We’ve all had the conversation. It usually occurs after hearing about some new disease that’s ravaging the masses, or possibly upon finishing the newest episode of that zombie show that just keeps going. The discussion is a strange mix between analytical and whimsical, but it always has a bit of laughter thrown in for good measure.
How would you react to the end of the world, an influx of zombies, a loss of the usual luxuries that we all take for granted?
Do you think you’d survive?
How?
Tough questions, right?
Let me add one more, if you don’t mind. Just go with me on this.
Is your body ready for the environment and punishment that such a scenario would force upon it?
Yeah. That’s an even better question when you really think about it.
I’ve had to consider it quite a bit during the writing of three novels and there are a few things that you might want to look at if you really want to survive if the proverbial shit hits the fan (SHF). If you looked at the title at the top of this article, you’ll be ready for the first thing we’re going to cover.
Running for Your Life!
In my book, Way Home, the protagonist, Gabe, has his work cut out for him. Those luxuries we all hold so dearly are gone. No running water or electricity is present. Vehicles with motors can’t be used because the big bad in the book can somehow zone in on the operation of any combustion motor, but there is still plenty of ground he needs to cover to survive and accomplish the goals set in the story.
Let’s look at Gabe’s stats and see how prepared he was before things went south. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll use a 1-10 rating system with 10 as the high point.
Gabe Dunnit
Age: 34
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 205 lbs.
Strength: 6
Stamina: 3
Intelligence: 8
Luck: 7
Will Power: 8
Lifestyle Before SHF: Mildly Physical
Feel free to judge Gabe on what you see here. He was an electrician before being thrust into his Apocalyptic situation, so he’s in decent physical shape. He’s a smart enough guy due to being well read and moderately educated. Gabe gets lucky quite a few times, but bad luck can play a huge part in the ability the average man has to get from point A to B while bullets are flying his way.
Gabe is also a smoker and lover of good bourbon, which pulls his stamina way down. The average person, without any strenuous physical training, like HIIT, can run less than ¼ of mile before their body starts really objecting to the activity. Once that same person puts a little fear and will power into the thing let’s say that they make it ½ of a mile. Those facts along with Gabe’s lifestyle choices and high will power rating even him out a bit. He’s a ¼ mile kind of guy and that can make things hard when the big scary is on his butt.
How could Gabe fix this? How can he get his tail in gear and make sure that he doesn’t need so much luck? Drop the smokes and get a little exercise and clean up the diet, pal. If he does those two things his personal distance including the ability to sprint will greatly increase.
There are a ton of studies out there that show improvements in cardiovascular health through exercise (up to 10% distance and speed improvement per week with 20 minutes of training per day), but cutting out the tobacco use could make things even better for Gabe’s chances. There’s even a scene in the book where a discarded cigarette butt almost got his whole group killed! Avoiding that would have made life easier.
So, you’re probably not on a treadmill right now. You might be sitting back with your phone out and scrolling through all the random stuff that can be accessed on your smartphone. Is it possible that you’re munching a snack cake while reading about fitness? Do I see a cupcake in your hand? Tell the truth.
Just think about this before making the decision on whether you’re going to the gym or taking a run tomorrow. If the world took a dump, could you make it a half mile at full sprint to save your own life?
