Is being too muscular bad for survival ?

I Take my fitnes pretty seriously.. I combine callesthenics, Powerlifting, kettle bells, Yoga and martial arts
i like to eat, but caloric input in a survival situation is low on the priority list
being stronger and cardiovasculalry fit enables me to push on longer and break and carry more wood etc etc.. at least on the short term (which most survival situations are)
Also if a strong under prepared guy can knock a weaker gear hound out.. than you have a muscular guy with all the gear he wants..
 
RescueRiley said:
Also if a strong under prepared guy can knock a weaker gear hound out.. than you have a muscular guy with all the gear he wants..
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Hahahah... but he will probably kill you with his battle mistress first.. :rolleyes:

I have been working out now for over 15 years. There was a point where I weighed 210 pounds and was huge (no fat). Found I didn't like that weight and now am at around a stable 195 lbs. being 5'-10 inches. I eat good, work out good, and like to get out and hike and backpack. I found the best thing in life... is to keep everything in balance.
 
Interesting question and as I have an opinion .... I thought I would test my theory on some willing victims.

My wife and I (40's) both focus on resistance cardio and core excercise, with cardio in between which is either running or cycling MTB. I am 5'10" and 201 lbs, wife is 5'3"and 145 lbs.

Dragged in two friends, One is a marathon runner (mid 30's, male 5'10" 152 lbs) and one gent is a power lifter and strong man competitor (mid 20's 5' 6" 310 lbs). Runner is doing marathons in around 3 hour mark and liftere placed 3rd in SA Strongman competition.

Here is the program ....... 3 rounds

- Box jumps - 30 inches hi with both feet on and step down ..... 30 reps
- D/B curls with 25lbs .... 30 reps
- Push ups ...... 30 reps
- Burpees with a B/B into push-up with a shoulder press at the end ..... 15 reps
- Romanian pike push-ups on box ........ 20 reps
- Alt D/B front and lateral raises .... 30 reps (15 front 15 lateral)
- Narrow hand push ups (thumbs touching) ...... 20 reps
- Sit-ups ... 30 reps

After round 1 ........ 2 min skipping rope
After round 2 ....... 1 mile run
After round 3 ....... 50 star jumps, 50 mountain climbs and skip 1 min.

Rest 1 min between rounds and 5sec between excercises

General observation:- My wife can do 15 push ups sets .... did two with a 5 sec rest in between. Runner has the upper body of a fly and can do 4 push ups. Power lifter laughed and did 20 so fast it was a blur and then his muscles locked up, stopped and struggled to do last 10. This happened more or less with all 3 rounds ........ various excuses used though.

Lifter failed 1/2 way through round 3 and stayed down on the mat. Runner struggeld with weights so went to only 1/2 of what my wife lifts. He managed to complete all 3 rounds. Push ups was done 5 each round.

2 days later ..... lifter is threatening me with death if I ever get him involved with such stupidity. He is hurting all over and stiff as hell. He thinks we are crazy and told me he nearly puked. Runner is sore all over upper body and accepts my wife will kick his @ss if she wants to :D Wife and I were back for some more pain yesterday and today.

Think all comes down to a balance. Power and muscles for what you need to do. Having big muscles (guess steroids in this case) is useless when reps exceeds 12 reps. Lung capacity is insufficient to provide oxygen and muscle endurance is zero. Lactic acid a real probloem with lifter on higher reps. Runner has massive lung capacity but just about zero strength. If you escape by running away, he is good to go but then he busted.

YMMV but this is how it is in Africa:D

Aubrey
 
Aubrey, it's all about "train like you fight"
In addition to lifting heavy things occasionally, I am the conditioning coach for our high school wrestling team, and was a D1 assistant strength coach "back in the day".
For the wrestlers we train strength, endurance and cardio separately.

Strength is heavy x5x5 on basic exercises (squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, etc)
Endurance is either barbell complexes or intervals with body weight and sand bags drills.
Cardio is running or running steps.

If you don't train all 3, you will never be good at all three.
 
Hi Lifterg

I agree ..... when wife is not able to make it, I am back to power lifting :-) Used to be 240 lbs but I was slow with little cardio capacity.

I agree ....balance the strength and cario and endurance but I combine them in various formats.

I am the coach for our high school first rugby team ... not played with sissie pads and helmets like NFL ....... :-) and training for various positions are very goal specific. Fronts are more brutal whilst backs are more for speed ..... loose trio is balanced speed and brute strength.

Thanx for your reponse. I agree nearly 100% :-)

Aubrey
 
The answer is all about blood sugar. there is a limit in to blood sugar in which you gain, sustain, and lose weight. Everyone is different. If you keep up your blood sugar at certain levels, your body will either gain, or lose weight, or do nothing at all. You have to figure out how much your body needs per day, and keep the amount of calories coming in.
 
Being fat and out of shape is bad for survival.

Lean and mean is the way to go. Train hard-fight easy.

Watch the videos where fat slobs are huffing and puffing while they chop wood with their big knives. I don't want to be with them in a real survival situation!
 
lifterg said:
Aubrey, it's all about "train like you fight"
In addition to lifting heavy things occasionally, I am the conditioning coach for our high school wrestling team, and was a D1 assistant strength coach "back in the day".
For the wrestlers we train strength, endurance and cardio separately.

Strength is heavy x5x5 on basic exercises (squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, etc)
Endurance is either barbell complexes or intervals with body weight and sand bags drills.
Cardio is running or running steps.

If you don't train all 3, you will never be good at all three.
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Other than make knives, I am a rehab therapist and personal trainer. I totally agree with what you are saying. Sport specific training is the way to go. You also need to take into account a persons genetic predisposition. Some people gain muscle far easier than others. Some are much better at endurance. If you have a lot of muscle and your food supply is cut back, your body will use the muscle as energy and go catabolic. You will lose a lot, but you have a reserve of sorts. If you are endurance based, you will be able to cover distance more quickly, and use fewer calories to exist. Not a clear subject, and arguments can be made on both sides. I would recommend that you train strength, flexability, power, and a big dose of cardio. To be well rounded, each individual will need to emphasize different areas, according to their genetic predisposition. Everyone is an individual and need different levels of each.
 
I've been a big believer in combining strength and endurance exercise(and I do mean endurance with resistance, not just repetitive low impact motion) for a long time, and think both could have a huge impact on your ability in a survival situation. Strength is useless if you can't apply it, and endurance doesn't mean much without some degree of strength. Oh to be a 19 year old infantryman again-or at least have that level of fitness again:rolleyes:

bearcut said:
Watch the videos where fat slobs are huffing and puffing while they chop wood with their big knives.
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Was thinking about that very thing watching some youtube video comparing the chopping ability of different knives awhile back. All I could think was that if the dude was sucking wind, losing coordination, and missing his notch after 30 seconds of chopping, the comparison wasn't very meaningful, because he couldn't get much work done with any of them, regardless...
 
First up, I am no expert. Cody Lundin has spent the last 20 years living in a way as close to native, primitive peoples would. He claims that his way of life, which most notably includes going bare foot 24-7, has reprogrammed his metabolism. He has referred to research that shows primitive people that forage and hunt based on moment to moment or day to day availability have a much more efficient metabolism. He also says that a shoeless lifestyle contribute to this efficiency. Very smart guy, and a good author to boot.
 
Being in shape > being out of shape in terms of survival. Because being strong > Being weak.


I doubt if anyone is going to suddenly get so muscular it's to the point where its detrimental for survival. In order to reach that point you'd probably have to be eating over 5k calories a day, lifting weights 3-6 days a week, taking steriods/performance enhancers for 5+ years on a consistant basis, etc.



I always laugh at people who say they don't want to become "Too muscular" or something like that. In order to get to that point it takes consistant extremely hard work in the gym and out as well when you consider a flawless diet, etc.



Nobody is going to get "Too muscular" from lifting heavy weights/working out. It is not an easy process, if it was more people would be in great shape and there would be less overweight people.



As for the bodyfat percentage/leanness thing I'm sure once you get to extremely low levels of bodyfat (Talking single digits) it could prove a problem towards long term survival if there are major food shortages. However in order to get legit single digit bodyfat levels a person is going to need a good diet + cardio & conditioning program + good genetics. Again its not something that happens overnight and its something that most people are delusional about. Digital calculators are always off fyi, very few people break into the single digit BF% realm... Most people can have visible abs by 10-15% depending on certain factors.


Bottom line, being "Too muscular" for survival should be one's last worry... Instead worry more about being too weak/too out of shape to lift a heavy log, run from a predator, chase prey, etc.
 
ICEAGE said:
Nobody is going to get "Too muscular" from lifting heavy weights/working out. It is not an easy process, if it was more people would be in great shape and there would be less overweight people.
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While I'll agree about the fact most people should care about not being too fat, not being out of shape long before being too muscular...

... I still have to disagree about the "being too muscular" part. Used to play rugby at the university with some fellows some of them being like semi-pros (like 4 trainings, 1 match a week). Some of them were extremely muscular, like 1000 abs a day, lifting 240lbs on bench press. While they were excellent in impact or sprinting, but I was able to beat them fairly easily in longer endurance runs (beyond 10 minutes) and I was never remotely close to their level of commitment.
(that and the fact they would get injured pretty often, some injuries leaving permanent sequels).

Bottom line:
do your homework
beyond that
"train as you fight", don't get too specialized
 
Would also point that I've seen far too many (young) people destroying themselves far too early.
Knew some guy who trained so frantically to get in the military he got rejected because his knees were already "worn out" at 20.
Train responsibly especially if you're still in development.
 
Just watched Dual Survival ...... and Cody made an interesting point. A specialized species like a penquin needs a very specific environment to operate in and will not survive unless all criteria are met. A survivalist should me more generalized like a cockroach that can thrive in any environment .....kitchen zink to de3sert to jungle ...they are everywhere.

I think the exact same applies to conditioning. If the goal is to lift a 300lbs weight 5 times in a short time, power lifting is the way to go but at the same time, carrying a 50lbs pack for 20 miles requires different conditioning.

YMMV

Aubrey
 
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