When in danger, you have two options: fight or flight.

The Survival Fitness Plan progressively trains you in the best methods of flight and fight as it improves your strength, agility, flexibility, endurance, coordination, and more. Skills covered include:

Some people really enjoy taking live classes and specialized courses, which is fine, but I'm not one of them, and maybe you're not either.

Or maybe you just don't have the time and/or money to do it. Between family, work, and social commitments, going on multi-day intensive courses to learn everything that's needed just isn't practical for most people.

But I know you understand the importance of keeping fit and developing the skills needed to protect yourself and your loved ones from danger - otherwise you wouldn't be reading this - which is why I have done the research and created the training materials so you can train yourself at your own leisure.

Initially, I did have to take the specialized courses, including learning parkour in Singapore, military service in Australia, life-guarding in the USA, and practicing martial arts since I was a child.

From there, I decided to create training manuals for myself so I could continue to train in what I already knew as well as expand my knowledge and hone my skills.

As I was self-training I refined the manuals so I wasn't wasting time on things I didn't really need. There is a lot to learn and I like to keep things as efficient as possible, which is why the training materials I produce are "no-fluff" and packed with essential information.

After a while I started training others too. This allowed me to refine the Survival Fitness Plan training materials and eventually release them for the public. I also still use them to train myself and others or a regular basis.

The proceeds from the sales of the training materials and the SFP $1 Challenge is what keeps this site running, but there are also free tutorials and articles. See them on the blog here.

You can apply the following training tips to all areas of the Survival Fitness Plan. I hope it will give you some good ideas on how to get the most from your training.

Create a Training Schedule

Creating a training schedule for yourself is the best way to keep on track with your daily training.

You can split the training throughout your day. This makes it easy to fit it into your normal timetable.

Alternatively, join the SFP $1 challenge! Get it here.

Replacement Exercises

Sometimes you cannot do certain exercises.

Unsuitable environment or injury are two examples.

Instead of skipping the exercise, try to replace it with something similar. You can use one of the progression exercises that lead up to it. For example, in parkour, if there is nothing for me to vault over I would do the ground-kong instead.

Another option is to mimic the motions.

Unsuitable environment or injury are two examples.

Continuous Improvement

Always do the best you can with the mindset of continuous improvement. To improve you must train at your best and try to get better ALL the time. Aim higher, further, harder, and/or faster depending on the exercise.

Training with Others

Even having only one other person to train with will increase your progress. It is also good for motivation and safety.

It may seem like you need a partner to practice some of these skills, especially in self-defense. Although having a training partner is ideal, you can still train without one. Visualize an opponent and mimic the motions.

Teaching others what you learn is one of the best ways to re-enforce your learning. It is also a great way to combine your training with quality family and friends time.

When most people exercise, they put on their special exercise clothes. They go to their purpose-built place of training with special equipment and machines. This is fine for most people because most people exercise to get fit.

The Survival Fitness Plan is different. We train for functionality in real-life situations. You will get fit, but it is a by-product of the real purpose. The real purpose of training your mind and body in fight and flight skills.

Awareness

Always be aware of your surroundings.

Use your peripheral vision and create a plan of escape whenever you enter a new situation (notice where the exits are, potential weapons, etc.).

A side effect of this is that being aware is transparent. People (would be attackers) notice that you are aware which makes you less of a target.

Outdoors

Train in all terrains and all types of weather. Your attacker will not care if it is raining. He/she may even see it as an advantage. Train in it and the advantage will be yours.

There are some exceptions.

For example, I would not go swimming outside during a thunderstorm or attempt some parkour movements on slippery surfaces.

If something is too dangerous to do during training, then it is also too dangerous to do in real life. Remember this for if you ever have to decide about what to do.

Training on Both Sides

In reality, favor the strong side of your body when doing actions. Such as fighting with your strong side forward. When training, do so on both sides. This way, if you can't use your strong side (e.g., injury) then even your weaker side is still good.

What You Carry

If you always carry a bag and are not willing to leave it behind when threatened then you should train with it on. The tighter fitting the bag is to your body the less it will move around when training.

What You Wear

If what you wear in training is not the same thing you wear most of the time, then you will not know if you can perform the actions in everyday life. For example, how often do you go out with your climbing shoes on and chalk in your back pocket? If the answer is "always", then use climbing shoes and chalk when training.

So I should train in my suit and tie or skirt and high heels? Yes and no.

Training in clothing that is impracticable will only hinder your progress, but do it once in a while. This way you will know the differences when performing actions in that clothing.

You may also want to consider changing what you wear to ensure the functionality in movement. You can adapt loose-fitting clothing and sensible shoes to almost any situation. Before you put something on, ask yourself "If I need to, would I be able to sprint and climb a wall in this?".