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It's possible that this post should go into chit chat, but I really think it belongs here. We carry firearms for self-defense partly in order to neutralize the natural advantage of those who are bigger and stronger and might wish to do us harm, but there are lots of situations in which a firearm is either inappropriate or where a gun AND physical strength, balance and flexibility are required. Especially as we get older, we get less flexible, gain weight and our bodies become less able to cope with violence. There are lots of cases where people are injured during confrontations simply by moving... without some ongoing conditioning you can actually tear your own muscles just by trying to move fast, which can leave you disabled just at the worst possible moment.
I'm no fitness guru, in fact I'm in moderately lousy shape. I'm 39, 6 feet tall, and 220 pounds. I can barely touch my toes, can't touch my fingers behind my back (with one hand reaching down past the neck and the other reaching up along the spine) and I've injured myself a couple of times in the last year just by walking or jumping. If I had to respond to a violent situation that required moving, not just drawing a gun, I'm not sure I'd be up to it.
So, for those reasons as well as general quality of life and improving my enjoyment of the sports I like (water skiing, snowboarding, scuba diving), I've recently started trying to get in better shape, so I thought maybe I'd share what I'm doing with all of you here. I'm hoping to start a discussion that will encourage everyone to help each other get in shape, to improve our ability to respond effectively if we ever get into a bad situation.
Below is a graph of my goal and my progress on the weight loss; it's linked from another site which updates it daily. I plan to post an update every couple of week about my flexibility goals and the physical training that I'm doing.
I'm no fitness guru, in fact I'm in moderately lousy shape. I'm 39, 6 feet tall, and 220 pounds. I can barely touch my toes, can't touch my fingers behind my back (with one hand reaching down past the neck and the other reaching up along the spine) and I've injured myself a couple of times in the last year just by walking or jumping. If I had to respond to a violent situation that required moving, not just drawing a gun, I'm not sure I'd be up to it.
So, for those reasons as well as general quality of life and improving my enjoyment of the sports I like (water skiing, snowboarding, scuba diving), I've recently started trying to get in better shape, so I thought maybe I'd share what I'm doing with all of you here. I'm hoping to start a discussion that will encourage everyone to help each other get in shape, to improve our ability to respond effectively if we ever get into a bad situation.
Below is a graph of my goal and my progress on the weight loss; it's linked from another site which updates it daily. I plan to post an update every couple of week about my flexibility goals and the physical training that I'm doing.
