I wanted to talk about physical fitness to celebrate completing a 9-week streak of working out. On my “hike” today, I was drafting this essay in my head. The ultimate question is was trying to flesh out is: What are the primary reasons for getting fit in the context of readiness?
I boiled it down to two make reasons. Much like the teaching in Matthew where Jesus teaches that we must “focus on loving your self and loving your neighbor.” You must be able to face the adversities that may come your way and assist those who need your help. Let’s flesh it out.
To Help Yourself
Sometimes you have to self-rescue. Sometimes you have to fight off attackers. But in modern society, we’ve outsourced the solution to these problems to “others.” EMS, Police, and Fire are just minutes away. Bad things don’t happen that often, and we live in relatively safe times – especially in America. So we get lazy.
When we think about self-rescue, it usually invokes thoughts of heroic efforts to stave off death. But what about just walking home? Can you do it with a small pack on? Can you get home if something happens to your car 50 miles from home?
What if you are enjoying time at the beach or on a river? Can you swim to shore or tread water until help arrives?
From a personal health perspective, getting physically fit also reduces health risks. In dangerous situations, do you want to be dealing with high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes? Exercise helps build mental clarity and reduces anxiety. All in all, you will become more resilient.
To give or share something with someone, you must have an abundance of that thing yourself. You cannot help others when you can’t even help yourself.
To Help Others
What I mean about helping others is helping those people who are your family, friends, and possibly the community.
Let’s use a simple example. Can you carry your child/grandchild from the playground to your car? Can you do this without injuring yourself or your child? Basically, can you carry 40# for a 100ft?
Can you safely escort your mother/father, children, or grandparents out of a burning building or another dangerous situation? Can you clear debris to help your loved ones if a tornado rips through your house?
These are the common scenarios that you have to plan for. You won’t be fighting Chinese Army dudes or hordes of baddies after an EMP attack. You will be helping those most dear to you in simple yet dangerous situations. Those whom you have the greatest responsibility for. They are going to need your help, and you have to be ready.
Conclusion
We don’t want to start from a deficit in a readiness situation. Your physical fitness will be your greatest asset next to your skillset. Again, I’m not talking about becoming Tim Kennedy. You just need to be able to take care of the everyday small stuff.
Thinking about this practically, you will need to be able to do:
- Carry 40# about 100yrds
- Lift that same 40# over your head
- Walk 5 kilometers in under an hour.
- 50 pushups
There are a lot more exercises, but you get the idea. It comes down to being functionally strong. Can you run a chainsaw for an hour? Things like that. Accidents and weather events are the most significant risks to ourselves and our loved ones. Don’t let yourself down, and don’t let them down.
