# Are You Strong Enough to Save Your Own Life?



## warrior4 (Oct 16, 2013)

Great video about the need to be physically fit in times of crisis. Tailor to your specific needs and abilities.

Are You Strong Enough to Save Your Own Life? | The Art of Manliness


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

At one time I was, but age has taken that from me. Now I have to hope I am SMART enough to save my life.


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## Quietsurvivalist (Apr 26, 2015)

I am

I absolutely agree age is not a limiter in your strength, nor are disabilities. Im almost 48, need 6 joints in my body replaced and still swing the kettle bells every day. 

Its all about the man inside being disciplined to do whats necessary when the time comes every morning


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## keith9365 (Apr 23, 2014)

Get off the couch and move! If you can't run then walk. You don't have to be a body builder. Keep the muscles toned and limber.


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## keith9365 (Apr 23, 2014)

One more thing. Have the mindset that if you have to you will put a bullet or blade in someone.


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

I would never hurt another human out of anger or any other type of emotional response. Save one. They have made the choice to end my life or that of one i love. Then its an unalienable right to defend it at all costs. Including subdoing them at the cost of their life. At this point they are leaving no options save lethal force to dend yourself against theirs. 

I am not a whippersnapper any more but im not hitting the crest of top health. And i can hang on to it by being - get this - healthy. 

We hear it all the time. Eat propely and exercise regularily. 

A friend of mine has a dad who is 86 and still working his farm. He got very sick last year and made a full recovery much to the amazment of the doctors. They had written him off. Now he works his farm again. 

Being tough is earned. You cant buy it and nobody can take it from you.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

When I was a young man I could easily accomplish this list. Boxing, Wrestling, Football, Jogging, and Weight lifting, among others, was a regular thing well into my 30's. Age, A touch of arthritis and wear and tear has made some of that undoable. However, I have always had the will to defend myself and do what's necessary to survive. Like Sidekahr I use my 55 years of acquired knowledge, experience, and smarts to overcome my physical shortcomings. In other words, I won't be going 15 rounds with you, I will put a hole in your head.


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## keith9365 (Apr 23, 2014)

"Being tough is earned. You cant buy it and nobody can take it from you".
This is awesome. I'm going to use it!


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

The treachery of old age will trump the exuberance of youth.

Years of work and play injuries have taken it's toll on my body, so no. But never underestimate a pissed off old man with a gun.


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## Hemi45 (May 5, 2014)

Great topic and video. I had a pretty serious rotator cuff surgery last Christmas and per orders, haven't done pull-up's or dips since. However, in a life or death situation, I'd do what needed doing.


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## warrior4 (Oct 16, 2013)

That video is just a small piece of the trove that's on that website. Everything from a beginners guide to EDC, how to do more than one pull up, lessons on manliness based on history, it's becoming one of my favorite sites.


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

I know a lot of younger people who spend a lot of time at the gym, but seem to have no interest in manual labor. An hour at the gym 4 times a week? ok, but can/will you be able to lay 8x16 concrete blocks all day long, then get up and do it again? Can/will you spend all day building a building, shelter something like that, dig in the ground all day using nothing but a shovel and mattock?


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## Leeroy Jenkins (May 16, 2015)

The only one I'm not sure of is the swim...I have no way to test it simply.


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## Mish (Nov 5, 2013)

Yes!!!


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## phrogman (Apr 17, 2014)

The only one I don't think I can do is the waist high jump but I think I'm close. Other than that, piece of cake.


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## NotTooProudToHide (Nov 3, 2013)

Well I guess I'm dead lol, no excuses I need to get in better shape. Still though, I think we could be a bit more realistic about this. If you can swim a half mile in which you can take breaks doing a dead man's float when needed I'd say your ok. I don't know about clearing something that high but I could figure out how to get over an object like that. The other no excuses, gotta get the upper body strength back or more importantly lose the pounds so I can handle my own body weight.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

for us older folks


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Moonshinedave said:


> I know a lot of younger people who spend a lot of time at the gym, but seem to have no interest in manual labor. An hour at the gym 4 times a week? ok, but can/will you be able to lay 8x16 concrete blocks all day long, then get up and do it again? Can/will you spend all day building a building, shelter something like that, dig in the ground all day using nothing but a shovel and mattock?


I went out a few times last week and cut and hauled wood. I was sore the next day and took some Tylenol.. but I do what i need to do...

LIKE THE SONG SAYS...


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## Viper (Jun 4, 2015)

Yes. Even if I didn't have to requal every 6 months for my job I would make sure I stayed in shape. Fitness might be what makes or breaks a persons ability to protect themselves and/or their family when the shtf.


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## ekim (Dec 28, 2012)

With my poor health and age against me I know that if it comes down to physical force there is a reason I carry. I need to conserve as much of my energy as I can. The trigger pull isn't all that much!


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## MisterMills357 (Apr 15, 2015)

I am strong enough to save the bakery at Kroger, should a fire erupt while I am there. I would quickly consume every treat in sight, and when the fire reached me, I would die happy. I would be screaming, but preternaturally gleeful, and when the fire department dug me out, they would be puzzled by it all.
Nobody lives forever, especially fat old gimps like me.:smug:

( BTW: Preternatural means,transcending the natural or material order and world::inexplicable by ordinary means. Most people aren't like me, so I explain myself as I go along.)


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

in the human world strength is not what rules if that was so we would have been wiped out before we even became cave man.
smarts is were survival rules -humans are the ultimate tool makers/users and we can reason (not like emotional drama) but like this water is bad but fred over in so so area has good water maybe I can trade? that kind of reason.


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## Hemi45 (May 5, 2014)

^^^True but the topic isn't are you smart enough to survive a protracted, post apocalyptic event. It's can you give your all (and is it enough) for the three seconds to three minutes to save your ass right there an then.


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## James m (Mar 11, 2014)

MisterMills357 said:


> I am strong enough to save the bakery at Kroger, should a fire erupt while I am there. I would quickly consume every treat in sight, and when the fire reached me, I would die happy. I would be screaming, but preternaturally gleeful, and when the fire department dug me out, they would be puzzled by it all.
> Nobody lives forever, especially fat old gimps like me.:smug:
> 
> ( BTW: Preternatural means,transcending the natural or material order and world::inexplicable by ordinary means. Most people aren't like me, so I explain myself as I go along.)


Yes, funny man!!


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

I am out of shape... well I am in good shape for a man that has bad knees, bad back, bad hip.... 

I am not going to run.. I am going to stand and fight... 

I am not going to carry my food stores on my back...I will use a cart

I can not think of a thing which I could not do once or twice... sit up, pull up, lift pack... now if survival means 30 sit ups...I AM DEAD


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## K9 Prepper (Jan 9, 2015)

I do think being physically strong is something that everyone needs to consider if they are 100% dead on surviving. Also being smart plays a roll. If your willing to do anything to survive running from a fight requires you to be on shape. Or if God forbid a storm hits knocks a tree over or a heave log are you able to deadlift that object off a loved one. I'm not the strongest person in the world but I do make it a point to be in shape.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

K9 Prepper said:


> I do think being physically strong is something that everyone needs to consider if they are *100% dead on surviving*.


I guess I am only 95% ready.. but I have three of the old fashion Slippy Pikes so that should add another 6%


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## MisterMills357 (Apr 15, 2015)

_Previous blather by me:
I am strong enough to save the bakery at Kroger, should a fire erupt while I am there. I would quickly consume every treat in sight, and when the fire reached me, I would die happy......._
*"James m:: Yes, funny man!!"*
James, you are welcome! Funny men are always glad to help.:joyous:


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## txmarine6531 (Nov 18, 2015)

I believe being strong and healthy is one of the most important parts of preparedness. I am not a big strong guy, as a matter of fact I'm a sad ghost of what I once was. And I'm only 32. Up until the summer of 2010, I was pretty strong. Not from working out, but from manual labor. And when I was early teen and younger, I swam a lot. I was on city swim team and competed against people several years older than me. I was fast. Was. It's when I went to college in '10, that's when I became weak. I had no training in lifting weights, no desire to go to gyms because I'm a bit anti-social I guess. And there's people who don't clean off the sweaty, nasty ass bench after they're done using the thing. And I was embarrassed over how weak I had become.

After I moved to SA in early 2012, I became friends with lot's of people at work that worked out regularly. They weren't big, except one guy who is stupid strong and built like a brick shithouse, but they were damn strong. So I bought an $80 set of weights from Academy, and a set of resistance bands online. Those were around $50. I worked out on and off at home for a while, then stopped, started again, yada yada yada. I just started back again a week ago, and I lost almost all the progress I made the last stretch, which ended a few months ago. I'm 6'1" and usually weight 160lbs. I'm naturally a tall, lanky, skinny person. I had gotten up to 175lbs and had lost a good bit of fat, almost all of it accumulates around my core. Now it came back with a vengeance.

Working out not only made me look, feel, perform better. But it also helped to prevent me from getting hurt, and eased much of the joint pain I have. Especially my knees, back (military and football), and my elbows and wrists (golf). Yes, golf. The ground in this area sucks for golf, it's hard and the club comes to a screeching halt instead of making a nice divot like the pros. The sudden jar is killer on elbows and wrists. I understand those of you who are more "experienced" than us young thundercats, have joint and pain issues. However comma I still think you can slowly build your strength up and give us a run for our money. A cheap set of weights like what I bought, resistance bands are great, pretty much anything will work. For a while my grandpa used bricks with rope tied to them as part of physical therapy once. The key is low impact exercises, and of course diet with supplements. A brand that I use is Swinney Nutrition. Cost is on par with other brands, the ingredients is why I use this brand. There isn't fillers, no sugar, just very small amounts of either Splenda or Truvia ( I think Truvia). Anyway, it's a clean, high quality product. And they actually taste good.

The basic lifts (squat, deadlift, bench, clean, ect) are really all you need to do to become a stronger person. All the fancy stuff is good for training for particular movements. But to be basically strong, do the basic lifts. And as I said, I'm not a big strong guy, but I know what is needed to get there and how to do it. It comes down to motivation for me. Life isn't always peachy king and I get de-motivated easily. I really encourage all to get strong. As we need to be strong for the fight we all hope doesn't come. Remember, someone is out there as I type, training. Training to kill you and take what you have. Don't you want to be able to smoke check a motherfu**** with more than a gun?

Just a few links to get you thinking about things.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FaqTBy0c1jlRUHKu4SuXQ (Starting Strength, the basic stuff)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweAKvHw1mCZnUU2ZB3BsNA (He's just recently started making videos for products)

https://www.youtube.com/user/johnwillis1971/search?query=swinney (Some of the gym videos are muted because of music issues)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyJDjPv48DoX8OUEaDtBOQA (For those who want to get stupid)


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

Moonshinedave said:


> I know a lot of younger people who spend a lot of time at the gym, but seem to have no interest in manual labor. An hour at the gym 4 times a week? ok, but can/will you be able to lay 8x16 concrete blocks all day long, then get up and do it again? Can/will you spend all day building a building, shelter something like that, dig in the ground all day using nothing but a shovel and mattock?


Them boys do it to be pretty. It's about as functional as a boob job. I'm all for kicking the irons around its good for ya. But if you can't work or even better know what needs to be done and how to do it those 35 inch pythons be nothin but bling.


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

Maine-Marine said:


> I guess I am only 95% ready.. but I have three of the old fashion Slippy Pikes so that should add another 6%


Hence, preparedness 101 was born


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## txmarine6531 (Nov 18, 2015)

TacticalCanuck said:


> Them boys do it to be pretty. It's about as functional as a boob job. I'm all for kicking the irons around its good for ya. But if you can't work or even better know what needs to be done and how to do it those 35 inch pythons be nothin but bling.


Yup. Lifting semi-fixed amounts of weight using certain movements, and lifting/throwing/monkey f*****g logs, rocks, sledgehammers, ect around are totally different. Manual labor gives you those knotty muscles and strength a gym won't give you. My friend I mentioned above, the one that's built like a brick shithouse, was surprised my "old" skinny ass could dead lift over 300lbs. I told him I got my strength somewhere else. And that's after not doing manual labor or lifting weights in a long time.


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## jamisonbirdsong (Dec 29, 2015)

That's a huge area I'm lacking in. Typical lack of body strength for a girl, but I know there are things I could do to improve. Thanks for the link


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## txmarine6531 (Nov 18, 2015)

jamisonbirdsong said:


> That's a huge area I'm lacking in. Typical lack of body strength for a girl, but I know there are things I could do to improve. Thanks for the link


It takes a lot of discipline, dedication, but most of all (at least for me) is motivation. Women seem to be better able to stick with something better than a lot of men I think. Y'all can have one hell of a determination about stuff. If you don't like gyms, resistance bands are great. Very versatile, takes up tiny amount of space. Not a substitute for free weights though.


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## jamisonbirdsong (Dec 29, 2015)

txmarine6531 said:


> It takes a lot of discipline, dedication, but most of all (at least for me) is motivation. Women seem to be better able to stick with something better than a lot of men I think. Y'all can have one hell of a determination about stuff. If you don't like gyms, resistance bands are great. Very versatile, takes up tiny amount of space. Not a substitute for free weights though.


I'm lucky I have a gym in my condo. I like the idea of the bands when I want to do it in private


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## Urbanprepper666 (Apr 19, 2015)

I'm 31 boxed most of my life. I'm out of shape but fit enough to accomplish that lost easily. I'm a firm believer that there is a time you may have to fight for your life and a self defense weapon will not be in reach. It takes a combination of physical and mental readiness to do what needs to be done till the last breath. My wife is handicap my kids are very young I feel islets my duty to make sure I'm at my best. I give credit to the older preppers I have spoken to a few and although they may not be able to go toe to toe they have planned for such encounters which is better then nothing.


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