This blog is, obviously, firearms focused and handgun centered, but we discuss a lot of topics related to the security of the individual in our contemporary United States.
Despite the many entailed fields within the world of self-reliance and personal protection, if I could stress the importance of only a single pursuit for most people my primary suggestion would not be to increase your shooting skills; rather, I would urge you to…….lift weights.
More broadly, I encourage “strength training” through a variety of resistance training techniques, free weights only being a part of it. You can do entire workouts with only body weight. If you go from not exercising at all to doing only body weight exercises, such as four sets of pushups, four sets of sit-ups, and four sets of pullups on a bar, three times a week, your body will make a significant transformation with only this.
I have always lifted weights, but for the last few years I am dealing with severe sciatic nerve pain due to degenerated discs in my lower back. I simply cannot squat heavy or do deadlifts at this point. However, I have found my favorite solution for strength training under these conditions that I highly recommend: Resistance bands. You can get these in a wide range of resistance, from thin, light bands, to thick and heavy. I run these over my back, to each hand, even when I do pushups to add additional resistance. You can even squat with these. I find doing shoulder work with bands is less destructive than doing so with free wights.
I am currently in my mid-forties, with a significant back condition that causes daily pain, but even so I am stronger than the majority of younger, ailment free, men, and that is concerning. I am about 20 pounds over-weight at the time of this writing because, though I exercise, I am admittedly very undisciplined with my eating habits. Even so, I can grab a pull-up bar, on demand, and do between 12 and 15 proper, chin over bar, pullups (in a single hang on the bar). I can do 50 pushups in one set as well. Most men today cannot do a single pullup. That is extremely troubling and says a lot about our modern society.
I am a middle-aged, broken, overweight guy, yet I have strength, because I have done strength training my entire adult life. Lifting heavy things is the core of all physical functionality for men and women. The benefits to your daily health and longevity are obvious and well documented. In terms of your ability to defend yourself and your family, the benefits of strength are self-evident. Can you pull yourself over a fence? Can you pull a loved one out of a burning car? Can you throw a table through a plate glass window to escape a bad situation? Can you throw a scumbag through a wall if you must? Can you hit hard?
Losing weight is achieved primarily through diet, but getting strong is primarily attained through weightlifting. If you can’t do a pullup, that should be a first goal. Work up to five, preferably 10, pullups. Work up to being able to do 25 pushups in one set. I like the bodyweight exercises as a measure, as they apply to everyone, and they suggest functional fitness. A max bench press and max squat will be very different from one person to another, but the functional exercises are quite universal.
If you currently focus a lot on shooting or other self-defense crafts, but you don’t do strength training, I strongly encourage you to set that as your new priority.
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For the ammo I use for training, go to: https://www.ammoman.com/9mm-blazer-brass-124-grain-fmj-5201-1000
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