help many to deal with anxiety and depression. Both are free.

Another thing, remember regular old calisthenics? Jumping jacks, toe touches, crunches? And the wonderful and evasive push up? I came across one hundred push ups, a challenge a short while ago and have been meaning to post about it as well as to start doing it but this last week has been very hectic.

I can do zero push ups on the floor right now. I can’t do the girly version on my knees either. I can do wall push ups though and the challenge allows for all options. The site states that all push ups are still a push up, and when done properly, will challenge and enhance the same muscle groups. For me, I don’t need to challenge my shoulder which finally recovered from being frozen or my wrists which don’t like my weight on them.

Let me know if you take the challenge. I am not starting today. I have to do some canning before my chili peppers start to rot. But, tomorrow is looking grand.