So I was thinking .....

[Erick]

So I am very nearly back in active duty shape right now and i been out 3 yrs.... so far so good... but I was thinking about something.
I did some training with some friends nearly 2 years ago.... I considered myself at the time out of shape not having exercised for 3 months but that was by my standards which I suspect are higher than most.

So we move out on a Patrol all ten of us. Basic Load is
210 rds of 5.56mm, 3L of Water (amount was personal choice), First aid kit anything extra is optional, no Rucks or assault packs (unless personal choice desired)
We leave the one location and road march just a little practice going from wedge to file and vice versa..
All why moving at  a normal pace.

A buddy of mine (70 at the time) was playing our OPFOR and trying to observe us from the target location..
This exercise was for us practicing a Reconnaissance in Force.
So we go around a small woods on this (large) property and up a steep hill thats only maybe 30 yards tall.
Then we switch to bounding overwatch.

We did not conduct bounding over watch at full speed... maybe at 50-60% speed.
As we sneak around the corner of the woods we highcrawl to a point for about 50 yards were we can observe the house my buddy is manning w/o being seen and staying low and in concealment.
The scary thing was that at this point I was totally gassed!

We had only walked about 2 miles thru easy terrain and high crawled maybe 50 yards.
And i was TOTALLY gassed.. If we had suddenly found ourselves in a fight for our life I would have been mostly ineffective and let my friends and family down!

Yes, I was out of shape at the time and I knew it.. but I was out of shape by my standards..
I was probably still stronger than most and could do a little slow jog on a rog in running gear probably with a more ease than most guys at my civilian work who just as me were approaching middle age and being desk workers..

Now we are getting to why I am making this post.

I bet many guys on this board (whom I respect!!!) would have been even way more gassed than I was.. but since they dont train this they will never realize it until they have to do something even this basic and then operate a firearm competently..
..
We all practice with our fire arms.
Some do it mostly for hunting.. some do it fun... but I think most of us ultimately do it with defense in mind.
Self defense situations cannot be predicted... you may have to go after a guy thru the woods who just kidnapped your granddaughter! or wife!

Some degree Physical fitness is part of self defense!

If you dont have any you are not serious about self defense.

Give me a guy who is a monster shot but totally out of shape and I show you a guy who will lose a self defense situation that devolves into an actual firefight.
Now (and I am dating myself here) we dont all need to look like Rocky or Jean Claude VanDamme.
Thats not realistic... we have lives ...its not even needed.....BUT if you are not doing some reasonable effort to be in reasonable shape for your age and occupation you are setting yourself up to fail your friends and family when they need you most.

Everything else is easier when you have some kind of shape too!.. Getting our of bed quickly in middle of nite.. getting up or down the stairs to confront a home invader..
If getting up or down the stairs gets you shuffing and puffing.. you may have lost the ability to properly control your firearm and operate it in a competent manner!

Based on my experience being a former Company commander for a reserve Army unit here is a nice easy method that WILL work. Because sometimes we would get very out of shape overweight guys that could not do the job.. and being reservists they had not been forced or motivated to  properly take care of themsleves.

This is an easy program how you recover from that even if you are in very poor shape:
Week 1: Walk 3 miles 3 times
Week 2: Walk 4 miles 3 times or 3 miles 4 times
Week 3: Ditto
Week 4: Walk 4 miles 3 times while wearing a Rucksack with 20 lbs in it
Week 5: Walk 4 miles 3 times or 3 miles 4 times with a rucksack w/ 30 lbs in it.
Week 6: Ditto
Week 7: By now you have strengthened your joints and tendons enough you can run with minimal risk of injury. Run 3 times a week for 30 minutes or 3 miles ( whichever comes first)
Week 8: Ditto
Week 9 Run 3 times a week for 40 minutes or 4 miles whichever comes first ( which for most will still be the time)
Week 10: Ditto
Week 11: Run twice  aweek for 40 minutes or 4 miles ( whichever comes first)  and find a Gym and do two iron pumps per week with light weights. We are looking to involve as many muscle groups of the body as possible.. not "build" any one part..
Include as a minimum Squats, situps, back extensions (if the gym has  a Roman chair), bent over rows, Dumbbell angled bench press (works both shoulders and pecs). Bonus: Maybe throw in 2 sets each of lateral raises and 2 sets of frontal raises for weapons handling....
This is doable no matter what your age!!!!
Week 12 Ditto.

I suspect some of you are in poor shape right now.... Age.. Joint pain... or just being overweight from sedentary lifestyle.
But this program up there ANYONE can do who isnt outright disabled.
Those of you in poor shape right now will feel like new men..!

[JohnyMac]

I love it Erick!

I always get a bit out of shape over the winter as there ain't much to do but get wood for the stove, work on my ham skills*, read*, work on inside projects, cook extravagant meals, watch movies*, et cetera.

What a great schedule you have put together which I am going to try and work on. THANKS! 

* = Sit on my butt. 

[Kbop]

Thanks for the post - i do need to move more!

[Erick]

Great!!

When you are starting weights go light weighs on the raises.
Even I do only 20 lbs in each hand and I been doing these for years...

On second set I sometimes drop down to 15lbs..to minimize risk of injury.

Suggest to start with 10 lbs.. (or even 7.5 lbs if over 60 and no experience with weights)

[Erick]

Wanted to bump this thread and also might as well tell of this week.

This week I took off Monday and Tuesday to rest up a bit from last week (which was 6 workouts of one kind or another and I could feel my feet and elbows complaining ever so slightly.. enough for me to take Mon+Tues off))

Wednesday was run
Thursday was iron pump ,  (2 sets free unassisted close arm pulls ups, 2 sets wide arm pull ups (assisted),  3 sets bent over rows, 3 sets squats, 1 set sit ups, 2 sets free standing overhead military press w/ dumbbells, 2 sets incline dumbbell press, 2 sets dumbbell bench press, 2 sets lateral raises, 2 sets frontal raises, 3 sets firemans walk where you carry dumbbells in each arm and walk as far as possible before dropping them).
Friday: Run
Today: Iron pump, broadly same as Thursday except no Fireman's walk, no assisted wide arm pull ups, and skipped the flat bench dumbbell press but added 4 sets of planks to failure at the end for extra core and did both the lateral and frontal raises for 3 sets instead the usual 2.

[Nemo]

I went back and re-read this thread.  I am please to say I am not gassed.  No so pleased to say I am dead.

I am going back to the gym regular starting Monday.

Nemo

[Erick]

Great!  

Please let us know how it goes!

As for my pull ups.. I do not wish to mis-represent.. Since I left active duty and let myself go a couple years ago I really struggle with unassisted pullups ....which is why I do them close arm since that's easier..
I had to build myself up with many months of assisted pullups (gravity edge type of machine) before I could even do any unassisted ones again at all.

I also used to be the King of Dips but will still wait with them until I cut some more weight since they are so high stress on shoulders and elbows and I dont want an injury.

I am now about smart workouts and the art of the doable rather than just crazy beating up on the gym..

[Kbop]

this forum convinced me i need to start moving again.  i've been polishing a chair for the last 15 years.  the last time i was in shape was probably 2004 ish.
i've been doing regular aerobics workouts since march 1st - 5 times a week and stepping it up every 2 weeks.  i'm on track with the schedule i set up.  i'm up to about 500 cal workouts over 1/2 hour 5x/week.  Nice and easy.
i'm working up to 1 hour and will start cross training when i hit 45 min/5x per week.
-
the wife says thanks - me, i'll let you know when i'm not suffering from DOMS all the time.

[Erick]

I am elated this forum is inspiring people to exercise.
Your physical shape is the single greatest predictor of survival.

In the beginning it took me a 3 months of regular mild then moderate exercise just to get in shape to work out hard.

[zanedclark]

Excellent post

Z

[Rogue-Metalsmith]

Erick i have to convert some of these from miles into kilometers to use. great read and i am now even more motivated to do this. I am wreck it ralph scale out of shape and need to get my kaboots moving and fast. Gym just doesn't do it for me. I did however enjoy MMA(mixed martial arts) i will begin with the running and then add some of the MMA workout i remember and then will post my results here for others as motivation.

RM
 

[Erick]

Decided to do an update and also post some thoughts about the methods I use to still do serious exercising despite being middle aged.

So back in April I was at a 4 workouts  a week schedule.. and that really worked great...I felt i was working out reasonably hard but while minimizing the risk of injury...
2 runs a minimum of 3 miles, 5 km, (or quick ruckmarches whichever you prefer..) and 2 iron pumps a week that are functional oriented and usually as a minimum include the following:
- Squats (for mobility)
- Frontal raises (for weapons handling)
- lat pulls or pull ups (to help with climbing)
- Farmers walk or hip adduction/hip abduction (for mobility in terrain under load)
- sit ups and/or back extensions (core which helps with everything)

A sample workout I did today, in order:

- 3 sets of pull ups to failure (which is not a lot of p/u my best set was 6 .. but pull ups are  not  a trivial exercise unless u are 21)
- 3 sets of dips to near failure, best set was 12. (I had to work myself up to those over the months.. this is a high injury risk exercise only do when you are confident that you are strong enough to do them in good form)
- 3 sets of Bent over rows , with dumbell free weights at 60 lbs each
- 1 set of situps.
- 2 sets of angled dumbbell bench press at 55 lbs each. (this is a bit of a vanity exercise.. but it does work the front delts a bit)
- 3 sets of frontal raises w/o 20 lbs dumbbells per hand, This is a good exercise for weapons handling IMO. strong shoulders make for good stable platform and exhaust slower than weak ones and push the point of being unable to shoot further out
- 3 sets of lateral raises: Also help with weapons handling albeit not as much as frontal raises and are a bit of  a vanity exercise for me.
- 3 sets of farmers walk to near failure.  One dumbbell in each hand, walk as far as you can without dropping it (hint it wont all be very far) works both the core and the grip ...for me thats 65lbs per hand but each his own. This is good training for litter carry or dragging a buddy to safety.
....
Often I do only 2 sets for most of my exercises to find the time/energy to do a greater variety of exercises. But today was mostly 3 sets as my total exercise count was 1 lower than usual.

Variety and substitutions.
Some exercises are key and I never substitute them out such as frontal raises... others I do substitute in and out for some variety...
and I did substituted farmers walk for back extensions on roman chair (which are very good but so is variety). I also skipped the military press and the flat bench.. I felt with my unassisted dips I already put plenty of load on my joints and tendons in a push exercise as I am heavy. Skipped the squats since i was doing farmers walk and I have a run scheduled for tomorrow.
On days when I dont do unassisted pull-ups and dips my total exercise count is usually higher..

Last week and week before that, I had a little extra time and did 3 runs and 3 irons pumps for a total of 6 exercise per week.... I look and feel different now than a mere 6 months ago

[JoJo]

 Go easy on the knees. My wife use to climb 14 flights of stairs twice a day. She has had a full replacement of both knees because of it.

[Erick]

Go easy on the knees. My wife use to climb 14 flights of stairs twice a day. She has had a full replacement of both knees because of it.

I actually go pretty light on the squats, 135 lbs, and not particularly low.. but that still seems plenty and i can feel stronger legs in the day or two afterwards

[grizz]

I took a 3 mile hike up to a lake last week. I was told its an easy hike by 16year old co-workers daughter.

It took me 3 hours!!

I was passed by 12 other hikers and all of them were at least 10 years older than me!! They all told me "the lake is around the next bend, about 20 minutes"

Prior to the hike I was running 4 days a week for over a month and thought I was in ok shape.

I figured it would take me an hour to get down because I wanted to enjoy the view. I messed up my knee and it took 2 hours.

The beginning of the hike was pretty much straight up and the last 1.5 miles was pretty much flat land but wide open to a burning sun.

What did I learn?
- next time bring the backpack with hip support
- bring food
- invest in walking sticks/poles
- figure a way to secure fishing poles to the pack and free up my hands
- get the phone number of the woman who passed me on her horse, she had a great attitude   

[Erick]

I took a 3 mile hike up to a lake last week. I was told its an easy hike by 16year old co-workers daughter.

It took me 3 hours!!

I was passed by 12 other hikers and all of them were at least 10 years older than me!! They all told me "the lake is around the next bend, about 20 minutes"

Prior to the hike I was running 4 days a week for over a month and thought I was in ok shape.

I figured it would take me an hour to get down because I wanted to enjoy the view. I messed up my knee and it took 2 hours.

The beginning of the hike was pretty much straight up and the last 1.5 miles was pretty much flat land but wide open to a burning sun.

What did I learn?
- next time bring the backpack with hip support
- bring food
- invest in walking sticks/poles
- figure a way to secure fishing poles to the pack and free up my hands
- get the phone number of the woman who passed me on her horse, she had a great attitude   

Thats great to hear!
Good job and keep up the good work!


I myself am about to leave on a road march.. my pack is heavy but it has great hip support (Tactical Tailor). It will be short milage but I will try for good time.

[grizz]

I took a 3 mile hike up to a lake last week. I was told its an easy hike by 16year old co-workers daughter.

It took me 3 hours!!

I was passed by 12 other hikers and all of them were at least 10 years older than me!! They all told me "the lake is around the next bend, about 20 minutes"

Prior to the hike I was running 4 days a week for over a month and thought I was in ok shape.

I figured it would take me an hour to get down because I wanted to enjoy the view. I messed up my knee and it took 2 hours.

The beginning of the hike was pretty much straight up and the last 1.5 miles was pretty much flat land but wide open to a burning sun.

What did I learn?
- next time bring the backpack with hip support
- bring food
- invest in walking sticks/poles
- figure a way to secure fishing poles to the pack and free up my hands
- get the phone number of the woman who passed me on her horse, she had a great attitude   

Thats great to hear!
Good job and keep up the good work!


I myself am about to leave on a road march.. my pack is heavy but it has great hip support (Tactical Tailor). It will be short milage but I will try for good time.

Thanks

I forgot to mention I caught 4 grayling and landed two of them.

A person in goo shape can make that hike in about an hour so I have some work to do but I'm not is a hurry.