2020 Prepper Health & Fitness Challenge: Day 6

Author of Be Ready for Anything and Build a Better Pantry on a Budget online course

How is it going with your new habits?

Today, remember, we’re going to follow up and continue our simple tasks.

• We’re going to drink a glass of water before we drink other beverages.
• We’re going to increase our movement deliberately.
• We’re going to eat a serving of produce before we eat our meals.

Easy peasy.

Today’s challenge

Today’s challenge will vary based on your current levels of strength and fitness. Today we are going to do some easy strength training.

Strength training is important for more reasons than just becoming stronger. It can help increase bone density and prevent osteoporosis, it can help improve your body mechanics, and it can help prevent fat gain.

Some of us lift and carry things on a regular basis and others do not. Because I suffered some serious back problems in the past, my daughters always carried in packages from the store so I wouldn’t hurt myself. Until recently, I hadn’t done much lifting over the past years since we moved away from our farm in California.

Today, when performing your movement, add some weight to it. This can be done in a variety of ways. Here are two that just about anyone can do:

• You can load up a backpack with 5 pounds or more, depending on what you normally carry.
• You can carry two bags with a few pounds in each. It’s important to balance the weight if you do it this way so it doesn’t throw off your posture and cause back problems.

I find that canned goods are good makeshift weights.

With this additional weight, carry out some of your movement.

• You can walk the dogs with your backpack on.
• You can walk to the mailbox with your two bags of canned goods.
• You can take the stairs at the office with your backpack on.

There are various ways to get your weighted movement done. Be careful not to overdo it and remain in balance. Obviously, if you have joint issues or other health problems, you should speak with your doctor before performing new exercises.

Base the amount of weight you carry and how long you carry it on your overall level of fitness.

The amount of weight you carry should be greater than the normal amount of weight you carry around. If you normally have a ten-pound backpack, make it 15-20 pounds. If you don’t carry anything, add a couple of canned goods to each plastic bag for 2-5 pounds per side. If you generally carry giant bags of feed, carry them further or up a hill. Make it challenging but don’t hurt yourself.

We will do a strength exercise three days per week, on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

How will you do this exercise?

Based on the lifting you already do, how much will you add to your movement exercises?  Share how you are performing this challenge in the comments. Let us know how it went!