A gym membership. Can’t afford a gym membership? Get outside and walk. Do ten pushups every commercial break whilst watching your favorite TV program.

There are very few equipment or gear items that will save your bacon when the chips are down. A few examples notwithstanding…if you’re going up against North Hollywood Bank Robbers that are wearing armor, you’re going to need something that’ll punch through the armor. If you have a fire in your kitchen, you’ll need a fire extinguisher. And if you’re faced with a deadly force threat, you’ll need a gun. But once those basic denominators are met (there are others, but you get the point), the hardware portion of the equation has been met. And while hardware is a factor, it never supersedes the gravitas of software.

The first time I ever had a Civilian gunfight survivor in one of my classes, he very matter-of-factly told the class how he luckily thwarted a home invasion robbery by shooting dead, three suspects. I was moved by this man’s story. He said he was training now, so that if it ever happened again, he’d be better equipped to handle it. He’d changed guns, after the incident, to something with more, “firepower.” After the first hour on the range, he had to quit the class, because the mild heat (low 80’s) and bending over to police empty magazines after shot strings was too much for him that handle. His face would turn bright, fire engine red and he’d become short of breath. My point is, it does you or anyone else in your charge little good if you’re a real-life Paul Kersey, but you stroke out after the fight in the immediate aftermath.

Our hearts are complex organs, and they are constantly at work. Conditioning the cardiovascular system through exercise is something that has immediate tangible health effects, and is beneficial to EVERY body. I’m a firm believer in the regenerative healing power of exercise.

Tom Givens once said words to the effect of, “If you have to eat a toad, do it first thing in the morning, then whatever happens the rest of the day, it isn’t that bad.” Our bodies don’t physiologically, “know,” the difference between rigorous exercise and mutual human combat, running away from a herd of stampeding buffalo, or wrestling/subduing a marauding bear. The hormones, endorphins, and psychoactive chemicals that are endogenously produced by our brains are identical, regardless of the scenario. If you use this to your advantage, by exercising and, “fighting a bear,” most days of the week, you’ll benefit greatly when the time comes to fight anything…your body already knows what’s required.

The overall health of the training community is decent, but needs more work. With the advent of the fighting sports being commonplace amongst multi-disciplinary practitioners, an understanding of the requirements to maintain a baseline of physical performance is well documented. But it isn’t just the Jujitsu and kick boxing badasses that benefit from regular, rigorous exercise. Men and women, young and old, ALL will benefit from any increase in daily caloric expenditure, no matter how small.

So stop worrying about whether you chose the right striker-fired pistol for your EDC, or if the magazine pouch you’re using gives you the fastest emergency reload. Hit the track, or the stadium stairs, carry a tourniquet, and breathe in MORE air. All of your trials and tribulations through life, will be exponentially easier, the higher your exercise capacity is.

It’s 2018. Be the superhero kids read about in comic books.