How to Survive

Today's topic is on Survival.  What is it?  Why is it important?  Why should you care?

Most people never really consider what it means to survive.  Most don't think it is something they need to worry about as eventually they are going to die anyway.  However true this may be for (most), when the shit hits the fan people tend to want to live...  Go figure.  Survival occurs when you are prepared for events outside your norm which could kill you (and you live through the event).

Survival is an important concept for anyone (not just cryonicists) who would like to live a little longer.  For this reason I don't understand why virtually no one practices it.  I tell others about some kind of training we are doing and they think we are crazy!  "You're going to spend a weekend in the forest practicing survival skills?!?!?!  Are you nuts?"  Sorry my friend, I think you are nuts for not being prepared.

Survival is more than just having a bunch of gear.  Here are a couple of things you should consider if you want to survive even the most basic life threatening situation...

1.  Are you mentally prepared?  Don't just say you are.  You actually need to read and practice survival skills and tactics to get this preparation.  A positive attitude will increase your chances of survival greatly.

2.  Do you have required supplies on you at all times?  My supplies involve home supplies (several gallons of clean water, food, multiple ways to start fires ect), a vehicle repair kit and 4 gallons of water in my trunk, a 72 hour survival bag in my trunk with first aid, a pocket survival and pocket first aid kit kept on me at all times, items such as compass, flashlight, and keybaton on my keyring, and a weapon strapped to my leg for self defense.

3.  Do you even know first aid?  You should...  If you know it, you can teach it to your family and you can all be more well prepared.

4.  Do you know self-defense?  You should be training in a form of self-defense that is easy to master, easy to use, and doesn't involve silly parlor tricks for breaking someones arm in 3 places.  You need to study material that has worked for many years in real life combat and survival situations.

5.  Are you physically fit?  If you aren't fit to survive, your chances of survival in a life threatening situation are severely decreased.  Fat people don't move as fast, can't breath as well, will cramp up and keel over when forced to run and generally have far less mental clarity than those who are in shape.  Your level of fitness has a direct impact on your mental attitude and both will be necessary to keep your butt alive.

There you go... A few examples of what it takes to be prepared and survive life threatening situations.  Of course this topic goes far deeper and we have only scratched the surface here, but if you want to increase your chances of survival, these 5 areas are definitely the place to start. 

If any of you have questions on any of these areas, please either send me a message here or through facebook if you know me.  I will be glad to help you. 

As Tony Horton says "RESULTS START WHEN YOU DO!!!"

Oh, one last thing.  Being a member of an organization (such as military) does not automatically make you fit, trained, or prepared.  So even if you are a member of some org that should be teaching you at least some of these skills, please train and prepare on your own so you can know 100% without a doubt you have the training you need!

Curing Aches and Pains

One of the most common complaints I hear on a regular basis is over the aches and pains of those with worn, used, and tired bodies.  Back pain, knee pain, neck pain, wrist pain ect ect ect...  We've all heard these complaints (I've even done it once or twice), but does anyone ever actually look into fixing these issues?

Here are a few simple suggestions you should try if you are experiencing some kind of pain.

1.  Check your diet. 

If you aren't eating healthy you are putting a ton of bad chemicals into your body that aren't doing anything good.  Add a LOT more veggies and fruits and you will begin to feel better almost immediately.  This works for a wide variety of illnesses and pains alike.

2.  Drink water.  

You think you drink enough water?  Not likely.  Most people don't.  Even I have a hard time getting enough of it at times.  Unfortunately water is one of the main components of life, so you should definitely get your fill.  By increasing your water intake to a proper level you will have more energy and will feel better since your body isn't being restricted from a vital resource.  Keep a small bottle of water right in front of you so you will sip it often and then refill it and repeat throughout the day.  You should be visiting the bathroom fairly regularly if you are getting enough water, and your excrement should be a very clear color if you are properly hydrated (unless you take vitamins which can often turn your fluids yellow).

3.  Good posture

This is something that few seem to practice these days.  People walk around hunched over or slouch in their chair at work.  Nobody wants to stand / sit up straight.  For those of you who work in an office all day you may have noticed either having lower back pain, or abdominal pain after sitting for 8 hours or so.  The lower back pain is likely due to all that time spent in the chair slouching back and not sitting properly.  It puts extra pressure on your spine and with time causes it to bend out of whack.  Your abs on the other hand will tend to hurt if you slouch forward for long periods of time.  This causes your abs to sit constricted in a tight position and leads to stomach cramping.  If you have ever flown long distance you may have experienced this!  So sit up straight with your feet flat on the floor.  Another technique I have seen used is to turn your chair backwards and sit on your knees which almost forces you to sit with proper posture!

4.  Stretching

Stretching is another highly neglected factor in avoiding bodily pains.  If you type of a computer all day you may have pain in your wrists, neck or abs as mentioned above.  Doing a few minutes of stretches or yoga in the morning will help release some of the tension built up in these areas and should cause you to feel less pain or no pain at all.  I prefer head and neck rolls for that area.  You can also roll your wrists or hold them in a bent up or down position for 10 seconds or so.  For the abs there are two stretches I like:

The first involves interlocking the fingers of both hands together with arms stretched above the head; palms should be facing the ceiling.  From this position push/pull in an upward direction while standing. 

The second stretch is my preferred stretch and works really well.  For this stretch lay flat on the floor on your stomach.  Next, place your hands next to your chest in the push up position.  Push up, lifting everything above your stomach off the floor.  Your entire lower body should still be on the ground.  If done correctly your back should be bent inward and you should feel a good stretch in your abdominal muscles.

For other parts of the body a quick Google search will return plenty of results on stretching.  Test out different methods for whatever area ails you.  This will give you results that actually work for your body!

And there you have it!  Four great ways to reduce / relieve some of those aches and pains you've been feeling!

***BONUS***

On top of eating a healthier diet, you should check with your physician and have blood work done to find out what essential vitamins and nutrients your body may be lacking.  Once you know what your body is missing, you can fix it with a strong multi-vitamin (or maybe just a few inidividual supplements).  This can make a huge change in the way you feel both physically and mentally!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

High Intensity Running

Ok, so after getting back from Florida I've put my workout routine back in to full motion.

For those of you who met or know Jolly, you likely also know that he promotes high intensity workouts.  Especially sprinting if I remember correct.  Those of you who know him also probably know this man eats very well and has a pretty ripped mid-section.  He didn't seem to care much for the idea of P90X (although I still maintain that it is a good workout for toning), but nonetheless he's definitely in good shape.

So I thought I would try something new instead of long range cardio for losing weight and getting back into shape.  Here is what I have found...  For my first week back I did a 3 mile jog, mixing in sets of 10 - 15 sprints along the way.  I would jog for about 5 minutes, sprint to a fixed object and then slow down to a jog again. 

By following this method I have noticed a feeling of having an extreme workout with only a short distance.  The weight dropped off rapidly the entire first week. 

Now I am tossing in P90X and Hand to Hand Combat as well for toning my upper body and abdominal muscles.  So far the combination is working very well and I plan to stick with it for a while.

I have noticed that for the last 3 days I've been at 157lbs.  I'm not sure if my caloric intake has been too high or if the muscle i'm building countering against further weight loss.  This is going to take a bit more testing as I feel there is still a few small sections of fat that could come off.

Of course as always I've been eating very well while doing this.  Hopefully the result will be better abs than ever :)

For those of you who can do high intensity workouts and want to lose weight, at this point I would recommend it.  Make sure you STRETCH WELL both before and after your workouts.  Drink plenty of water, and eat at least healthier foods if not very healthy foods and you will definitely see results!

***NOTE*** 
I have mixed feelings about long range cardio at this point.  For me it has been very successful in the past for losing weight to a point, but there is some talk that it may actually be bad for your heart.  I will need to do more research and testing into this area for further clarification.  For now, the sprints seem to work just as well as the long range cardio while putting stress on your body for only short distances at a time.