(22 June 2013, 21:21)NorthernRaider Wrote: I can walk at about 3 MPH all day carrying 50 pound rucksack, but I could not run more than about 50 yards. I can lay still in a hide on OBS for hours on end but cannot sprint !!!
I can do all the above, including the sprinting and laying in a hide. Can even sprint with a 50lb rucksack and lay in the hide with a 50lb rucksack. It is only 50lbs though, just above 20kgs. WOO, 10 points for fitness! You can do more stuff while fit, than you can while unfit. Just think of something you can do unfit. It you're fit, you can still do that, but you can also run. Therefore, you can do more with a good level of fitness than you can without. If someone speaks about being stealth, you can be stealth when fit, but you can also run haha.
Okay, on with the initial reference.
Breaking in a pony....damn right strength won't win. Unless you weigh more than the horse, and it's all muscle, of course the pony would win. With things like that, it's all about technique, and you know that technique. A friend of mine has a beast of a horse called Sunny. He once decided he wanted to walk out of the gate, as soon as he got out his stable (someone, not me, left the gate open). I pushed him, on his chest, to the side (turns out that was the right thing to do) so that he wouldn't get out the gate. He changed course, and that bought enough time for someone else to close the gate. There is no way I could push that horse with brute strength, if I hadn't accidentally pushed his chest, even though that's what I did from reaction. With many things, technique is key.
Technique is key for splitting logs. If you just swing and hope for the best, you'll soon find that wood vs axe doesn't always go the way you're expecting haha. Same as with a fight, yes you can swing as hard as you can, and you may well get lucky (10 points if you do), but learning technique saves a lot of effort, and scars.
The basic principle of working out for fitness, is to help build muscle. I also highly endorse running (I'm a fan of barefoot running techniques and the Pose technique of running) if it's done correctly, to help build cardiovascular fitness. But the reason for doing them is more important.
As I-K-E said, fitness is useful for when you are required to do things you may not be as good at. Think of it this way, fitness is a tool used as compensation for when technique is not fully learned, or is in the process of being learned.
I always imagine the possibility of carrying your BOB and needed to get away from an area. Are you going to walk out of there with your pack, run out of there without your pack, or will you have the fitness to be able to run out with your pack and not be totally goosed for the next 10 minutes?
Another possibility, imagine you're away and something goes wrong! EMP! Nothing's working. Go to the car, get your GHB, how would you want to get home? Averaging a walking pace, or being able to interval running and walking to average a much higher speed to get you home in half the time?
What about a situation where someone is injured or there's a problem you need to help with? Maybe the OH or a child, is in a burning building and you are in there too. They're unconscious. Could you get them out via a fireman's carry? If not, could you drag them out? You can't always rely on adrenalin to kick in though, so what do you do?
What about a deer you've shot? Could you lift it from the floor to your shoulder? Could you carry it in one move back home? Could you run a part of that distance? Could you lift it up so that you can hook it for butchering? Damn it, the stupid winch system broke! Got to lift it by hand.
Yep, time to chop those logs.
Damn it, I have to jump start this car.
Damn it, I have to push this car out of the way and the battery is missing.
Damn it, the pony has been stolen and I now need to plough the field by hand.
Damn it, the tree has fallen over and I have to cut it up and move the heavy branches out of the way ASAP.
Damn it, I have to pose in little Speedo's, covered in fake tan, and do a posing routine to classical music....urm.....ignore that haha.
Do you get where I'm coming from?
It's difficult to decide what you need to be fit for, because you don't know what you will come up against. Learning technique is the best thing, but there are a lot of techniques to learn, and not much time to learn them. Fitness is my personal panacea. It covers more bases than a simple skill set, and for some things, strength wins, and others, cardiovascular fitness wins. At least by having cardiovascular fitness, as well as strength, they add to your capability to do regular tasks.
Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention. Being in the gym (for me at least) helps to reinforce the mental discipline element of survival. I push for that one more rep. When running, I have to force myself to sprint for that next lamppost and not quit when it hurts. I have to run past the road where I live, to push for that one more mile. Fitness is also about positive mental attitude and pushing your limits. Damn right I can carry your 50lb pack and mine at the same time.
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